# Bou Craa > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bou_Craa > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bou_Craa.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bou_Craa > Source revision: 1314142450 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox settlement | official_name = Bou Craa | native_name = {{native name|mey|بوكراع}}
{{native name|ber|ⴱⵓⴽⵔⴰⵄ}} | other_name = {{lang|es|Bucraa}} | image_skyline = ISS056-E-32453 - View of Western Sahara.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = View of Bou Craa [phosphate](/source/phosphate) mine from space, taken in 2018 | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Western Sahara#Africa | pushpin_relief = 1 | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = 300 | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Western Sahara | subdivision_type = [Non-Self-Governing Territory](/source/United_Nations_list_of_non-self-governing_territories) | subdivision_name = [Western Sahara](/source/Western_Sahara) | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = [Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra](/source/La%C3%A2youne-Sakia_El_Hamra) | subdivision_type2 = Province | subdivision_name2 = [Laâyoune](/source/La%C3%A2youne_Province) | subdivision_type3 = Claimed by | subdivision_type4 = Controlled by | subdivision_name3 = {{flag|Morocco|name=Kingdom of Morocco}}
{{flag|Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic}} | subdivision_name4 = {{flag|Morocco|name=Kingdom of Morocco}} | population_as_of = 2004 | population_total = 2519{{efn|According to Morocco's Higher Planning Commission.}} | timezone = Africa/El_Aaiun | utc_offset = 0 | coordinates = {{coord|26|19|22|N|12|50|59|W|region:EH|display=inline}} | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code = | website = | footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 211.62 | area_total_sq_mi = 81.71 | population_density_km2 = 11.9 | population_density_sq_mi = 4.59 }} '''Bou Craa''' (also transliterated as ''Bo Craa'', ''Bu Craa'' or ''Boukra'') ({{langx|ar|بوكراع}}, [Berber](/source/Berber_languages): ⴱⵓⴽⵔⴰⵄ, {{langx|es|Bucraa}}) is a town in Moroccan-occupied [Western Sahara](/source/Western_Sahara), southeast of the main city of [El Aaiún](/source/El_Aai%C3%BAn). It is [inhabited almost exclusively by employees](/source/company_town) of [phosphate](/source/phosphate) company [Phosboucraa](/source/OCP_Group), a subsidiary of Morocco's [OCP Group](/source/OCP_Group). Historically located in the [Saguia el-Hamra](/source/Saguia_el-Hamra) region, Bou Craa is the site of a phosphate deposit of over 1.7 billion tons. Mining operations by Phosboucraa started in 1972.{{cite book|author1=Anthony G. Pazzanita|author2=Tony Hodges|title=Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Io6AAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-2661-8|page=79|chapter=Bou-Craa}} During the [Spanish](/source/Spanish_Empire) [colonization](/source/colonialism) of the area (see [Spanish Sahara](/source/Spanish_Sahara)), many early recruits of [Sahrawi nationalist](/source/Sahrawi_nationalism) movements such as the [Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab](/source/Movement_for_the_Liberation_of_Saguia_el_Hamra_and_Wadi_el_Dhahab) and [Polisario Front](/source/Polisario_Front) were workers in the phosphate mines.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} The town became part of the [Moroccan-occupied zone](/source/Moroccan-occupied_Western_Sahara) in the April 1976 partition resulting from the [Madrid Accords](/source/Madrid_Accords). It has remained in Moroccan hands, though mining was paused in 1976 as a result of Polisario guerilla attacks. During the [Western Sahara War](/source/Western_Sahara_War), the Polisario sabotaged and disabled this transportation system several times. These attacks gradually ceased in the early 1980s when the town become enclosed by the [Moroccan Wall](/source/Moroccan_Wall), which consolidated Moroccan occupation over the north-western part of Western Sahara (the so-called "Useful Triangle"{{Cite book|last=Shelley|first=Toby|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgNjDgAAQBAJ&dq=western+sahara+%22useful+triangle%22&pg=PT156|title=Endgame in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa's Last Colony|date=2013-07-04|publisher=Zed Books Ltd.|isbn=978-1-84813-658-8|language=en}}). Mining resumed on a reduced scale in July 1982. Today, the mine produces around 3 million tonnes annually, which represents 10% of [Morocco's total production](/source/Mining_industry_of_Morocco).[http://bhpbillitonwatch.net/2010/11/15/western-sahara-bou-craa-phosphate-mine/ WESTERN SAHARA: Bou Craa Phosphate Mine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018060552/http://bhpbillitonwatch.net/2010/11/15/western-sahara-bou-craa-phosphate-mine/#|date=2015-10-18}}, [BHP Billiton Watch](/source/BHP_Billiton_Watch), November 15, 2010. The phosphates are transported to the coast by an automated [conveyor belt](/source/conveyor_belt). Approximately {{convert|100|km}} long, the belt is the longest in the world and dust blown from it is visible from space.{{Cite web |date=2014-05-02 |title=The World's Longest Conveyor Belt System |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-worlds-longest-conveyor-belt-system |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2020-03-26 |title=What is Continental negotiating with OCP? |url=https://wsrw.org/en/archive/4687 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Western Sahara Resource Watch |language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2018-09-23|title=Bou Craa Phosphate Mine, Western Sahara|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92794/bou-craa-phosphate-mine-western-sahara|access-date=2021-01-05|website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov|language=en}} ==Twin towns== *{{flagicon|SPA}} [Castro Urdiales](/source/Castro_Urdiales), [Spain](/source/Spain) *{{flagicon|SPA}} [Llodio](/source/Llodio), [Spain](/source/Spain) ==References== {{Historical populations || |2004|2519 }}{{reflist}} {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ==External links== *[https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150869/worlds-longest-conveyor-belt-system World’s Longest Conveyor Belt System], from the Bou Craa mine to the port at [El Marsa, Western Sahara](/source/El_Marsa%2C_Western_Sahara). Article at [NASA Earth Observatory](/source/NASA_Earth_Observatory), January 21, 2023 {{coord|26|19|22|N|12|50|59|W|region:EH_type:city(2519)|display=title}} Category:Populated places in Western Sahara Category:Mines in Western Sahara Category:Company towns Category:Phosphate mines Category:Rural communes of Morocco Category:Populated places in Laâyoune Province {{WesternSahara-geo-stub}} {{LaâyouneSakiaElHamra-geo-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bou Craa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bou_Craa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bou_Craa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.