Western Sahara is a disputed territory on the northwest coast of Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 80% of the territory is occupied and administered by neighboring Morocco. It has a surface area of 266,000 square kilometres (103,000 sq mi). It is the second most sparsely populated country in the world and the most sparsely populated in Africa, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. The population is estimated at just over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Morocco-controlled Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara.
The Sahrawis, or Sahrawi people, are an ethnic group and nation native to the western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara, southern Morocco, much of Mauritania, and along the southwestern border of Algeria. They are of mixed Hassani Arab and Sanhaji Berber descent, as well as Sub-Saharan African and other indigenous populations.
Tindouf, also written Tinduf, is the westernmost province of Algeria, having a population of 58,193 as of the 2008 census. Its population in reality could be as high as 160,000 because of the Sahrawi refugee camps. Despite the barren landscape, Tindouf is a resource-rich province, with important quantities of iron ore located in the Gara Djebilet area close to the border with Mauritania. Prior to Algerian independence, the area served as a strongpoint of several tribes of the nomadic Reguibat confederation.
Agounit is a small town or village in the Río de Oro area of the disputed territory of Western Sahara. It is situated in the Polisario Front-held Free Zone of Western Sahara, under the jurisdiction of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and near the Mauritanian border, 72 km. south-west from Fderik. It is claimed by Morocco as a rural commune in the Aousserd Province in the region of Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 222 people living in 43 households. It has a hospital, a school and a mosque. It is the head of the 7th military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Tindouf is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has a population of around 160,000, but the census and population estimates do not count the Sahrawi refugees, making the population as of the 2008 census 45,966, up from 25,266 in 1998, giving the town an annual population growth rate of 6.3%.
Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. Before September 2015 it was known as Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira. It is situated in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, considered by Morocco to be the southern part of the country. The Polisario Front and other independence-seeking Sahrawis consider this to be a part of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The United Nations and most countries do not recognize either Moroccan sovereignty over the area, or the self-declared Sahrawi republic.
In Morocco, the 75 second-level administrative subdivisions are 13 prefectures and 62 provinces. They are subdivisions of the 12 regions of Morocco. Each prefecture or province is subdivided into arrondissements, municipalities or urban municipalities in other urban areas, and districts in rural areas. The districts are subdivided into rural municipalities. One prefecture (Casablanca) is also subdivided into préfectures d'arrondissements, similar to districts (cercles) except they are grouping a few arrondissements instead of rural municipalities.
The Sahrawi refugee camps, also known as the Tindouf camps, are a collection of refugee camps set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975–76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Western Sahara during the Western Sahara War. With most of the original refugees still living in the camps, the situation is among the most protracted in the world.
Sahrawi nationality law is the law of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic's (SADR) governing nationality and citizenship. The SADR is a partially recognized state which claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, but only administers part of it. The SADR also administers Sahrawi refugee camps.
Aousserd is a province in the Moroccan economic region of Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara. At the 2004 Census it had a population of 7,689.
Berrechid is a town and municipality in Berrechid Province of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco. It recorded a population of 136,634 inhabitants in the 2014 Moroccan census. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 89,830 people living in 18,808 households.
Sahrawi refugees refers to the refugees of the Western Sahara War (1975–1991) and their descendants, who are still mostly populating the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria.
Tichla is a small town in the Western Sahara under the de facto control of Morocco, which considers it as part of rural commune Aousserd Province in the Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab region. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 6,036 people living in 102 households. A few kilometers away is the Tichla Fortress.
Ait Abdallah is a small town and rural commune in Taroudant Province of the Souss-Massa-Drâa region of Morocco. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 2988 people living in 791 households. As of the 2014 census, the population was 2,086, with 643 households.
Assads is a small town and rural commune in Taroudant Province of the Souss-Massa-Drâa region of Morocco. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 5512 people living in 939 households.
Machraa El Ain is a small town and rural commune in Taroudant Province of the Souss-Massa-Drâa region of Morocco. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 9832 people living within 1756 households. The administrative headquarter of the Commune is in Ain el Madiour.
Adassil is a town and rural commune in Chichaoua Province of the Marrakesh-Safi region of Morocco. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a population of 7,219 living in 1,323 households.
Bounaamane is a small town and rural commune in Tiznit Province of the Souss-Massa-Drâa region of Morocco. At the time of the 2004 census, the commune had a total population of 12,112 people living in 2,158 households. The area is predominantly Amazigh.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state, recognised by 46 UN member states and South Ossetia, located in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only the easternmost one-fifth of that territory. Between 1884 and 1975, Western Sahara was known as Spanish Sahara, a Spanish colony. The SADR is one of the two African states in which Spanish is a significant language, the other being Equatorial Guinea.
Morocco,
Sahrawi Republic 