Daily Life

Participants in these videos speak Hassaniya Arabic. Hassaniya Arabic is distinct from the Arabic dialects spoken in Algeria and Morocco. Hassaniya Arabic is an official language of Mauritania and the dialect of Arabic most widely spoken in the Western Saharan region.

Western Sahara remains on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. The region is the subject of a territory dispute between the country of Morocco and a government in exile located in refugee camps in Algeria. For background on the dispute and information about the U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in the region, see the website for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The videos on this site were filmed with residents of the refugee camps in Algeria and reflect points of view sympathetic to the government in exile.