Guelmim-Oued Noun ( ar, ڭلميم-وادي نون, gulmīm wādī nūn; ber, ⴳⵓⵍⵎⵉⵎ ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏⵓⵏ, gulmim asif nun) is one of the twelve regions of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. The southeastern part of the region is located in the disputed territory of

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 r ...

and a small strip of land in this area is administered by the

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a p ...

. The region as a whole covers an area of 46,108 km² and had a population of 433,757 as of the

2014 Moroccan census The 2014 Moroccan census was held in Morocco between 1 September and 20 September 2014. The census was conducted by the High Planning Commission.Guelmim Guelmim (in ber, Agʷelmim, ⴰⴳⵯⵍⵎⵉⵎ, in ar, ڭلميم, also spelled in European sources: Glaimim, Goulimine or Guelmin), is a city in southern Morocco, often called ''Gateway to the Desert''. It is the capital of the Guelmim-Oued N ...

Geography

Guelmim-Oued Noun borders the regions of

Souss-Massa Souss-Massa ( ar, سوس ماسة, sūs māssa; ber, ⵙⵓⵙ ⵎⴰⵙⵙⴰ, sus massa) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 51,642 km² and had a population of 2,676,847 as of the 2014 Moroccan census. The cap ...

to the northeast and

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 Morocc ...

to the south. It borders

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

's Tindouf Province to the east and

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

Tiris Zemmour Region Tiris Zemmour ( ar, ولاية تيرس زمور) is the northernmost region of Mauritania. Its capital is Zouérat. Other major cities/towns include F'dérik and Bir Moghrein. The region borders Algeria to the north-east, Mali to east, the Mau ...

to the southeast. Long stretches of virgin beach line its

Atlantic 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 an ...

coast in the northwest. The region is bisected by the usually dry lower course of the

Draa River :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...

which runs east to west. The capital Guelmim and the Noun River ( ar, واد نون, ''

Wad Wad is an old mining term for any black manganese oxide or hydroxide mineral-rich rock in the oxidized zone of various ore deposits. Typically closely associated with various iron oxides. Specific mineral varieties include pyrolusite, lithiophorit ...

Noun'') are located in the north and together give the region its name. A portion of the

Moroccan Wall The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or Berm is an approximately sand wall or berm running south to north through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It separates the Moroccan-controlled areas (the Southern Provinces) on the w ...

is located in the southeastern corner of the region: the area to its east is under the control of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

History

Guelmim-Oued Noun was formed in September 2015 by merging

Sidi Ifni Province Sidi Ifni is a province in the Moroccan region of Guelmim-Oued Noun. It was created in 2009 from the southern part of Tiznit Province, and recorded a population of 115,691 in the 2014 Moroccan census.Souss-Massa-Drâa Souss-Massa-Drâa (; ber, ⵙⵓⵙ ⵎⴰⵙⴰ ⴷⵔⴰ) was formerly one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It covered an area of 70,880 km² and had a population of 3,601,917 (2014 census). The capital is Agadir. One o ...

region, with three provinces from the former

Guelmim-Es Semara Guelmim-Es Semara () was one of the sixteen former regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It covered an area of 122,825 km² and had a population of 501,921 (2014 census). The regional capital was Guelmim. Geography The southern half of Guelmin-Es ...

region.

Government

Abderrahim Ben Bouaida was elected as the regional council's first president on 14 September 2015. He is a member of the

National Rally of Independents National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(RNI). Mohamed Benribak was appointed governor (''wali'') of the region on 13 October 2015. He was succeeded by Mohamed Ennajem Abhai in 2017.

Subdivisions

Guelmim-Oued Noun comprises four provinces: *

Assa-Zag Province Assa-Zag is a province in the Morocco, Moroccan economic region of Guelmim-Oued Noun. Its population in 2004 was 43,535 The major cities and towns are* Assa, Morocco, Assa * Zag, Morocco, Zag Subdivisions The province is divided administratively in ...

Guelmim Province Guelmim is a province in the Morocco, Moroccan economic region of Guelmim-Oued Noun. Its population in 2004 was 166,685 The major cities and towns are* Bouizakarne * Guelmim * Taghjijt * Ifrane Atlas Saghir Subdivisions The province is divided admi ...

Sidi Ifni Province Sidi Ifni is a province in the Moroccan region of Guelmim-Oued Noun. It was created in 2009 from the southern part of Tiznit Province, and recorded a population of 115,691 in the 2014 Moroccan census.Tan-Tan Province Tan-Tan is a province in the Moroccan economic region of Guelmim-Oued Noun. Its population in 2004 was 70,146 The major cities and towns are* El Ouatia * Tan-Tan Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in Tan-Tan Provin ...

Economy and infrastructure

Fishing is an important economic activity: there are ports at

Sidi Ifni Sidi Ifni ( Berber: ''Ifni'', ⵉⴼⵏⵉ, ar, سيدي إفني) is a city located on the west coast of Morocco, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 20,051 people. The economic base of the city is fishing. It is located in ...

and at

El Ouatia El Ouatia, also known as Tan-Tan Plage (Tan-Tan Beach), is a town and List of municipalities, communes, and arrondissements of Morocco, municipality in Tan-Tan of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region of Morocco. At the time of the 2004 Moroccan census, 20 ...

. Beach tourism is under development. The major roads in the region are the N1 and N12. There are airports at Guelmim and Tan-Tan.

References

{{Regions of Morocco Geography of Western Sahara