Laâyoune

Laâyoune, also El Aaiún, in Arabic al'ayuun, is the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony now mostly controlled and occupied by Morocco. Laâyoune is located at 27°9'13" North, 13°12'12" West (27.153611, -13.203333). http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html

Related Topics:
Western Sahara - Spanish - Morocco

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The city has a population of around 200,000 and is the largest city in Western Sahara. Most of its inhabitants are Moroccan settlers that moved (or were moved) into the area after Morocco invaded Western Sahara in 1975, but a significant minority are native Sahrawis.

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The term "El Aaiún" is the Spanish name for the territory, and one that was used exclusively before the Moroccan invasion of Western Sahara. The term "Laâyoune" is a French transliteration used in Moroccan literature. The former is the preferred nomenclature of the Sahrawis. Whichever way you write it, in Arabic it means "the springs" (or "the eyes").

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There is a UN Mission, MINURSO, in the city that administers the cease fire settlement of 1991 between Morocco and the Front Polisario, which has been fighting the occupation since its beginning and claims Western Sahara as an independent state.

Related Topics:
MINURSO - 1991 - Western Sahara

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In the spring of 2005 Sahrawi demonstrations demanding independence and the release of political prisoners rocked the city, and a trend towards opening up the closed territory seems to have been broken off, with several expulsions of foreign journalists and human rights delegations.

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