Western Sahara
Western Sahara (officially Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) is a country in Northern Africa, with its capital at El Aaiún, and is home to roughly 600.0K people.
Its official languages are Berber, Hassaniya, Spanish; the currency in circulation is Algerian dinar (دج) and Moroccan dirham (DH) and Mauritanian ouguiya (UM); people from here are called Sahrawi.
> INTEL_
> NOTABLE_
- »Western Sahara is listed by the UN as a non-self-governing territory; Morocco controls most of it and the Polisario Front claims it.
- »A sand berm over 2,700 km long, one of the longest military barriers in the world, divides the territory.
> THE OUTLINE_
Western Sahara straddles the Tropic of Cancer.
> BORDERS_
Western Sahara touches three neighbours: Algeria to the east, Mauritania to the southeast and Morocco to the northeast. Directions run from one centre to the other.
> THE CAPITAL_
Laayoune is the largest city of Western Sahara and is administered by Morocco, while the Polisario Front names Tifariti as its own seat.
> SCALE_
90,283 km² (34,858 sq mi), 109th largest of 198 countries and territories on file, almost exactly the size of Jordan.
Population 600,000, 168th of 198 on file. That averages 6.6 per km² (17 per sq mi).
> THE FLAG_
The flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, in pan-Arab colours with a red crescent and star. Which flag flies where depends on who controls the ground.
Easily confused with Palestine and Jordan.
Palestine ▸
Jordan ▸