Misplaced Pages

Laayoune العيون (Arabic)El Aaiún
City
Left to right, top to bottom: Footprints on the sand, Place Mechouar, Street, Monumental Arch, Laayoune Cathedral
LaayouneLocation in Western SaharaShow map of Western SaharaLaayouneLaayoune (Africa)Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 27°09′00″N 13°11′56″W / 27.15000°N 13.19889°W / 27.15000; -13.19889
Non-self-governing territory	Western Sahara
Claimed by	Kingdom of Morocco  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Controlled by	Kingdom of Morocco
Region	Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra
Province	Laâyoune
Settled	1934
Founded	1938
Founded by	Antonio de Oro
Area
• Total	247.8 km (95.68 sq mi)
Population
• Total	217,732
• Density	880/km (2,300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (West Africa Time)
• Summer (DST)	(Not Observed)

Laayoune or El Aaiún (Arabic: العيون, al-ʕuyūn [alʕujuːn], Hassaniyya: [ˈləʕjuːn] , lit. 'The Springs') is the largest city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, with a population of 271,344 in 2023. The city is de facto under Moroccan administration as occupied territory. The modern city is thought to have been founded by the Spanish captain Antonio de Oro in 1938. From 1958, it became the administrative capital of the Spanish Sahara, administered by the Governor General of Spanish West Africa.

In 2023, Laayoune is the capital of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region administered by Morocco, it is still under the supervision of MINURSO, a UN mission.

The town is located south of the dry river of Saguia el-Hamra, where the old lower town constructed by Spanish colonists is located. The St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral was constructed during the Spanish period and is still active with a few Catholic missionaries.

History

Laayoune or El Aaiún are respectively the French and Spanish transliterations of one of the possible Romanized Maghrebi Arabic names for the city: Layoun, which could mean "the springs", in reference to the oases that furnish the town's water supply.

The city was founded by the Spanish captain Antonio de Oro in 1938 as a small military outpost, but quickly became the Spanish Sahara's administrative and political centre. The location was chosen for two reasons: the presence of water and the strategic military position the site offered. Its position on the banks of the Saguia el-Hamra river enabled good communication with the harbors of Tarfaya and Boujdour. The city underwent a period of rapid economic growth in the 1940s due to the discovery of vast deposits of phosphates at the Bou Craa site fuelling a phosphate industry.

The town was the scene of the Zemla Intifada that occurred on June 17, 1970, that culminated in a massacre, resulting in the deaths ranging from 2 to 11 people and hundreds injured.

After the Spanish withdrew in 1975, Laayoune, along with much of the rest of the Western Sahara, was annexed by Morocco. Since then, large numbers of Moroccans have moved to the city, and now outnumber the indigenous Sahrawis, who have gradually given up their traditional nomadic lifestyles.

The city has continued to develop rapidly and benefits of a desalinization plant. The city's rate of urbanization continues to outpace that of Morocco, though on most indicators of human development, it lags behind southern Morocco.

Climate

Laayoune has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh), moderated by the Canary Current, with an average annual temperature just over 21 °C (70 °F).

Climate change

A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5, a "moderate" scenario of climate change where global warming reaches ~2.5–3 °C (4.5–5.4 °F) by 2100, the climate of Laayoune in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Alexandria. The annual temperature would increase by 1 °C (1.8 °F), and the temperature of the warmest month by 1.8 °C (3.2 °F), while the temperature of the coldest month would decrease by 0.1 °C (0.18 °F). According to Climate Action Tracker, the current warming trajectory appears consistent with 2.7 °C (4.9 °F), which closely matches RCP 4.5.

Demographics

Laayoune has a population of 271,344 and is the largest city in Western Sahara.

Economy and status

The city is a hub for fishing and for phosphate mining in the region. In 2010, the country was negotiating a new fishing agreement with Europe over offshore fishing.

Sport

The football club of the city is Jeunesse Massira. The club plays in the Moroccan Second Division, the second highest football league in the country. Jeunesse Massira uses Stade Sheikh Mohamed Laghdaf for training and games.

Transport

Laayoune is served by the international Hassan I Airport.

Education

French school associated to the Alliance française was established in 2018, the city also includes a Spanish international school, Colegio Español La Paz, owned by the Spanish government.

Diplomatic missions

On 18 December 2019, Comoros became the first nation to open a consulate in support of Moroccan claims to the region. In January 2020, Gabon opened also a general consulate. Later on, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Eswatini, Zambia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, also opened consulates in the city.

Gallery

• Mosque of Moulay Abd el Aziz
• Spanish Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi
• Avenue Mekka
• One entrance of the city
• Road to El Marsa, the harbour of the city.
• Laâyoune bus station.

