El Marsa ar, المرسى is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

. According to the Moroccan authorities, El Marsa belongs to Laayoune Province in the region of

Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra ( ar, العيون - الساقية الحمراء, al-ʿuyūn as-sāqiya l-ḥamrāʾ; ber, ⵍⵄⵢⵓⵏ ⵜⴰⵔⴳⴰ ⵜⴰⵣⴳⴳⵯⴰⵖⵜ, lɛyun targa tazggʷaɣt) is one of the twelve regions of Moroc ...

. Its population in 2014 is 17,917, the second-largest in the province (behind the regional capital

El Aaiún Laâyoune ( , also , ) or El Aaiún ( , ; Hassaniya Arabic: , romanized: ; ber, ⵍⵄⵢⵓⵏ, Leɛyun; ar, label=Modern Standard Arabic, Literary Arabic, العيون, al-ʿUyūn/el-ʿUyūn, lit=The Spring (hydrology), Springs) is the la ...

) and third in the region. It has a seaport on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and therefore is also known as ''Laayoune Plage'' (El Aaiún Beach). The town also has a hospital. El Marsa is to the west of

, on the N1, Morocco's main highway, which also goes into the Western Sahara, where it is the last settlement south until

Boujdour Boujdour (or Bujdur, Bojador, ar, بوجدور) is a city in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, near Cape Bojador. It is de facto administered by Morocco, which includes it in the administrative division of the Southern Provinces. It is an ...

References

Populated places in Western Sahara Port cities and towns in Western Sahara Municipalities of Morocco Populated places in Laâyoune Province {{LaâyouneSakiaElHamra-geo-stub