Western Sahara vs. Algeria


Western SaharaAlgeria


Western SaharaAlgeria
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
Geographic coordinates24 30 N, 13 00 W
28 00 N, 3 00 E
Map referencesAfrica
Areatotal: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km
water: 0 sq km
total: 2,381,741 sq km
land: 2,381,741 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparativeabout the size of Colorado
slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
Land boundariestotal: 2,049 km
total: 6,734 km
Coastline1,110 km
998 km
Maritime claimscontingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm
Elevation extremesmean elevation: 256 m
elevation extremes: lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed elevation 805 m
mean elevation: 800 m
elevation extremes: lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point: Tahat 2,908 m
Natural resourcesphosphates, iron ore
Land useagricultural land: 18.8%
forest: 2.7%
other: 78.5% (2011 est.)
agricultural land: 17.4%
arable land 18.02%; permanent crops 2.34%; permanent pasture 79.63%
forest: 0.82%
other: 81.8% (2014 est.)
Irrigated land0 sq km (2012)
13,600 sq km (2014)
Environment - current issuessparse water and lack of arable land
Geography - notethe waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas
largest country in Africa
Population distributionmost of the population lives in the two-thirds of the area west of the berm (Moroccan-occupied) that divides the territory; about 40% of that populace resides in Laayoune
the vast majority of the populace is found in the extreme northern part of the country along the Mediterranean Coast


