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 A ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 The moroccan census of the population, officially named general census of the population and the habitat (RGPH), is a census taking place every ten years in the kingdom. It is established under the responsibility of the Hig ...

. The capital of the region is Guelmim.

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 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 ...

's Tiris Zemmour Region 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 ...

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 ...

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 The 2014 Moroccan census The moroccan census ...

, formerly part of Souss-Massa-Drâa 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 (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 * Guelmim Province *

Tan-Tan Province Tan-Tan is a province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's terri ...

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. 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