Transport in Western Sahara
Encyclopedia

Rail

Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

 has no freight or passenger service railways, with the exception of a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) section of the Mauritania Railway
Mauritania Railway
The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Opened in 1963, it consists of a single, railway line linking the iron mining centre of Zouerate with the port of Nouadhibou, via Fderik and Choum...

; which (since the closure of the Choum Tunnel), cuts across the extreme south-eastern corner of the territory.

Roads

There are only 6200 kilometres (3,852.5 mi) of roads, of which 1350 kilometres (838.9 mi) are metalled.

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 branches off of N1.

All other roads are local ones in the various cities and towns.

Ports

Ports include:
  • Ad Dakhla
    Dakhla, Western Sahara
    -External links:**...

     - 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
  • Laayoune
    El Aaiún
    El-Aaiún , is a city in Western Sahara founded by the Spanish in 1928. Administered by Morocco since 1976, El-Aaiún is the capital of what the Moroccan government call the region of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra, and POLISARIO call Occupied Territories...

     (El Aaiun) - major deep water port facility; used by vessels arrying phosphate, large fishing vessels, military patrol boats, etc...


The longest conveyor belt
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...

 in the world is 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) long, from the phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

 mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

s of Bu Craa to the coast south of Laayoune.

Airports

There are 6 airfields, 3 with paved runways and 3 unpaved surfaces, and one helipad (military in Cape Bojador). Hassan I Airport is an international airport, but the carriers at the airport connects only to regional destinations (to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 or the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

).

Source

  • CIA World Factbook (2010).
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