Western Sahara

Western Sahara occupies 266  thousand sq. km in the North Africa along 1300-kilometre coast of Atlantic ocean. From the end of XIX century was colony of Spain, in 1975 it is transferred under control of Morocco and Mauritania, divided it among themselves. In 1976 independence of this terrain has been intoned.

Western Sahara represents a deserted flat plateau with very uniform landform, here and there cut by dry race courses of the rivers. Occasionally there are rocks of a vulcanic parentage to which the wind for millenaries has given arabesque forms. Stony desert predominates, places it is replaced by sandy crescent-shaped sand dunes. A climate hot and dry though and is softer, than in intrinsic regions of Sahara. Heats are kept all year long, sharp daily oscillations - from 0  are characteristic; °C at night to 65  °C in the afternoon. Deposits falls out 50-200  mm a year. Tornadoes, sandy storms are frequent.

The Vegetation is presented by rare graminoids and shrubs, and only after rains desert is for a short while covered with a green carpet. There are drought-resistant acacias, arborvitaes, dwarf palms. From fauna mouflons, wild boars, some aspects of antelopes, cheetahs, jackals, various gnawers, auks and reptiles dwell.

The Population (nearby 213  thousand persons) consists of several nations, mainly, Arabian and berberskih. The Administrative centre and, per se, a unique city of the country - El Aaiun. Other rather large settlements - Dakhla, Smara, Gjuera.