Western Sahara: Provinces & Urban Places - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information

The territory of Western Sahara is disputed: Most of its parts are currently annexed by Morocco. The area east of the Moroccan Wall is controlled by the Democratic Arabian Republic Sahara (R.A.S.D.). The following area and population figures are based on the current Moroccan regions and the course of the Moroccan Wall; they partly do not observe the former demarcation between Morocco and Western Sahara, which is depicted in the map as grey line.

Provinces

The population of the provinces of Western Sahara according to census results.

The population in the area controlled by the R.A.S.D. is not determinable. The following population figures also do not consider the Sahrawi refugees living in Algerian camps (about 100,000).

Name	Abbr.	Native	Capital	Area A (km²)	Population Census (C) 1982-09-03	Population Census (C) 1994-09-02	Population Census (C) 2004-09-02	Population Census (C) 2014-09-01	Population Census (C) 2024-09-01
Aousserd	AOU	أوسرد	Aousserd	33,700	Oued Ed-Dahab	2,507	20,513	16,190	24,498	3370000
Boujdour	BOU	بوجدور	Boujdour	51,100	8,481	21,691	46,129	50,566	65,381	5110000
Es Semara	SEM	السمارة	Es Semara	37,130	20,480	39,726	60,426	66,014	73,864	3713000
Laâyoune	LAA	العيون	Laâyoune	10,790	113,411	145,727	199,603	238,096	295,555	1079000
Oued Ed-Dahab	OED	وادي الذهب	Dakhla	44,700	21,496	34,244	78,854	126,765	195,467	4470000
R.A.S.D.	RASD			82,500	...	...	...	...	...	8250000
Tarfaya	TAR	طرفاية		12,270	Laâyoune	8,251	10,420	13,082	16,228	1227000
Western Sahara	ESH	الصحراء الغربية	Laâyoune	272,000	163,868	252,146	415,945	510,713	670,993

(1982) The Statesman's Year-Book.
(1994) (2004) (2014) (2024) Haut Commissariat au Plan, Royaume du Maroc.
(area) Areas figures are calculated taking province borders from OpenStreetMap (OSM).

Major Urban Places

	Name	Adm.	Population Census (C) 2024-09-01
1	Laâyoune	LAA	262,791
2	Dakhla	OED	165,463
3	Boujdour	BOU	57,360
4	Es Semara	SEM	56,607

Contents: Urban Places

The population of the urban communes and urban centers in Western Sahara by census years.

Name	Status	Adm.	Native	Population Census (C) 1982-09-03	Population Census (C) 1994-09-02	Population Census (C) 2004-09-02	Population Census (C) 2014-09-01	Population Census (C) 2024-09-01	Area
Aousserd (Auserd)	RC	AOU	أوسرد	...	...	...	...	...	0
Bir Gandouz	UrbC	AOU	بئر كندوز	...	...	...	...	8,246	0
Boujdour (Cabo Bojador, Būjaydūr)	UCom	BOU	بوجدور	3,597	15,167	36,843	42,651	57,360	2356
Dakhla (Ad-Dākhlah)	UCom	OED	الداخلة	17,309	29,831	58,104	106,277	165,463	6689
El Marsa (Al-Marsā)	UCom	LAA	المرسى	...	4,334	10,229	17,917	28,848	2723
Es Semara (Smara, As-Samārah)	UCom	SEM	السمارة	17,753	28,750	40,347	57,035	56,607	1328
Laâyoune (El Aaiún, Al-'Ayūn)	UCom	LAA	العيون	93,875	136,950	183,691	217,732	262,791	8363
Lagouira (La Gouèra)	UCom	AOU	الكويرة	513	509	3,726	0	3,127	0

Haut Commissariat au Plan, Royaume du Maroc.

Population Structure

Further information about the population structure.

Gender (C 2014)
Males	241,745
Females	213,024

Age Groups (C 2014)
0-14 years	132,047
15-64 years	310,293
65+ years	12,429

Age Distribution (C 2014)
70+ years	7,855
60-69 years	13,808
50-59 years	35,244
40-49 years	56,687
30-39 years	80,041
20-29 years	89,570
10-19 years	79,933
0-9 years	91,631

Urbanization (C 2024)
Rural	77,521
Urban	593,472

Citizenship (C 2024)
Morocco	663,375
Foreign Citizenship	7,618

Literacy (A10+) (C 2014)
yes	375,970
no	78,799