Smara

• Official Name — Smara • Native Name — السمارة Esmara • Subdivision Type — Non-self-governing territory • Subdivision Name — Western Sahara • Subdivision Type2 — Claimed by • Subdivision Name2 — Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic • Subdivision Type3 — Controlled by • Subdivision Name3 — Morocco • Subdivision Type4 — Region • Established Title — Founded • Established Date — 1869 • Area Total Sq Mi — 26.92 • Area Total Km2 — 69.72 • Population As Of — 2014 • Population Total — 57035 • Population Density Sq Mi — auto • Population Density Km2 — auto

The largest city in its province, Smara, was founded in the Saguia el-Hamra as an oasis for travellers in 1869. In the center of the city, the remains of a stone fortress can be found, the Zawiy Maalainin, which enclosed a mosque. The Maalainin lived there from 1830 until 1912. It was made a capital and religious center in 1902 by shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn, in what was then Spanish Sahara. The location of the city was intended to ensure its becoming a caravan trade hub in the sparsely populated Sahara desert. The enlargement of Smara was carried out by local Sahrawis as well as craftsmen sent by the sultan Hassan I of Morocco. In 1902, shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn moved to Smara and declared it his holy capital. Among other things, he created an important Islamic library, and the town became a center of religious learning. In 1904 the shaykh declared himself an imam and called for holy war (jihad) against French colonialism, which was increasingly pressing into the Sahara at this time. During the campaign against Ma al-'Aynayn, Smara was sacked almost completely in 1913 by the French Army, and its library destroyed. The town was then handed over to the Spanish. In 1934 the town was once again destroyed after Sahrawi rebellions against the Spanish occupation.

Reaching Ma al-'Aynayn's mysterious Smara was the goal of the brothers Vieuchange, early 20th-century French writers and romantics. Michel Vieuchange's painful journey through the rebel-held Sahrawi lands in 1930 disguised as a Berber tribeswoman, eventually reaching Smara on 1 November 1930, and the dysentery that led to his death on the return, is documented in his journals. Comprising seven notebooks and more than 200 photographs, the account was published posthumously in 1932 as Smara: The Forbidden City (1932) by his brother Jean and became a bestseller.

In 1975, Morocco took control of Saguia Elhamra as Spain withdrew, according to the Madrid Accords. The Moroccan army took the city from the Polisario Front in 1976. Near Tindouf, Algeria, there still exists a Sahrawi refugee camp named after Smara. It is one of the four camps of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic administration in Algeria.

CTM and Supratours companies have daily travels from Smara to Marrakech. Satas have daily travel from Smara to Agadir. Supratours have daily travel from Smara to Laayoune.

• Brahim Ghali, 3rd President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic • Fatma El Mehdi, activist, secretary general of the National Union of Sahrawi Women