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Comment by adolph | Hacker News Reader

It is interesting that Western Sahara never developed piracy enterprises similar to Somalia. Is it some combination of:

  * stronger government control from Morocco than Somalia has had internally
  * little indigenous sea-faring populations outside of controllable cities
  * sea lanes with less hospitable currents
  * something else?

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I think you have it, especially with the first, but also I couldn't find very much coastline for Polisario-controlled territory here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara#/media/File:Wes...

And of course there's the background indirect issue where the world's largest navy is stationed half on the same ocean.

One theory is that the shipping lanes there are not forced to go near the coast.

Another is that Somalis are extra prone to piracy.

Piracy used to be common in North Africa, but more along the Mediterranean Coast where there is far more shipping. The Red Sea is also a choke point.

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