Al-Ayun is the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, an area occupied by Morocco since 1975. The city is Western Sahara’s largest city and has 183,691 residents (2004). Al-Ayun, located about 30 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean in the Sahara Desert, has large exports of phosphate from deposits in the area.
The city is also known as El Aaiún, El Ayun and Laâyoune.