Editing Demographics of Western Sahara

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[[File:Western Sahara single age population pyramid 2020.png|350px|alt=|thumb|upright=1.4|Western Sahara [[population pyramid]] in 2020]]
All data about demographic information regarding [[Western Sahara]] are extremely error-prone, regardless of source.  The last official census was conducted by Spain in 1970, and is considered unreliable due to large nomadic populations.{{Cn|date=May 2025}}

Following the 1975 [[Green March]], the Moroccan state has sponsored [[Moroccan settlers|settlement schemes]] enticing thousands of Moroccans to move into [[Southern Provinces|the Moroccan-occupied part of Western Sahara]] (80% of the territory). By 2015, it was estimated that Moroccan settlers made up at least two thirds of the 500,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/06/morocco-western-sahara-referendum-delay|title=Western Sahara's stranded refugees consider renewal of Morocco conflict|first=Whitney|last=Shefte|date=6 January 2015|website=the Guardian}}</ref> Under [[international law]], Morocco's transfer of its own civilians into [[United Nations list of non-self-governing territories|Non-Self-Governing territory]] is in direct violation of [[Fourth Geneva Convention#Article 49: Deportations, transfers, evacuations|Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/gaspd664.doc.htm|title = Mixed Reviews for Morocco as Fourth Committee Hears Petitioners on Western Sahara, Amid Continuing Decolonization Debate &#124; Meetings Coverage and Press Releases}}</ref>

The religion in Western Sahara is [[Sunni]] [[Islam]]. The major ethnic groups  are [[Arab]] and [[Berbers]]. The most common languages are [[Hassaniya Arabic]] and [[Moroccan Arabic]].<ref>{{cite web | title =The World Factbook - Western Sahara | publisher =[[CIA]] | url =https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wi.html | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070612210735/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wi.html | url-status =dead | archive-date =2007-06-12 | access-date =2023-07-06 }}[]</ref>

==CIA World Factbook demographic statistics==
The following demographic statistics are from the [[CIA World Factbook]], unless otherwise indicated.

[[Image:Western Sahara population.svg|center|550px|Demographics of Western Sahara, Data of [[FAO]], year 2005; Number of inhabitants in thousands.]]

===Languages===
[[Modern Standard Arabic]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], the former colonial language, are the [[official language]]s of the [[Polisario Front]], based in [[Tindouf]], [[Algeria]]. [[Hassaniya]], an Arabic dialect, is the native language spoken in Western Sahara and in the refugee camps in Tindouf in Algeria. There is also a significant presence of [[Berber language]] speakers in the northern parts of the territory of Western Sahara.

[[File:Señal de tráfico en la N1 indicando las distancias a El Aaiun y Dajla (Sahara Occidental).jpg|thumb|left|Bilingual road sign in [[French language|French]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]], Western Sahara.]]

Hassaniya, primarily spoken at home, is dominated by the Moroccan dialect spoken in the streets, workplace, and schools. This is because the great majority of the population consists of Moroccans who settled in Western Sahara. [[French language|French]] is also commonly used by the Moroccan administration. In the urban areas [[Moroccan Arabic]] is now spoken, as [[Morocco]] controls and administers most of the territory of Western Sahara and all of its cities, and considers it an inseparable part of the country. The [[Constitution of Morocco|Moroccan constitution]] stipulates two official languages for the Kingdom of Morocco, including Western Sahara: Berber (Tamazight) and Arabic.

Spanish is common among [[Sahrawi people]] and especially among the Sahrawi diaspora, with the [[Sahrawi Press Service]], official news service of the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]], being available in Spanish since 2001<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spsrasd.info/es/content/quienes-somos |title=Quienes somos? |work=spsrasd.info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925080350/http://www.spsrasd.info/es/content/quienes-somos |archive-date=2011-09-25 }}</ref> and the [[Sahara Film Festival]], Western Sahara's only film festival, showing mainly Spanish-language films. Spanish is used to document Sahrawi poetry and oral traditions and has also been used in Sahrawi literature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/07/14/western-sahara-poetry-and-spanish-the-permanent-link/|title=Western Sahara: Poetry and Spanish – The Permanent Links · Global Voices|work=Global Voices|date=14 July 2008}}</ref> Despite Spanish having been used by the Sahrawi people for over a century, the [[Cervantes Institute]] does not provide support or Spanish-language education to Sahrawis in Western Sahara and the [[Sahrawi refugee camps]] in Algeria. A group of Sahrawi poets known as 'Generación de la Amistad saharaui' produces Sahrawi literature in Spanish.

