Laayoune or El Aaiún (Arabic: العيون, romanized: al-ʿUyūn, lit. 'The Springs') is the largest city of the disputed territory named Western Sahara, with a population of 271,344 in 2023. The city is de facto under Moroccan administration. 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's still under the supervision of MINURSO, an UN mission.

The town is divided in two by the dry river of Saguia el-Hamra. On the south side is the old lower town, constructed by Spanish colonists. The St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral w...Read more

Laayoune or El Aaiún (Arabic: العيون, romanized: al-ʿUyūn, lit. 'The Springs') is the largest city of the disputed territory named Western Sahara, with a population of 271,344 in 2023. The city is de facto under Moroccan administration. 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's still under the supervision of MINURSO, an UN mission.

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

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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[2]

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.[citation needed]

After the Spanish withdrew in 1975, Laayoune, along with much of the rest of the Western Sahara, was annexed by Morocco.[2] 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.[2]

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.[2]

^ 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. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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