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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 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 [[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 Colony until 1975 as the last colonial province in Africa. A war erupted between those countries and the [[Sahrawi people|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 1997 between Polisario and Moroccan forces.
[[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|last=|first=|date=|website=Gov.Uk|publisher=|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 Tunnel]]), cuts across the extreme south-eastern corner of the territory. 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|via=}}</ref>▼
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 Polisaro and Moroccan forces before the ceasefire was implemented in 1997.
==Background==
[[File:Saguia el-Hamra, Laayoune.jpg|200px|thumb
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 [[Sahrawi people|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 Sahawari 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
▲[[File:Saguia el-Hamra, Laayoune.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The road into [[El Aaiún—Laayoune]] from the north crosses the [[Saguia el-Hamra]], a seasonal river where flamingos can be seen]]
There are only {{Convert|6200|km|mi}} of roads, of which {{Convert|1126|km|mi}} are [[metalled]].<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=
==Air transport==
[[File:Airport Terminal, Dakhla.jpg
There are
==See also==
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== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}
==External links==
{{Economy of Western Sahara}}
{{Africa in topic|Transport in}}
{{Western Sahara topics}}
[[Category:Transport in Western Sahara| ]]
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