Smara
title: "Smara" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-laâyoune-sakia-el-hamra", "populated-places-in-western-sahara", "provincial-capitals-in-morocco", "populated-places-established-in-1869", "es-semara-province"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-laayoune-sakia-el-hamra" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smara" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| official_name | Smara |
| native_name | السمارة |
| Esmara | |
| native_name_lang | ar |
| image_skyline | Smara,rooftopE.jpg |
| pushpin_map | Western Sahara |
| pushpin_label_position | bottom |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in Western Sahara |
| subdivision_type | Non-self-governing territory |
| subdivision_name | Western Sahara |
| subdivision_type2 | Claimed by |
| subdivision_name2 | Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic |
| subdivision_type3 | Controlled by |
| subdivision_name3 | Morocco |
| subdivision_type4 | Region |
| established_title | Founded |
| established_date | 1869 |
| area_total_sq_mi | 26.92 |
| area_total_km2 | 69.72 |
| population_as_of | 2014 |
| population_footnotes | |
| population_total | 57035 |
| population_density_sq_mi | auto |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
| official_name = Smara | native_name = السمارة Esmara | native_name_lang = ar | other_name = | image_skyline = Smara,rooftopE.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Western Sahara | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Western Sahara | subdivision_type = Non-self-governing territory | subdivision_name = Western Sahara | subdivision_type2 = Claimed by | subdivision_name2 = Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic | subdivision_type3 = Controlled by | subdivision_name3 = Morocco | subdivision_type4 = Region | established_title = Founded | established_date = 1869 | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_magnitude = | area_total_sq_mi = 26.92 | area_total_km2 = 69.72 | area_land_sq_mi = | area_land_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_urban_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | population_as_of = 2014 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 57035 | population_urban = | population_metro = | population_density_sq_mi = auto | population_density_km2 = auto | timezone = | utc_offset = | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code = | website = | footnotes = Smāra (also romanized Semara, , ; ) is a city in the Moroccan part of Western Sahara, with a population of 57,035 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census. It is served by Smara Airport and Smara bus station.
History
The largest city in its province, Smara, was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. In the center of the city, the remains of a stone fortress can be found, the Zawiy Maalainin, which enclosed a mosque. The Maalainin lived there from 1830 until 1912. It was made a capital and religious center in 1902 by shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn, in what was then Spanish Sahara. The location of the city was intended to ensure its becoming a caravan trade hub in the sparsely populated Sahara desert. The enlargement of Smara was carried out by local Sahrawis as well as craftsmen sent by the sultan Hassan I of Morocco. In 1902, shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn moved to Smara and declared it his holy capital. Among other things, he created an important Islamic library, and the town became a center of religious learning.
In 1904 the shaykh declared himself an imam and called for holy war (jihad) against French colonialism, which was increasingly pressing into the Sahara at this time. During the campaign against Ma al-'Aynayn, Smara was sacked almost completely in 1913 by the French Army, and its library destroyed. The town was then handed over to the Spanish. In 1934 the town was once again destroyed after Sahrawi rebellions against the Spanish occupation.
The Vieuchange brothers
Reaching Ma al-'Aynayn's mysterious Smara was the goal of the brothers Vieuchange, early 20th-century French writers and romantics. Michel Vieuchange's painful journey through the rebel-held Sahrawi lands in 1930 disguised as a Berber tribeswoman, eventually reaching Smara on 1 November 1930, and the dysentery that led to his death on the return, is documented in his journals. Comprising seven notebooks and more than 200 photographs, the account was published posthumously in 1932 as Smara: The Forbidden City (1932) by his brother Jean and became a bestseller.
After 1975
In 1975, Morocco took control of Saguia Elhamra as Spain withdrew, according to the Madrid Accords. The Moroccan army took the city from the Polisario Front in 1976. Near Tindouf, Algeria, there still exists a Sahrawi refugee camp named after Smara. It is one of the four camps of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic administration in Algeria.
The town is occupied by the Moroccan authorities, as part of what the government terms its Southern Provinces, and enclosed by a section of the Moroccan Wall.