Western SaharaAlgeria
40,969,443 (July 2017 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 37.24% (male 113,581/female 111,077)
15-24 years: 19.53% (male 59,309/female 58,478)
25-54 years: 34.33% (male 102,031/female 105,093)
55-64 years: 5.03% (male 14,153/female 16,178)
65 years and over: 3.87% (male 10,287/female 13,066) (2017 est.)
0-14 years: 29.31% (male 6,148,568/female 5,858,922)
15-24 years: 15.3% (male 3,208,185/female 3,061,179)
25-54 years: 42.93% (male 8,906,160/female 8,682,894)
55-64 years: 6.81% (male 1,410,298/female 1,378,282)
65 years and over: 5.65% (male 1,079,218/female 1,235,737) (2017 est.)
Median agetotal: 21.3 years
male: 20.8 years
female: 21.8 years (2017 est.)
total: 28.1 years
male: 27.8 years
female: 28.4 years (2017 est.)
Population growth rate2.7% (2017 est.)
1.7% (2017 est.)
Birth rate29.3 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
22.2 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Death rate8.1 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.87 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
Infant mortality ratetotal: 51.9 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 56.7 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 46.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
total: 19.6 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 17.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 63.4 years
male: 61.1 years
female: 65.8 years (2017 est.)
total population: 77 years
male: 75.6 years
female: 78.4 years (2017 est.)
Total fertility rate3.86 children born/woman (2017 est.)
2.7 children born/woman (2017 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rateNA
<.01% (2016 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian
noun: Algerian(s)
adjective: Algerian
Ethnic groupsArab, Berber
Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDSNA
13,000 (2016 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deathsNA
<200 (2016 est.)
LanguagesStandard Arabic (national), Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Urbanizationurban population: 81.1% of total population (2017)
urban population: 71.9% of total population (2017)
rate of urbanization: 2.26% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major cities - populationLaayoune 262,000 (2014)
ALGIERS (capital) 2.594 million; Oran 858,000 (2015)
Demographic profileWestern Sahara is a disputed territory; 85% is under Moroccan control. It was inhabited almost entirely by Sahrawi pastoral nomads until the mid-20th century. Their traditional vast migratory ranges, based on following unpredictable rainfall, did not coincide with colonial and later international borders. Since the 1930s, most Sahrawis have been compelled to adopt a sedentary lifestyle and to live in urban settings as a result of fighting, the presence of minefields, job opportunities in the phosphate industry, prolonged drought, the closure of Western Sahara’s border with Mauritania from 1979-2002, and the construction of the defensive berm separating Moroccan- and Polisario-controlled (Sahrawi liberalization movement) areas. Morocco supported rapid urbanization to facilitate surveillance and security.
Today more than 80% of Western Sahara’s population lives in urban areas; more than 40% live in the administrative center Laayoune. Moroccan immigration has altered the composition and dramatically increased the size of Western Sahara’s population. Morocco maintains a large military presence in Western Sahara and has encouraged its citizens to settle there, offering bonuses, pay raises, and food subsidies to civil servants and a tax exemption, in order to integrate Western Sahara into the Moroccan Kingdom and, Sahrawis contend, to marginalize the native population.
Western Saharan Sahrawis have been migrating to Europe, principally to former colonial ruler Spain, since the 1950s. Many who moved to refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, also have migrated to Spain and Italy, usually alternating between living in cities abroad with periods back at the camps. The Polisario claims that the population of the Tindouf camps is about 155,000, but this figure may include thousands of Arabs and Tuaregs from neighboring countries. Because international organizations have been unable to conduct an independent census in Tindouf, the UNHCR bases its aid on a figure of 90,000 refugees. Western Saharan coastal towns emerged as key migration transit points (for reaching Spain’s Canary Islands) in the mid-1990s, when Spain’s and Italy’s tightening of visa restrictions and EU pressure on Morocco and other North African countries to control illegal migration pushed sub-Saharan African migrants to shift their routes to the south.
For the first two-thirds of the 20th century, Algeria’s high fertility rate caused its population to grow rapidly. However, about a decade after independence from France in 1962 the total fertility rate fell dramatically from 7 children per woman in the 1970s to about 2.4 in 2000, slowing Algeria’s population growth rate by the late 1980s. The lower fertility rate was mainly the result of women’s rising age at first marriage (virtually all Algerian children being born in wedlock) and to a lesser extent the wider use of contraceptives. Later marriages and a preference for smaller families are attributed to increases in women’s education and participation in the labor market; higher unemployment; and a shortage of housing forcing multiple generations to live together. The average woman’s age at first marriage increased from about 19 in the mid-1950s to 24 in the mid-1970s to 30.5 in the late 1990s.
Algeria’s fertility rate experienced an unexpected upturn in the early 2000s, as the average woman’s age at first marriage dropped slightly. The reversal in fertility could represent a temporary fluctuation in marriage age or, less likely, a decrease in the steady rate of contraceptive use.
Thousands of Algerian peasants – mainly Berber men from the Kabylia region – faced with land dispossession and economic hardship under French rule migrated temporarily to France to work in manufacturing and mining during the first half of the 20th century. This movement accelerated during World War I, when Algerians filled in for French factory workers or served as soldiers. In the years following independence, low-skilled Algerian workers and Algerians who had supported the French (harkis) emigrated en masse to France. Tighter French immigration rules and Algiers’ decision to cease managing labor migration to France in the 1970s limited legal emigration largely to family reunification.
Not until Algeria’s civil war in the 1990s did the country again experience substantial outmigration. Many Algerians legally entered Tunisia without visas claiming to be tourists and then stayed as workers. Other Algerians headed to Europe seeking asylum, although France imposed restrictions. Sub-Saharan African migrants came to Algeria after its civil war to work in agriculture and mining. In the 2000s, a wave of educated Algerians went abroad seeking skilled jobs in a wider range of destinations, increasing their presence in North America and Spain. At the same time, legal foreign workers principally from China and Egypt came to work in Algeria’s construction and oil sectors. Illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Malians, Nigeriens, and Gambians, continue to come to Algeria in search of work or to use it as a stepping stone to Libya and Europe.
Since 1975, Algeria also has been the main recipient of Sahrawi refugees from the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara. An estimated 90,000 Sahrawis live in five refugee camps in southwestern Algeria near Tindouf.
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 45
youth dependency ratio: 41.4
elderly dependency ratio: 3.7
potential support ratio: 27.1 (2015 est.)
total dependency ratio: 52.7
youth dependency ratio: 43.8
elderly dependency ratio: 9
potential support ratio: 11.2 (2015 est.)


