It has been the de facto temporary capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since the government moved there in 2008 from Bir Lehlou.

[citation needed] Primarily an encampment located near an oasis, it was always a kind of seasonal town for the Sahrawis, a Bedouin people controlling the area since medieval times.

In 1912, a French Foreign Legion expedition commanded by Captain Gerard, who was trying to link with their troops in Morocco, was exterminated by Sahrawi rebel nomads near Tifariti.

The risk was greatest east of the Berm, especially in the areas of Mehaires, Tifariti and Bir Lahlou where the Royal Moroccan Army (RMA) conducted offensive operations in August–September 1991.

[11][12] Hospitals and administrative buildings were built here between 1989 and 1991 by foreign aid agencies in preparation for a Sahrawi refugee return to Western Sahara, for the holding of a UN-backed referendum on either independence or integration with Morocco.

[17] On February 27, 2007 (31st anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) a borough of 150 houses named Solidarity Neighbourhood was inaugurated by SADR's president, Mohamed Abdelaziz.

[19] On February 29, 2008, Abdelaziz launched the works of the building of the Mayoralty of Tifariti, a small dam to provide the local population with water[20] and the cornerstone of a sports complex, funded by South Africa.

On July 20, 2009, Salek Baba (SADR'S Minister of Reconstruction and Urbanization) visited Tifariti to assess the works of the "Tadamoun" and "Salam" neighbourhoods and a mini-desalination plant.

He stated: "The opening of these new residences is a portion of a large project of development in progress, includes other parts of the liberated territory of Meharrize, Bir Tighissit, Bir Lehlu, Mijek and Agounit".In October 2003, the Polisario Front held its XI General Popular Congress here, electing officials to its executive National Secretariat, the exile parliament of the Sahrawi National Council, as well as reelecting (92%) Mohamed Abdelaziz as Secretary General.

This archaeological site, without precedents in this area, provides an interesting lithic manufacturing works from the Late Paleolithic or Epipaleolithic, mound graves, and more than a hundred caves with rock paintings.

[33] Since 2009, Tifariti is the finish line of the "Sahara Bike Race", a 300 km (190 mi) route in parallel with the Moroccan Wall, that starts in the Wilaya of El Aaiún, in the Sahrawi refugee camps.