Laayoune

Laayoune is the most populous municipality in the Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region: in 2024 it had 262,791 inhabitants.¹ The city is home to 88.9 per cent of the population of Laayoune province; the second-largest municipality in the province is the port municipality of El Marsa, with 9.8 per cent.²

The region has grown strongly since 1982: its population has more than tripled, reaching 451,028 in 2024, with average growth of 2.06 per cent a year between 2014 and 2024.³ 92.4 per cent of the region's inhabitants live in towns; in Laayoune province the figure is 98.7 per cent.⁴

The port of Laayoune went into operation in 1986 and was completed in 1987. It was intended to secure supplies for the Southern Provinces and to develop the region's fishing; extensions followed in 1991, 1997 and 2003, and King Mohammed VI أيده الله (may Allah assist him) inaugurated the third on 22 March 2006.⁵

Handling around five million tonnes a year, it is the most important multi-purpose port in the south: imports are mainly fuels, exports phosphate and sand. It accounts for 89 per cent of port trade in the south, and with about 43 per cent of coastal fishing landings it is the country's largest fishing port.⁶

National road 1 runs south from Laayoune to Lagouira. Hassan I airport lies about 25 kilometres from the port.⁷

The climate is very dry: the Laayoune station records an average of only 48 millimetres of precipitation a year. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from just under 23 degrees in January to 31 degrees in August.⁸