Tindouf Province
Sahrawi refugee camps since 1975—a government-in-exile for Western Sahara. Disputed population (45,000-165,000), 50°C heat, 94% aid-dependent. The referendum never came.
Tindouf is a frozen conflict in a desert. Since 1975, Sahrawi refugees fleeing Moroccan forces have lived in camps here—one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world. The camps are named after Western Saharan cities: Laayoune, Smara, Dakhla, Auserd. A government-in-exile for territory someone else controls.
The Polisario Front administers everything: constitution, courts, police, borders, family law. It is the only authority. The population is politically contested—Algeria claims 165,000; UNHCR's 2005 satellite analysis suggested 90,000; Morocco insists 45,000-50,000. Numbers matter because numbers determine aid flows, political legitimacy, and international attention.
Conditions are severe. Temperatures exceed 50°C. Rainfall barely exists. 30% of residents are food-insecure; 94% depend on humanitarian assistance. A 1991 UN referendum on Western Sahara's status has never occurred—voter eligibility disputes and political will have stalled it for three decades. In 2020, the ceasefire broke down.
Tindouf demonstrates how refugee camps become cities, how temporary becomes permanent, how statehood-in-exile can persist for half a century. The Sahrawis have outlasted multiple administrations in Washington, Paris, and Rabat. The camps endure. The referendum doesn't happen. Time passes differently in Tindouf.