Countries
Key facts
- Capital
- El Aaiún
- Region
- Africa, Northern Africa
- Population
- 273,008
- Area
- 266,000 km²
- Currency
- Moroccan dirham (MAD), Algerian dinar (DZD), Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU)
- Languages
- Arabic, Hassaniyya
- Calling code
- +212
- Internet domain
- .eh
- ISO codes
- EH, ESH, 732
- Time zone
- UTC+1:00
- United Nations
- Not a member
- Postal code pattern
- ##### (# = digit, @ = letter)
Land and position
Western Sahara covers about 266,000 square kilometres. By area it ranks 78th among the 250 countries and territories on this site. It is a little smaller than Gabon and a little larger than Ecuador. It shares a land border with 3 neighbours: Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania. Its centre lies at about 24° north, 13° west, in the northern hemisphere.
Neighbours
People
About 273,008 people live in Western Sahara (GeoNames figure, year not stated). That makes it the 186th most populous of the 246 places on this site with a figure. On average there are 1.0 people to each square kilometre. Languages listed for it: Arabic, Hassaniyya. A person from Western Sahara is called Sahrawi.
Money and economy
The currency is the Moroccan dirham (code MAD, symbol DH). It is also the main currency of Morocco. Also listed as used here: Algerian dinar (DZD), Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU).
Time
Western Sahara uses one time zone, UTC+1:00 (Africa/El Aaiun). Clocks stay the same all year: there is no daylight saving time.
Time now: loading
Offsets are for January 2026. See Time Zones for a converter.
Largest cities
| City | People |
|---|---|
| Laayoune | 196,331 |
| Dakhla | 106,277 |
| Boujdour | 42,651 |
| El Marsa | 28,848 |
City figures are from GeoNames and count the city itself, not the wider urban area. They can be some years old, so use them to see the order of size.
More in Northern Africa
Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia. See the whole region.
Figures were collected on 11 November 2026 from the World Bank, GeoNames and the open countries data set. See About and data sources. Borders and names follow those sources and do not express any view on disputed territory.