| Official name | Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic |
| Name in local language | الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية (ar) ; República árabe saharaui democrática (es) |
| Continent | Africa |
| Subcontinent | North Africa |
| Population (ranking: 173e) | 654,052 inhabitants (2018) |
| Population growth | 3.34 % / year |
| Area | 266,000 km² |
| Density | 2.46 inhabitants / km² |
| GDP (ranking: 224e) | 1.138 billions $USD (2007) |
| GDP/capita (ranking) | 2,500 $USD (2007) |
| GDP growth | 0.00 % / year (2007) |
| Life expectancy (ranking) | 63.00 years (2016) |
| Birth rate | 29.80 ‰ (2016) |
| Fertility rate | 3.93 children / woman (2016) |
| Death rate (ranking) | 8.20 ‰ (2016) |
| Infant mortality rate (ranking) | 53.30 ‰ (2016) |
| Literacy rate | 0.00 % (2018) |
| Official languages | Arabic, French, Spanish |
| Currency | Sahrawi peseta (EHP), Moroccan dirham (de jure), Algerian dinar, Mauritanian ouguiya (de facto) |
| HDI (ranking: n.c.) | 0.000 / 1 (2017) |
| EPI (ranking) | 0.00 (2018) |
| Government | One-party semi-presidential republic |
| Head of State | President Brahim Ghali |
| National Day | 27 February (Republic declared in 1976) |
| ISO Codes | EH, ESH |
| Demonym | Sahrawi, Western Saharan, Sahrawian |
Western Sahara, or Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), is located in northern Africa, southern Morocco, northern Mauritania. It shares a small border with Algeria, and a maritime border with Spain, at the level of the Canary Islands.
It is an internationally unrecognized state, proclaimed on 27 February 1976 by the Polisario Front, which claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara. This territory is also claimed by Morocco, which controls 80% of its area, and calls this region “Southern Provinces”.
The statistics provided here are purely indicative and based on estimates (UN, CIA), with the exception of urban populations (2014 Morocco census, updated in 2017).
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Urban areas (2017)
| Urban areas | Population |
|---|---|
| Laâyoune (capitale proclamée, sous contrôle marocain) | 262,759 inhabitants |
| Dakhla | 117,286 inhabitants |
| Bir Lahlou (capitale temporaire) | 0 inhabitants |