See also

• List of cities in Western Sahara

References

1. ^ "Population Légale des Régions, Provinces, Préfectures, Municipalités, Arrondissements et Communes du Royaume D'Après Les Résultats du 2014" (in Arabic and French). High Commission for Planning, Morocco. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
2. "Laayoune". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-03-22.
3. ^ "Laayoune". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
4. "Laâyoune". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
5. "el-Aaiún". Lexico UK English Dictionary UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
6. "El Aaiún". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
7. ^ "Population totale". siredd.environnement.gov.ma. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
8. Francisco López Barrios (2005-01-23). "El Lawrence de Arabia Español" (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
9. Norris, H. T. (1964). "The Wind of Change in the Western Sahara". The Geographical Journal. 130 (1): 1–14. doi:10.2307/1794260. ISSN 0016-7398. JSTOR 1794260.
10. ^ Deubel, Tara F.; Boum, Aomar (2019). "The Rise of a Saharan City". Routledge Handbook on Middle East Cities. Abingdon: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315625164-18. ISBN 9781138650749.
11. Adrian Room (1994). African Placenames: Origins and Meanings of the Names for Over 2000 Natural Features, Towns, Cities, Provinces, and Countries. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-89950-943-3.
12. "Laayoune Climate Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
13. "WMO_Normals_ASCII_60033". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
14. Bastin, Jean-Francois; Clark, Emily; Elliott, Thomas; Hart, Simon; van den Hoogen, Johan; Hordijk, Iris; Ma, Haozhi; Majumder, Sabiha; Manoli, Gabriele; Maschler, Julia; Mo, Lidong; Routh, Devin; Yu, Kailiang; Zohner, Constantin M.; Thomas W., Crowther (10 July 2019). "Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues". PLOS ONE. 14 (7). S2 Table. Summary statistics of the global analysis of city analogues. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1417592B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217592. PMC 6619606. PMID 31291249.
15. "Cities of the future: visualizing climate change to inspire action". Current vs. future cities. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
16. "The CAT Thermometer". Retrieved 8 January 2023.
17. ^ "Western Sahara: Provinces & Urban Communes - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
18. "Diplomacy over Western Sahara: 'Morocco v Algeria'". The Economist. 4 November 2010.
19. Santana, Txema (2015-04-10). "El colegio español en El Aaiún pide ciclo de secundaria". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2023-02-07. Lagadaf Lahsen, presidente del AMPA del centro educativo, asegura que es "la única forma de evitar" que sus hijos "se vayan a otras ciudades de Marruecos o a Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, además de que no se pierda el español en el Sáhara"." and "una instalación de 17.000 metros cuadrados que es propiedad del Estado español
20. "First foreign diplomatic post opens in Western Sahara". Arab News. 18 December 2019.
21. "Gabon Opens Consulate General in Laayoune". Sahara News. 17 January 2020.
22. "Sao Tome and Principe Inaugurates Consulate General in Laayoune". Morocco World News. 23 January 2020.
23. "Central African Republic Opens Consulate General in Laayoune". Morocco World News. 23 January 2020.
24. "Cote d'Ivoire Opens General Consulate in Morocco's Laayoune". Morocco World News. 18 February 2020.
25. "Burundi Opens General Consulate in Laayoune". Morocco World News. 28 February 2020.
26. "Eswatini Opens Consulate General in Laayoune, Southern Morocco". Morocco World News. 27 October 2020.
27. "Zambia Opens Consulate General in Morocco's Laayoune". Morocco World News. 27 October 2020.
28. "UAE Officially Opens Consulate General in Morocco's Laayoune". Morocco World News. 4 November 2020.
29. "Bahrain Opens Consulate General in Laayoune, Southern Morocco". Morocco World News. 14 December 2020.

1. /lɑːˈjuːn/ lah-YOON, also UK: /laɪˈ-/ ly-, French: Laâyoune [la.ajun]
2. /ˌɛl aɪˈ(j)uːn/ EL eye-(Y)OON, Spanish: [el (a)aˈʝun]

External links

• Official TV channel
• Official radio channel

v t e Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region
Capital: Laâyoune
Provinces	Boujdour Province Es-Semara Province Laâyoune Province Tarfaya Province
Municipalities	Boujdour El Marsa Laâyoune Smara Tarfaya

• Laayoune
• Municipalities of Morocco
• Populated places in Laâyoune Province
• Populated places in Western Sahara
• Capitals in Africa
• Regional capitals in Morocco
• Provincial capitals in Morocco
• Populated places established in 1938
• 1938 establishments in the Spanish Empire
• 1938 establishments in Africa