Western SaharaAlgeria
Country nameconventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara
former: Rio de Oro, Saguia el Hamra, Spanish Sahara
etymology: self-descriptive name specifying the territory's western location on the African continent's vast desert
conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
conventional short form: Algeria
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah
local short form: Al Jaza'ir
etymology: the country name derives from the capital city of Algiers
presidential republic
CapitalLaayoune (administrative center)
name: Algiers
geographic coordinates: 36 45 N, 3 03 E
Administrative divisionsnone officially; the territory west of the Moroccan berm falls under de facto Moroccan control; Morocco claims the territory of Western Sahara, the political status of which is considered undetermined by the US Government; portions of the regions Guelmim-Es Smara and Laayoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra, as claimed by Morocco, lie within Western Sahara; Morocco also claims Oued Eddahab-Lagouira, another region that falls entirely within Western Sahara
Suffragenone; (residents of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara participate in Moroccan elections)
18 years of age; universal
Executive branchnone
head of government: Prime Minister Ahmed OUYAHIA (since 16 August 2017)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president
Political pressure groups and leadersPolisario Front
SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR]
Youth Action Rally or RAJ
International organization participationAU, CAN (observer), WFTU (NGOs)
Diplomatic representation in the USnone
chancery: 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 265-2800
FAX: [1] (202) 986-5906
consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation from the USnone
embassy: 05 Chemin Cheikh Bachir, El Ibrahimi, El-Biar 16030 Algieria


Western SaharaAlgeria



Hydrocarbons have long been the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 30% of GDP, 60% of budget revenues, and nearly 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the 10th-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the sixth-largest gas exporter. It ranks 16th in oil reserves. Hydrocarbon exports enabled Algeria to maintain macroeconomic stability and amass large foreign currency reserves while oil prices were high. In addition, Algeria's external debt is extremely low at about 2% of GDP. However, Algeria has struggled to develop non-hydrocarbon industries because of heavy regulation and an emphasis on state-driven growth. Declining oil prices since 2014 have reduced the government’s ability to use state-driven growth to distribute rents and fund generous public subsidies. Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by more than 40% since late 2013 and its oil stabilization fund has decreased from about $75 billion at the end of 2013 to about $7 billion in 2017, which is the statutory minimum.

Algiers has strengthened protectionist measures since 2015 to limit its import bill and encourage domestic production of non-oil and gas industries. Since 2015, the government has imposed additional regulatory requirements on access to foreign exchange for imports and import quotas for specific products, such as cars, to limit their importation. Meanwhile, Algeria has not increased non-hydrocarbon exports, and hydrocarbon exports have declined because of field depletion and increased domestic demand.

With declining revenues caused by falling oil prices, the government has been under pressure to reduce spending. A wave of economic protests in February and March 2011 prompted Algiers to offer more than $23 billion in public grants and retroactive salary and benefit increases, moves which continue to weigh on public finances. In 2016, the government increased taxes on electricity and fuel, resulting in a modest increase in gasoline prices, and in 2017 raised by 2% the value-added tax on nearly all products, but has refrained from directly reducing subsidies, particularly for education, healthcare, and housing programs.

GDP (purchasing power parity)$906.5 million (2007 est.)
$629.3 billion (2017 est.)
$620.2 billion (2016 est.)
$600.4 billion (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
GDP - real growth rateNA%
1.5% (2017 est.)
3.3% (2016 est.)
3.7% (2015 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)$2,500 (2007 est.)
$15,100 (2017 est.)
$15,200 (2016 est.)
$15,000 (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
GDP - composition by sectoragriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: 40% (2007 est.)
agriculture: 13.2%
industry: 36.1%
services: 50.7% (2017 est.)
Population below poverty lineNA%
23% (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage sharelowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)NA%
5.5% (2017 est.)
6.4% (2016 est.)
Labor force144,000 (2010 est.)
11.82 million (2017 est.)
Labor force - by occupationagriculture: 50%
industry and services: 50% (2005 est.)
agriculture: 30.9%
industry: 30.9%
services: 58.4% (2011 est.) (2011 est.)
Unemployment rateNA%
11.7% (2017 est.)
10.5% (2016 est.)
Budgetrevenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA
revenues: $52.08 billion
expenditures: $70.74 billion (2017 est.)
Industriesphosphate mining, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rateNA%
0.9% (2017 est.)
Agriculture - productsfruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish
$33.15 billion (2017 est.)
$29.06 billion (2016 est.)
Exports - commoditiesphosphates 62% (2012 est.)
$49.99 billion (2017 est.)
$49.43 billion (2016 est.)
Imports - commoditiesfuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Debt - external$NA
$8.163 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$5.088 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Exchange ratesMoroccan dirhams (MAD) per US dollar -
9.639 (2017)
9.7351 (2016)
9.7351 (2015)
9.7351 (2014 est.)
8.3798 (2013 est.)
Algerian dinars (DZD) per US dollar -
108.9 (2017 est.)
109.443 (2016 est.)
109.443 (2015 est.)
100.691 (2014 est.)
80.579 (2013 est.)
Fiscal yearcalendar year
calendar year
GDP (official exchange rate)$NA
$175.5 billion (2016 est.)
Taxes and other revenuesNA%
29.7% of GDP (2017 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)NA%
-10.6% of GDP (2017 est.)