===Religions===
{{main|Islam in Western Sahara|Catholic Church in Western Sahara}}

[[Sunni Islam]] is the major religion in Western Sahara.<ref>{{cite web
 | title =The World Factbook - Western Sahara
 | publisher =[[CIA]]
 | url =https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wi.html
 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070612210735/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wi.html
 | url-status =dead
 | archive-date =2007-06-12
 | access-date =2007-10-21 }}[]</ref> Sunni Muslims constitute about 99.9% of the population. Prior to 1975 there were over 20,000 [[Roman Catholicism in Western Sahara|Roman Catholics in Western Sahara]] but {{as of|2007|lc=y}} there were only around 100.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sunni-islam|title=Sunni Islam|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref>

===Nationality===
{{main|Sahrawi nationality law|Moroccan nationality law}}

''Noun:''
Western Saharan(s)
<br>''adjective:''
Western Saharan

===Population===
400,000 (November 2014  est.)

===Age structure===
''0–14 years:''
44.9% (male 92,418/female 89,570)
<br>''15–64 years:''
53.8% (male 105,191/female 108,803)
<br>''65 years and over:''
2.3% (male 3,881/female 5,337) (2010 est.)

===Population growth rate===
3.097% (2011 est.)

===Birth rate===
39.54 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

===Death rate===
11.49 deaths/1,000 population (2010 est.)

===Net migration rate===
−6.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Morocco has a policy of subsidizing Moroccan settlers in the territory.<ref name="guardian">{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/06/morocco-western-sahara-referendum-delay |title= Western Sahara's Stranded Refugees Consider Renewal of Morocco Conflict |last=Shefte |first=Whitney |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 January 2015}}</ref>

===Infant mortality rate===
69.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

===Life expectancy at birth===
''total population:''
54.32 years
<br>''male:''
52 years
<br>''female:''
56.73 years (2010 est.)

===Total fertility rate===
4.3 children born/woman (2011 est.)

===Literacy===
''definition:''
NA
<br>''total population:''
50%
<br>''male:''
75%
<br>''female:''
25%

==Refugees==
{{main|Sahrawi refugees}}

The events triggered by the Moroccan and Mauritanian joint invasion of [[Western Sahara]] at the end of 1975 are directly linked to the large displacement of the [[Sahrawi people|Saharawi]] population, most of whom live as refugees in south-west [[Algeria]]. The major bulk of Saharawis became refugees during the war between the [[Polisario Front]] and [[Morocco]]. The south-western desert region near [[Tindouf]] offered a potential safe region. Algeria, in its rivalry with Morocco, offered the Sahrawis a safe place to settle and actively supported the Polisario.

The next Saharawi exodus, although on a smaller scale, took place in 1979 when [[Mauritania]] withdrew from the conflict and Morocco annexed the rest of Western Sahara. Exact figures cannot be provided for the numbers that fled the territory in those two waves, but the estimations are between 1/3 and 2/3 of the total population at that time. The current size of the population in the refugee camps is believed to be around 165,000.

Used by the Algerian government, this figure is the most widely quoted by NGOs and is also used by the UNHCR and the World Food Programme to raise funds for food aid to the refugees. In the 2004 WFP meeting in Rome, the number of refugees was officially recognized at 158,000.<ref name="forcedmigration.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo035/fmo035-4.htm |title=FMO Research Guide |access-date=2009-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011054045/http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo035/fmo035-4.htm |archive-date=2008-10-11 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Legal status of Western Sahara]]
*[[Demographics of Morocco]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ethnic groups in Western Sahara}}
{{Africa in topic|Demographics of}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of Western Sahara}}
[[Category:Demographics of Western Sahara| ]]