Editing Transport in Western Sahara

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'''Transport in Western Sahara''' is very limited by sea, road and air with [[Camel|camels]] being the primary means of transportation in the desert area.<ref>{{citation |author=Pablo San Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TE2uBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|title=Western Sahara: The Refugee Nation|date=1 October 2010|publisher=University of Wales Press|isbn=978-0-70-832381-6|page=28}}</ref> Road transport by buses remain the major mode of [[Transport|transportation]]. The longest [[conveyor belt]] in the world is {{Convert|100|km|mi}} long, from the [[phosphate]] [[mining|mine]]s of [[Bou Craa|Bu Craa]] to the coast south of [[Laayoune]]. The belt moves about 2,000 metric tons of rock containing phosphate every hour from the mines to [[Laayoune|El-Aaiun]], where it is loaded and shipped.

Portions of [[Western Sahara]] were a [[Spanish Sahara|Spanish Colony]] until 1975 as the last colonial province in Africa. A war erupted between those countries and the [[Sahrawis|Sahrawi]] national [[liberation movement]], the [[Polisario Front]], which proclaimed the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]] (SADR) with a government in exile in [[Tindouf]], [[Algeria]]. [[Mauritania]] withdrew in 1979, and [[Morocco]] eventually secured control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. A [[United Nations|UN]] brokered [[ceasefire]] was implemented from 1991 between Polisario and Moroccan forces.

The world's longest cargo train, the Mauritania Railway cargo train, crosses the southeastern corner of Western Sahara for a short distance. Transit through Western Sahara was disrupted during the war between Polisario and Moroccan forces before the ceasefire was implemented in 1991.

==Background==
[[File:Saguia el-Hamra, Laayoune.jpg|200px|thumb|The road into [[Laayoune|El Aaiún]] from the north crosses the [[Saguia el-Hamra]], a seasonal river]]
Portions of [[Western Sahara]] were a Spanish Colony till 1975 as the last colonial province in Africa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/documentos/98/DT-15-2004-E.pdf |publisher=[[Elcano Royal Institute|Real Instituto Elcano]] |last=González Campo |first=Julio |title=Documento de Trabajo núm. 15 DT-2004. Las pretensiones de Marruecos sobre los territorios españoles en el norte de África (1956–2002) |language=es |page=6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042159/http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/documentos/98/DT-15-2004-E.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> A war erupted between those countries and the [[Sahrawis|Sahrawi]] national [[liberation movement]], the [[Polisario Front]], which proclaimed the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]] (SADR) with a government in exile in [[Tindouf]], [[Algeria]]. [[Mauritania]] withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/93-95/Chapter%208/AFRICA/93-95_8-3-%20WESTERN%20SAHARA.pdf|title=Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara (paragraph 37, p. 10)|date=2 March 1993|access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref> 

Polisario was formed in 1973 to fight for the rights of Saharawi Arab African People. Polisario attacked Moroccan positions many times and have retaliated. Continued war was waged between Polisario and Morocco over prominence in the region backed by Algeria for Polisario and US, France and Saudi Arabia for Morocco. <ref>{{cite book|title=The Air Force role in low-intensity conflict|year = 1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mI7bvRzLOgYC&q=Battle+of+Guelta+Zemmour&pg=PA47|page=47|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=9781428928275}}</ref> Polisario were successful in cutting the transport of Phosphorus across Western Sahara to the Atlantic Coast. The transport infrastructure of the region, including the border towns of [[Morocco]] was affected during the wars.<ref>{{cite book|title=Perspectives on Western Sahara: Myths, Nationalisms, and Geopolitics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&q=western+sahara+transport&pg=PA18|page=18|editor1-first=Anouar|editor1-last= Boukhars|editor2-first= Jacques|editor2-last= Roussellier|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2013|isbn=9781442226869}}</ref>

==Road transport==
[[Western Sahara]] has no rail service,<ref name="gov.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/western-sahara/safety-and-security|title=Western Sahara|website=Gov.Uk|access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> with the exception of a {{Convert|5|km|mi|adj=on}} section of the [[Mauritania Railway]]; which (since the closure of the [[Choum|Choum Tunnel]]), cuts across the extreme south-eastern corner of the territory. The rail-route is considered the world's longest cargo train covering a distance of {{convert|437|mi|km|abbr=on}}.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Passengers with tickets ride in cramped cars while many illegal passengers, sometimes with livestock, ride on top of [[Railroad car|freight cars]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/opinions/cnnphotos-sutter-mauritania-train/|title=The 'Normal Train' That Crosses the Sahara|last=Sutter|first=John D.|date=26 January 2016|work=CNN|access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> 

