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'''Western Sahara''' is a mostly Moroccan-controlled territory in [[Northern Africa]]. Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since the 1960s when it was a Spanish colony.
When travelling traveling here, you are de-facto travelling traveling on the territory of the kingdom of [[Morocco]], so all visa-issues, police control checkpoints etc. are mostly applying to [[Morocco]]. Speaking a little bit of French, Spanish or Arabic will bring you through without problems, though more and more people speak good English due to the presence of the UN. Parts of the east (behind the berm) are controlled by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polisario_Front Polisario Front], and the southernmost city Lagouira seems to be under [[Mauritania]]n control (August 2010), though this information has to be confirmed yet.
===Hitchhiking===
Hitchhiking in '''Western Sahara''' is very easy along the coastal road N1, where traffic is plentiful but sometimes sparely as well. All over the territory, from big cities to the most sparsely location, people pop up to hitchhike as well, so the concept is well known and understood. It will be easy for you to catch rides all the way to [[Mauritania]]. Locals hitch rides with pointing the forefinger into the driving direction instead of using the thumb.
Hitchhiking the N14 to [[Smara]] shouldn't be a problem as well, but the other two main roads N3 and N5 can bring problems with them, due to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Wall_(Western_Sahara) berm] and partly Polisario-controlled areas. Travelling Traveling these roads should be taken with a lot of care and it's always best to collect information about the current situation. It can happen that Moroccan police will send you back and not let through.
Second, the whole territory is still covered partly with undiscovered landmines, so be extremely careful when leaving the main roads and walking into the desert.
Finding long rides can be especially easy with westerners heading southwards towards Nouakchott and Senegal and can be done at Camping Moussafir in Dakhla and also Hotel Barbosa about 60 km from the border, where a lot of moroccans and westerners stop so that they can reach the border nice and early the next day.
Western Saharan border with Mauritania closes at 6 in the evening and is a good time for finding northbound rides. In the mornings, especially the cars lined up before 9, when the border opens, will have drivers out of the cars walking about, a good chance to ask for rides. Look for Senegalese people as they are usually familiar with mauritania Mauritania and know the fun places to visit, while at the same time you'll have a ride all the way to Senegal. (Nanga def? How are you? In wolof, great way to start off your request.)
===Cities===
