WThe following are cities in Western Sahara, listed by population. Due to an ongoing conflict over the territory, the majority is controlled by Morocco, and the eastern and southern portions are controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Only those cities under Moroccan administration are subject to the government census; SADR-controlled cities are listed at the end. Morocco claims the entire territory, as does the SADR. The list includes cities, towns, villages, oases and other settlements.
WAgounit is a small town or village in the Río de Oro area of the disputed territory of Western Sahara. It is claimed by Morocco as a rural commune in the Aousserd Province in the region of Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab, but it is to the east of the Moroccan Wall, and thus included in the Polisario Front-held Free Zone of Western Sahara, under the jurisdiction of the Sahrawi Republic, and near the Mauritanian border, 72 km. south-west from Fderik. 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.
WAl Mahbes is a Western Sahara city close to the Algerian border, some 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Bir Lehlou.
WBir Gandus or Bir Gandouz is a village in Western Sahara controlled by Morocco. As a rural commune of Morocco it serves as the headquarters of Morocco's Aousserd Province and recorded a population of 4625 in the 2014 Moroccan census. It holds a Moroccan military post. Although sometimes called so, it is not a border post. The border post to Mauritania is to the west on the RN1 at Guerguerat although the stamp given there bore the name of Bir Gandus.
WBir Lehlou is an oasis town in north-eastern Western Sahara, 236 km from Smara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in Polisario Front-held territory. It has a dispensary, a school and a mosque. It is the head of the 5th military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and was the factual temporary capital of SADR until Tifariti became the temporary capital in 2008. It is also the name of a Daïra of the Wilaya of Smara, in the Sahrawi refugee camps.
WBir Tiguisit, Buir Tiguisit or Bir Tighissit is a locality located in the southern part of Saguia el-Hamra, in Western Sahara. It is located south of Tifariti, near the border with Mauritania. It is currently controlled by the Polisario Front, in the so-called Liberated Territories or Free Zone. The Moroccan authorities have integrated it into the Es-Semara Province in the region of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra.
WBou Craa is a town in Western Sahara, south-east of the main city of El Aaiún. It is inhabited almost exclusively by employees of the Moroccan-controlled Bou Craa phosphate industry.
WCape Bojador is a headland on the northern coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W, as well as the name of the large nearby town with a population of 42,651. The name of the surrounding province also derives its name from the cape.
WDakhla is a city in Western Sahara, a disputed territory currently administered by Morocco. It is the capital of the Moroccan administrative region Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab. It has a population of 106,277 and is built on a narrow peninsula of the Atlantic Coast, the Río de Oro Peninsula, about 550 km south of Laayoune.
WDaoura is a small town and rural commune in Tarfaya Province of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region of the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara. At the time of the 2014 census, the commune had a total population of 1108 people.
WDougaj is a region and town situated in the south of Western Sahara of Africa approximately midway between the Agwanit region and the Moroccan Wall, 119 km from Fderik, Mauritania. Dougaj is located in the part of Western Sahara controlled by the Polisario Front and often referred to as the Free Zone or Liberated Territories. It is the head of the 6th military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and holds an SPLA military outpost.
WEl Hagounia is a small town and rural commune in the Tarfaya Province of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region of the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara. At the time of the 2014 census, the commune had a total population of 151 people.
WEl Marsa Arabic: المرسى is a port city in Western Sahara.
WFarsia is a small settlement in north-eastern Western Sahara. It is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Bir Lehlou, close the Moroccan border and within the Moroccan Wall which divides the territory, on the P42 road between Smara and Tindouf in Algeria.
WGuelta Zemmur is a small town or village in the Moroccan-administered part of the territory of Western Sahara.
WGuerguerat is a small village in the far south west of Western Sahara, 11 km from the border with Mauritania and 5 km from the Atlantic Ocean. The village is under the control of Morocco. The Moroccan passport control stamp bears the name of Bir Gandouz, a nearby village. Morocco sees this frontier post as the southernmost barrier protecting the European Union.
WLaâyoune or El Aaiún is the largest city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, with a population of 217,732 in 2014, and de facto administered by Morocco. The modern city is thought to have been founded by the Spanish captain Antonio de Oro in 1938. In 1940, Spain designated it as the capital of the Spanish Sahara. Laâyoune is the capital of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region administered by Morocco under the supervision of the UN peace-keeping mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO).
WMeharrize is an oasis located in Western Sahara. It is situated between Tifariti and Amgala, 93 km from Smara, to the east of the Moroccan Wall, and in the Polisario Front-held part of Western Sahara close to the Mauritanian border. It has a dispensary, a school, and a mosque. Also, it is the head of the 4th military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
WMijek is a small town in the Río de Oro region of Western Sahara. It is located east of the Moroccan Wall, in the Liberated Territories, 80 km north of the Mauritanian town of Zouérat and 250 km. east of Dakhla. It has a hospital, and reportedly a school will be opened during the 2012–2013 academic year. It is the head of the 3rd military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
WSidi Ahmed Laaroussi is a small town and rural commune in the Es Semara Province of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region of the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara. At the time of the 2014 census, the commune had a total population of 269 people.
WSmara is a city in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara, with a population of 57,035 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census. It is served by Smara Airport and Smara bus station.
WTifariti is an oasis town located in north-eastern Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, 138 km (86 mi) from Smara and 15 km (9 mi) north of the border with Mauritania. It is part of what Polisario Front calls the Liberated Territories and Morocco call the Buffer Zone. It has been the de facto temporary capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since the government moved there in 2008 from Bir Lehlou. It is the headquarters of the 2nd military region of the SADR.
WZug is located in the far south-east of Western Sahara, 170 km. from Atar, Mauritania. The only erg or sand sea in Western Sahara is located nearby, where it runs from south-west to north-east from Mauritania into Western Sahara and back into Mauritania, where the border forms a right angle. Zug is located in the part of Western Sahara controlled by the Polisario Front and often referred to as the Liberated Territories. It is the head of the 1st military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and holds a SPLA military outpost and a small hospital.