El Marsa 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 Hamburg, Manch ...

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

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

Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It is mainly located in the disputed territory of Western Sahara: the western part of the region is administered by Morocco and the eastern part by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic ...

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

El Aaiún Laayoune or El Aaiún (, Latn, ar, al-ʕuyūn , , ) is the largest city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara, with a population of 271,344 in 2023. The city is the ''de jure'' capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, though it ...

) 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 borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

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, , ) 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 urban municipa ...

References

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