Saguia el-Hamra

Saguia el-Hamra is the northern geographic region of Western Sahara, its name derived from an Arabic phrase meaning Red Canal, referring to a waterway that flows through the territory. It lies between the 26th parallel north and 27 degrees 50 minutes north, with Cape Bojador marking the boundary between it and the territory's southern portion, and covers roughly 82,000 square kilometers, about a third of Western Sahara's total area. Following Spain's administrative reorganization in 1969, Saguia el-Hamra was united with Río de Oro to form the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara, with El Aaiún, also known as Laâyoune, serving as the colonial capital and Smara as another significant town. The wadi region was home to the Oulad Tidrarin, a Sahrawi tribal group with deep ancestral ties to the landscape, and the territory remained under Spanish colonial control until 1975, when administrative changes followed the Madrid Accords. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/