Editing Laayoune (section)

==History==
''Laayoune'' or ''El Aaiún'' are respectively the French and Spanish transliterations of one of the possible Romanized [[Maghrebi Arabic]] names for the city: ''Layoun'', which could mean "the springs", in reference to the oases that furnish the town's water supply.<ref name="Room1994">{{cite book|author=Adrian Room|title=African Placenames: Origins and Meanings of the Names for Over 2000 Natural Features, Towns, Cities, Provinces, and Countries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abM6AAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-89950-943-3|page=62}}</ref>

The city was founded by the [[Spain|Spanish]] captain [[Antonio de Oro]] in 1938 as a small military outpost, but quickly became the [[Spanish Sahara]]'s administrative and political centre.<ref name=":1" /> The location was chosen for two reasons: the presence of water and the strategic military position the site offered. Its position on the banks of the [[Saguia el-Hamra (river)|Saguia el-Hamra river]] enabled good communication with the harbors of [[Tarfaya]] and [[Boujdour]]. The city underwent a period of rapid economic growth in the 1940s due to the discovery of vast deposits of [[Phosphate|phosphates]] at the [[Bou Craa]] site fuelling a phosphate industry.<ref name=":1" />

The town was the scene of the [[Zemla Intifada]] that occurred on June 17, 1970, that culminated in a massacre, resulting in the deaths ranging from 2 to 11 people and hundreds injured.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

After the Spanish withdrew in 1975, Laayoune, along with much of the rest of the Western Sahara, was [[Annexation of Western Sahara|annexed]] by Morocco.<ref name=":1" /> Since then, large numbers of Moroccans have moved to the city, and now outnumber the indigenous [[Sahrawis]], who have gradually given up their traditional [[Nomad|nomadic]] lifestyles.<ref name=":1" /> 

The city has continued to develop rapidly and benefits of a [[Desalination|desalinization]] plant. The city's rate of [[urbanization]] continues to outpace that of Morocco, though on most indicators of [[Human Development Index|human development]], it lags behind southern Morocco.<ref name=":1" />