There are only {{Convert|6200|km|mi}} of roads, of which {{Convert|1126|km|mi}} are [[Road surface|metalled]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=United States. Office of International Marketing|author2=United States. Domestic and International Business Administration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhdrfsCIERgC|title=Market profiles for Africa|date=15 June 2009|publisher=Dept. of Commerce, Domestic and International Business Administration, Bureau of International Commerce, Office of International Marketing : for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1976|page=26}}</ref> A small network of highways provides limited ground travel connections. N1 highway is a major roadway traversing along the Atlantic coastline of the country. There are a few roads in the north and only two roads in the south that branch off of N1. All other roads are local ones in the various cities and towns. Off road driving is considered dangerous since there are "thousands of unexploded [[Land mine|mines]]" in the area.<ref name="gov.uk"/> Highway Road plans in the region started by [[Algeria]] have been used to increase its own influence in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wPGAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA133|title=Perspectives on Western Sahara: Myths, Nationalisms, and Geopolitics|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=9781442226852|editor-last=Boukhars|editor-first=Anouar|location=New York|editor-last2=Roussellier|editor-first2=Jacques|last=Ammour|first=Laurence Aida|chapter=The Algerian Foreign Policy on Western Sahara}}</ref> There are only 4 companies licensed to use buses in Western Sahara which are: CTM, Supratours, Satas and Sat; CTM and Supratours buses have daily service from Dakhla to Marrakech via Laayoune and Agadir.<ref>{{cite book|title=Marrakesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODJtOFUFQtEC&q=bus+companies+in+western+sahara|first=Daniel|last= Jacobs|year=2004|isbn=9781843533214|publisher=Rough Guides|page=125}}</ref>

== Rail transport ==

Since the closure of the [[Choum|Choum Tunnel]], a {{convert|5|km|abbr=on}} section of [[Mauritania Railway]] cuts through the [[Polisario Front]]-[[Free Zone (region)|controlled part]] of the [[Western Sahara]] ({{coord|21.354867|N|13.012644|W}}).
==Ports==
The major port in Western Sahara is Ad [[Dakhla, Western Sahara|Dakhla]] - small docking facility (Port Marchand Lassarga/Port-Îlot) located in a shelter bay south of the airport, [[Cape Bojador|Cabo Bojador]] - small port with fishing boats store inland and [[Laayoune]] (El Aaiun) - major deep water port facility; used by vessels carrying phosphate, large fishing vessels and military patrol boats. The longest [[conveyor belt]] in the world is {{Convert|100|km|mi}} long, from the [[phosphate]] [[mining|mine]]s of [[Bou Craa|Bu Craa]] to the coast south of Laayoune.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://gizmodo.com/the-worlds-longest-conveyor-belt-system-can-be-seen-fro-1566742063|title=The World's Longest Conveyor Belt System Can Be Seen From Space|last=Zhang|first=Sarah|date=24 April 2014|work=Gizmodo|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> 

The belt moves about 2,000 metric tons of rock containing phosphate every hour from the mines to El-Aaiun, where it is loaded and shipped.<ref name=":0" />

==Air transport==
[[File:Airport Terminal, Dakhla.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Dakhla Airport]]]]
There are six airfields, three with paved runways and three unpaved surfaces, and one helipad (military in Cape Bojador). [[Hassan I Airport]], serving [[Laayoune|El Aaiún]] (Laâyoune), is an international airport, but the carriers at the airport connect only to regional destinations (to [[Morocco]] or the [[Canary Islands]]). [[Dakhla Airport]] is located in [[Dakhla, Western Sahara|Dakhla]] and has commercial operational flights. [[Smara Airport]] in [[Smara]] and [[La Güera Airport]] serving [[La Güera]] are other smaller airports in Western Sahara.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.icao.int/anb/aig/Taxonomy/R4CDLocationIndicatorsbystate.pdf | title = ICAO Location Indicators by State | publisher = [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] | date = 12 January 2006|access-date=11 November 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of airports in Western Sahara]] 

==Sources==
*[[CIA World Factbook]] (2010).

== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==External links==
{{Economy of Western Sahara}}
{{Africa in topic|Transport in}}
{{Western Sahara topics}}

[[Category:Transport in Western Sahara| ]]