Climate
|location = Smara (1991-2020) |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan record high C = 33.0 |Feb record high C = 37.3 |Mar record high C = 39.5 |Apr record high C = 41.6 |May record high C = 45.6 |Jun record high C = 47.5 |Jul record high C = 49.0 |Aug record high C = 48.9 |Sep record high C = 46.8 |Oct record high C = 44.6 |Nov record high C = 38.7 |Dec record high C = 33.3 |year record high C = 49.0 |Jan high C = 23.2 |Feb high C = 25.0 |Mar high C = 27.7 |Apr high C = 29.0 |May high C = 30.9 |Jun high C = 33.0 |Jul high C = 36.9 |Aug high C = 38.0 |Sep high C = 34.5 |Oct high C = 31.6 |Nov high C = 27.5 |Dec high C = 24.2 |year high C = 30.1 |Jan mean C = 16.6 |Feb mean C = 18.4 |Mar mean C = 20.6 |Apr mean C = 22.0 |May mean C = 23.7 |Jun mean C = 25.7 |Jul mean C = 28.7 |Aug mean C = 29.7 |Sep mean C = 27.4 |Oct mean C = 25.0 |Nov mean C = 21.2 |Dec mean C = 17.9 |year mean C = 23.1 |Jan low C = 10.0 |Feb low C = 11.8 |Mar low C = 13.6 |Apr low C = 14.9 |May low C = 16.4 |Jun low C = 18.4 |Jul low C = 20.4 |Aug low C = 21.4 |Sep low C = 20.2 |Oct low C = 18.4 |Nov low C = 14.8 |Dec low C = 11.5 |year low C = 16.0 |Jan record low C = 3.0 |Feb record low C = 4.4 |Mar record low C = 7.4 |Apr record low C = 9.9 |May record low C = 10.6 |Jun record low C = 13.1 |Jul record low C = 13.6 |Aug record low C = 14.7 |Sep record low C = 12.5 |Oct record low C = 12.3 |Nov record low C = 6.4 |Dec record low C = 5.4 |year record low C = 3.0 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 2.9 |Feb precipitation mm = 4.1 |Mar precipitation mm = 2.2 |Apr precipitation mm = 0.8 |May precipitation mm = 0.6 |Jun precipitation mm = 1.1 |Jul precipitation mm = 0.8 |Aug precipitation mm = 2.8 |Sep precipitation mm = 6.9 |Oct precipitation mm = 5.3 |Nov precipitation mm = 3.8 |Dec precipitation mm = 3.2 |year precipitation mm = 34.5 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm |Jan precipitation days = 0.8 |Feb precipitation days = 0.7 |Mar precipitation days = 0.6 |Apr precipitation days = 0.2 |May precipitation days = 0.1 |Jun precipitation days = 0.2 |Jul precipitation days = 0.2 |Aug precipitation days = 0.6 |Sep precipitation days = 0.8 |Oct precipitation days = 0.8 |Nov precipitation days = 0.5 |Dec precipitation days = 0.7 |year precipitation days = 6.2 |source 1 = NOAA{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231005212325/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Morocco/CSV/SMARA_60335.csv | archive-date = October 5, 2023 | url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Morocco/CSV/SMARA_60335.csv | title = Smara Climate Normals 1991–2020 | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | access-date = October 5, 2023}}}}
Transport
CTM and Supratours companies have daily travels from Smara to Marrakech. Satas have daily travel from Smara to Agadir. Supratours have daily travel from Smara to Laayoune.
Notable people
- Brahim Ghali, 3rd President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Fatma El Mehdi, activist, secretary general of the National Union of Sahrawi Women
Notes and sources
;Notes
;Sources
References
- (8 April 2015). "POPULATION LÉGALE DES RÉGIONS, PROVINCES, PRÉFECTURES, MUNICIPALITÉS, ARRONDISSEMENTS ET COMMUNES DU ROYAUME D'APRÈS LES RÉSULTATS DU RGPH 2014". [[Haut Commissariat au Plan.
- "After a defeat of the French at Lebeyratt, Colonel Mouret mounts an attack against Smara. Leaving from [[Teyarett]] (in the north-west of [[Atar]]) on the ninth of February, he arrives in the [[Guelta Zemmur. Zemmour]] on the first of March to sack the holy city (Smara). He finds her empty of all people." (Le Rumeur (Guy): Le Grand Méhariste, Paris, Berger Levrault)
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