Laayoune is the most important city of Western Sahara. It is located at the edge of the Atlantic, 500 km south of Agadir and 400 km west of Tindouf, on the road to Dakhla. It has been controlled and administered by Morocco since 1975; it is the capital of the province of Laayoune, in the Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region. The city is claimed as capital by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. El Aaiún is also the name of one of the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf. The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara has its headquarters in Laayoune. The current chairman of the communal council of Laayoune is Hamdi Ould Rachid.