Western SaharaAlgeria
Electricity - production0 kWh (2015 est.)
64.67 billion kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity - consumption0 kWh (2015 est.)
53.44 billion kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity - exports0 kWh (2016 est.)
641 million kWh (2015 est.)
Electricity - imports0 kWh (2016 est.)
610 million kWh (2015 est.)
Oil - production0 bbl/day (2016 est.)
1.348 million bbl/day (2016 est.)
Oil - imports0 bbl/day (2014 est.)
5,880 bbl/day (2014 est.)
Oil - exports0 bbl/day (2014 est.)
798,900 bbl/day (2014 est.)
Oil - proved reserves0 bbl (1 January 2017 es)
12.2 billion bbl (1 January 2017 es)
Natural gas - proved reserves0 cu m (1 January 2014 es)
4.504 trillion cu m (1 January 2017 es)
Natural gas - production0 cu m (2013 est.)
83.04 billion cu m (2015 est.)
Natural gas - consumption0 cu m (2013 est.)
44.32 billion cu m (2015 est.)
Natural gas - exports0 cu m (2013 est.)
43.42 billion cu m (2015 est.)
Natural gas - imports0 cu m (2013 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
Electricity - installed generating capacity58,000 kW (2015 est.)
17.12 million kW (2015 est.)
Electricity - from fossil fuels100% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
97.9% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants0% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
1.6% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Electricity - from nuclear fuels0% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
0% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Electricity - from other renewable sources0% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
1.5% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Refined petroleum products - production0 bbl/day (2014 est.)
657,600 bbl/day (2014 est.)
Refined petroleum products - consumption1,700 bbl/day (2015 est.)
428,000 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Refined petroleum products - exports0 bbl/day (2014 est.)
575,800 bbl/day (2014 est.)
Refined petroleum products - imports1,702 bbl/day (2014 est.)
62,480 bbl/day (2014 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy300,000 Mt (2013 est.)
128 million Mt (2013 est.)


Western SaharaAlgeria
Telephone systemgeneral assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: a limited network of fixed lines with a teledensity of less than 10 telephones per 100 persons has been offset by the rapid increase in mobile-cellular subscribership; in 2016, mobile-cellular teledensity was roughly 120 telephones per 100 persons
Internet country code.eh


Western SaharaAlgeria
Ports and terminalsmajor seaport(s): Ad Dakhla, Laayoune (El Aaiun)
Airports6 (2013)
157 (2016)
Airports - with paved runwaystotal: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2013)
total: 64
over 3,047 m: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 29
1,524 to 2,437 m: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 1 (2017)
Airports - with unpaved runwaystotal: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2013)
total: 93
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
914 to 1,523 m: 39
under 914 m: 34 (2013)

Transnational Issues

Western SaharaAlgeria
Disputes - international"many neighboring states reject Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; several states have extended diplomatic relations to the ""Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic"" represented by the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; approximately 90,000 Sahrawi refugees continue to be sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria, which has hosted Sahrawi refugees since the 1980s

Source: CIA Factbook