El Aaiún

Laayoune[note 1] or El Aaiún[note 2] (Arabic: العيون, romanized: al-ʿUyūn, lit. 'The Springs') is the largest city of the disputed territory named Western Sahara, with a population of 271,344 in 2023.[7] The city is de facto under Moroccan administration as occupied territory. The modern city is thought to have been founded by the Spanish captain Antonio de Oro in 1938.[8] From 1958, it became the administrative capital of the Spanish Sahara, administered by the Governor General of Spanish West Africa.[9] In 2023, Laayoune is the capital of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region administered by Morocco, it's still under the supervision of MINURSO, an UN mission.