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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is a legitimate description when the title is already adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
'''Transport in Western Sahara''' is very limited by sea, road and air with [[Camel|camels]] being the primary means of
Portions of [[Western Sahara]] were a Spanish Colony
The world's longest cargo train, the Mauritania Railway cargo train,
==Background==
[[File:Saguia el-Hamra, Laayoune.jpg|200px|thumb|The road into [[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
==
[[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
There are only {{Convert|6200|km|mi}} of roads, of which {{Convert|1126|km|mi}} are [[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
▲There are only {{Convert|6200|km|mi}} of roads, of which {{Convert|1126|km|mi}} are [[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&q|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|p=26}}</ref> A small network of highways provide 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|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|pages=|quote=|editor-last2=Roussellier|editor-first2=Jacques|via=|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&dq=bus+companies+in+western+sahara&source=gbs_navlinks_s|first=Daniel|last= Jacobs|year=2004|isbn=9781843533214|publisher=Rough Guides|page=125}}</ref>
== Rail transport ==
Since the closure of the [[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 are Ad [[Dakhla, Western Sahara|Dakhla]] - small docking facility (Port Marchand Lassarga/Port-Îlot) located in a shelter bay south of the airport, [[Cabo Bojador]] - small port with fishing boats store inland and [[El Aaiún|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 [[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
[[File:Airport Terminal, Dakhla.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Dakhla Airport]]]]▼
▲The major port in Western Sahara are Ad [[Dakhla, Western Sahara|Dakhla]] - small docking facility (Port Marchand Lassarga/Port-Îlot) located in a shelter bay south of the airport, [[Cabo Bojador]] - small port with fishing boats store inland and [[El Aaiún|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 [[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|via=}}</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 [[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
==See also==
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