THE MOROCCAN SAHARA

              The Moroccan Sahara includes Saguiet El Hamra to the north and Oued El Dahab "Rio DE Oro" to the south, the total land area of the Moroccan Sahara is 266 000 km square, crossed by the Tropic between the 20th and 30th parallel. It's bordered to the north by Massa Darâa to the east by Algeria to the south by Mauritania and to the west by the Atlantic, most of the reliefs are plains and some table lands which rarely reach 400 meters height. Generally, we can divide the Sahara into different zones: north-eastern part, from Al Atlas ranges to Zemmour hills, which is a rocky desert "Hmada" with steep mountains and hilly relief, water is rare except for some wells which makes life very difficult. The second zone or river zone is located between Oued Drâa to the north and Jat to the west, rivers tend to be depressions where water flows during the short rainy seasons "mainly in fall" this water evaporated because of the hot weather and never reach the sea, the region is named after Saguiet El Hamra river, one of the most important rivers in this zone, at the river's banks and bed there is enough vegetation for cattle breeding. The third zone is Rio De Oro at the center of the Sahara, it is made of table lands and monotonies called Ergs and sand dunes, the land is so permeable and flat that it cannot keep rainfall nor allow water streaming. Water is accumulated underground, therefor the region contains many wells, the landscape is quite monotonous inside and towards the coast. This monotony ends at Dakhla and Guera peninsulas "ex Villa Cisnero" which have a continental climate, arid inside with very cold, hard winters and hot summers, temperature may reach 60° Celsius. It's humid at the coast where we find fog, mist and dew, rain is scarce both at the coast and inside, only 45 millimeters per year fall on Dakhla, coast humidity generates abundant and rich flora, inside we find flora typical for steppes and desert like acacias throughout rivers, bushes in sandy depressions, large territories are completely deprived of vegetation and water.
The recovered of the Sahrawi provinces offer a variety of landscapes from sand dunes, beaches, palm oases to canyons fabulous in addition to the rock carvings, camel races, cultural festivals and religious zaouiyas, the tourist attractions available to the region formed the basis for potential tourism industry in the Sahara, these benefits have managed to attract significant domestic and foreign tourism investment, particularly through the construction of hotel units, tourist centers, villages and tourist residences, aware of the importance of tourism as a real driving force of economic and social development, the State encourages the construction of tourist infrastructure at the Khnifes’s Lagoon, berries of Dakhla and Lagouira as well as a several oases of the Sahara. In addition, there is support for tourist activities such as festivals, moussems and cultural and artistic events as well as sports events including air rally Toulous- Tarfaya- Saint Louis and other rallies.


The South Atlantic area covering the Sahara region is characterized by the diversity of fish species whose composition and abundance are conditioned mainly by hydro-climatic factors prevailing on the West African coast, the exploitation of this biodiversity has been responsible for the emergence of a public and private investment dynamics in the Sahara region in the maritime field since their return to the motherland, in this respect and once the recovery by Morocco of its southern provinces, the marine fisheries sector has grown exponentially, which took the form of increased maritime fishing units whether artisanal fishing, fishing coastal or deep-sea fishing as well as increasing the number of fishermen engaged in marine fishing units. The desire to build the marine fisheries sector as a strategic axis of economic and social development of the region has materialized through the implementation of specialized investment by both the private sector for the fishing fleet and the recovery industries, the public sector for hospitality and coaching infrastructure, the human element is an important component of the development program of marine fisheries sector in the Sahara region. In order to contribute to the development of qualification and coaching of human resources, the southern provinces of Morocco have four maritime training institutes in Laayoune, Dakhla, Boujdour and Tan Tan, these institutes provide training in the various maritime discipline, the laureats of these Institutes work in fishing boats or in other public and private institutions such as the Ministry of Maritime Fisheries, the Ministry of equipment, Office Chérifien des Phosphates Office (OCP), Office of management of the Ports (ODEP) and other maritime research Institutes.
The region is famous for its mineral resources. The Phosphate represent the potential wealth of the region, its operation began in the sixties, after the discovery of large quantities of this material in the regions of Boukraa Amsliken, Azig, El-Abadela and in the province of Oued Ed-Dahab. Geological studies that have been conducted showed that only Boukraa region represents great potential and great economic importance. Boukraa is located 100 km to the southeast of Laayoune, the capital of the south. The reserves announced in this region are 2 billion tons with a metal percentage from 72% to 75%. But we comparing these figures with the general reserves of Morocco this represents only a small part, since the total reserves of the Kingdom are estimated at 60 billion tonnes. Besides phosphates, iron is also counted among the mineral wealth available in the Moroccan Sahara. The reserves of this metal are estimated at 400 million (Mauritania included) tons on along the Atlantic coast with a metal proportion of 57%, but the estimated reserves in the country do not exceed 1.5 million tons. What makes the costly and difficult operation. Copper is also present in the region of Akjout near the Mauritanian border. Saline are also present in the southern provinces especially in the region ofTazgha, Umm Debaâ, Tisslitine, Tissfourine. The saline Tazgha is the largest, it is spread over a large area. Its reserves are estimated at 4.5 million tonnes, new technologies have enabled the development of Sahara region mapping program, which helped carry out many studies, research and precise mapping which explained in greater detail the sites containing the natural richness, their depth, the volume and the available quantities.
Sahraoui society is marked by several customs, traditions and specific festivities connected to the different aspects of life, for example, birth, Akika – or the celebration of the seventh day after birth of a baby, circumcision, engagements, weddings, divorces, death and burial as well as religious ceremonies, including religious feasts and the two months of Chaabane and Ramadan, there are also other types of tradition linked to traditional culinary art including popular dishes and beverages and traditional dress called « Al-Malhfa » for women and « Darrâa » for men, to that is added the sense of generosity, hospitality and entertainment, the furnishing and decoration of homes, the principles of education, the spirit of solidarity and the relation between human beings and cattle, as well as with other animals; in particular the camel – that tireless « vessel of the desert ». These customs and traditions are indispensable tools for understanding the semiotic dimensions and the cultural implications of popular Hassani culture, they also constitute an important factor to understanding the life style in the Southern Provinces and are reflective of the human creativity describing the distinctive feature of the Sahraoui space throughout history.

