What is "tifariti"

Tifariti (also transliterated "Tifarita"; ) is an oasis town located in north-eastern Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, 138 km from Smara and 15 km north of the Mauritanian border. It is part of what POLISARIO call the Liberated Territories and Morocco call the Buffer Zone. It has been the de facto temporary capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since the government moved there in 2011 from Bir Lehlou. It is the headquarters of the 2nd military region of the SADR.

It is also the name of a Daïra of the Wilaya of Smara, in the Sahrawi refugee camps.

In 2010, the population of Tifariti was estimated at around 3,000 persons.

Tifariti is located between Smara, the traditional spiritual centre of the Sahara founded by the Ma El Ainin (177 km away) and the Algerian town of Tindouf (320 km away), where the Sahrawi refugee camps are located.

The government quarter of Tifariti houses the parliament of SADR, a hospital, a school, a mosque and a museum.