Geography of Western Sahara
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Size of Western Sahara
Area
Western Sahara encompasses approximately 266,000 square kilometers (102,703 square miles), which places it among the larger regions of Africa. Western Sahara is slightly larger than the United Kingdom but smaller than some of Africa’s largest countries, such as Algeria and Sudan.
Geographic context
Western Sahara is bordered by Morocco to the north and east, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.
The landscape of Western Sahara is dominated by desert terrain, with features such as sand dunes, rocky plateaus, and sparse vegetation. The coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean provide a contrast to the inland desert, offering a more temperate climate and supporting limited but important marine and coastal ecosystems.
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Land
Terrain
The terrain is mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast.
Elevation extremes:
- Lowest point: Sebjet Tah, −55 metres (−180 ft), a depression in the northwest part of Western Sahara straddling the Morocco border
- Highest point: Unnamed elevation, 701 metres (2,300 ft), east of Awsard (Aousserd)
Natural resources
Phosphates, iron ore, and fishing resources on Atlantic Ocean coast
Land use
Arable land: 0.02%
- Permanent crops: 0%
- Other: 99.98% (2005)
Irrigated land: N/A
Natural hazards
Hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility. Flash flooding occurs during spring months.
Environment
Climate
Western Sahara has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). Annual average rainfall is below 50 millimetres (2.0 in) everywhere. Along the Atlantic coast, average temperatures, both high and low, are constant and very moderated throughout the year because cool offshore ocean currents considerably cool off the climate, especially during the day. However, summertime is long and extremely hot and wintertime is short and very warm to truly hot further in the interior, where cooling marine influences aren't felt anymore. Average high temperatures exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in summer during a prolonged period of time but can reach as high as 50 °C (122 °F) or even more in places such as Smara, Tichla, Bir Gandus, Bir Anzarane, Aghouinite, Aousserd and others. Average high temperatures exceed 20 °C (68 °F) in winter but average low temperatures can drop to 7 °C (45 °F) in some places. The sky is usually clear and bright throughout the year and sunny weather is the norm.
Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Western Sahara, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
- Northernmost points – the border with Morocco*
- Easternmost points – the northern section of the border with Mauritania/Algeria**
- Southernmost point – the southern tip of Ras Nouadhibou (Cabo Blanco/Cap Blanc)
- Westernmost point – Cape Dubouchage on Ras Nouadhibou
- Note: Western Sahara does not have a northernmost point, the border being formed by a circle of latitude
- Note: Western Sahara does not have an easternmost point, the border being formed by a meridian