Handicraft represents a historical legacy for nomadic tribes in the Moroccan south. The new patterns of production, coupled with their concomitant marketing ways, have now come to witness deep transformations as a result of the stability of nomads as well as the changes that have occurred in relation to their consumer behaviour. Moreover, handicraft in these regions concentrates more particularly on the processing by craftsmen of goat and camel hides, in addition to coloured ivory and local clay, into useful products and art works such as jewels and copper products. Within this framework, the Craft Industry Complex, which was established in Laayoune, contributes in organizing as well as training craftsmen. As a matter of fact, because it is mandatory that handicraft be preserved for the kind of assets it has at hand; namely, both its supply of useful and decorative products, its potential as a job market as well as the services it offers, the horizons leading to its development depend; nevertheless, on invigorating the sector of tourism at the level of handicraft, the fact is that the Sahraoui people have created numerous traditional and popular handicrafts, of which the so-called “asarmi” is but one sample. Asarmi is a kind of leather pillow that is finely embroidered with a large array of magnificent decorations. Other products include a great quantity of home utensils such as boxes and small flasks that are used for storing perfume and women’s jewellery. These could be used to safeguard some rare belongings and documents such as manuscripts as well as sales, marriages and property contracts. The development of this particular sector is tied to the cultural heritage of the nomads, who depend to a large measure upon the breeding of goats and camels, considering the fact that these animals’ hides are used in the manufacturing of other products such as “settees” and “leather soles” to name but a few examples. Wool, however, is used in the weaving of carpets as well as the tents that the nomads use for the purpose of shelter. It is a characteristic of nomads to wear blue garments – akin to bedcovers and blankets- most of which are imported from Mauritania or finished at times in the region. Besides, other branches, so to say, of craft industry are now in full bloom, particularly in the area of the goldsmith profession, that is, the manufacturing of jewellery, copper utensils and such like. The sum total of job openings in this area amounts to 960 craftsmen, which represents 2% of the active population in the region, a number that comprises 14 differing production activities. In addition, the construction of a complex for craft industry has allowed for the raising in the level of education and expertise of the young craftsmen. It also helped in supporting as well as encouraging local craftsmanship. In sum, it is within the potential of crafts industry, which feeds on the cultural wealth of the Sahraoui provinces, to experience more growth and dynamism through its link and coordination with the tourism sector. 

The Hassani poetry belongs to popular poetry and is characterized by various rhythmical and prosody forms. As an integral part of the southern culture and populations, the Hassani literature talks about poems, proverbs, history, tales and riddles. Poetry, the dominant literary aspect of the Hassani culture, is a wide-spread artistic means of expression in the southern regions and refers to various subjects such as the problems of Sahrawi people and their customs and traditions. It contributes to the animation of the social life through familial and tribal meetings and also through cultural manifestations like songs and dances. Popular proverbs play a major part in the Hassani culture and are considered as a source of wisdom. These proverbs transmit moral lessons to the coming generations resulting mainly from veracious stories and individual and collective experiences. Hassani tales are characterized by richness of narrations and imaginary of the Sahrawi population. This type of literature offers to the reader entertaining stories and adventures. Badi Ould Mohammed Salem, a great professor and poet defines the Hassani poetry as “a speech extracted from the dialect and the wide-spread language and conforms to the five laws of the Charia: what is obligatory (Wajib), what is recommended (mandoub), what is indifferent (mubâh), what is shameful (makrûh) and what is prohibited (haram). It is also the scattered speech chosen by the poet to compose his subject. He makes it light or heavy according to the contexts and makes of it a complementary body which accept neither reduction nor increase, thus occupying a position with the other creatures. As is the case with all Arab poetry, the Hassani poetry, whether expressed in the classic language or in dialect, takes a major importance. Even if Hassani poets pride themselves of exceeding the classic poetry and poets, dialectal poetry contains all the same many terms and even sentences of the literary Arabic language in addition to some words appertaining to other foreign languages. It takes also inspiration from quranic verses, hadiths and Arab poetry of different periods.