Guerguerat ( ar, الكركرات , ary, گرگرات, ber, Gargaren) is a small village in the far south west 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 ...

, from the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

with

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

and from 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 ...

. The village is under the control 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 Moroccan passport control stamp bears the name of Bir Gandouz, a nearby village. Morocco sees this frontier post as the southernmost barrier protecting the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. The area between the Moroccan frontier post and the Mauritanian frontier is controlled by the

Saharawi Republic Sahrawi or Saharawi (also transliterated into Spanish as or French as ), is an Arabic term meaning 'from the Sahara', or more specifically the Western Sahara. It can also mean 'from the desert' in general. Sahrawi may also refer to: People *the ...

. In January 2015, the Polisario established a military presence in

La Güera La Güera ( ar, الڭويرة ''al-Gūwayra''; also known as ''La Agüera'', ''Lagouira'', ''El Gouera'') is a ghost town on the Atlantic coast at the southern tip of Western Sahara, on the western side of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula which i ...

on the seaside, but apparently did not yet start controlling passports of people transiting to Mauritania. Since February 2017, the Gendarmerie Nationale (الدرك الوطني) started to hoist flags and turn back Moroccan lorries showing the contour of Morocco including Western Sahara. The importance of Guerguerat to Morocco lies in two aspects: Moroccan exports of vegetables to Mauritania (especially to Nouadhibou) run through this border station and it is the only way for Moroccans to leave their country by land without a visa to another country. The importance of Guerguerat to the

SADR 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 ...

lies in the fact that this is the only location where it can exert pressure on Morocco by isolating it from Mauritania. Morocco took military action in the area on 13 November 2020, in an attempt to enforce free movement of goods and people between Moroccan-controlled territory and Mauritania. The pro-independence Polisario Front declared an end to the 1991 ceasefire, while Morocco denied there had been any armed clashes between the sides and said the truce remained in place.

Climate

References

Populated places in Western Sahara Disputed territories in Africa {{WesternSahara-geo-stub