Western Sahara

This article is about the geographical area. For the partially-recognised state that controls the Free Zone and claims sovereignty over Western Sahara, see Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Western Sahara
الصحراء الغربية (Arabic)
Sáhara Occidental (Spanish)
Disputed territory
Map of Western Sahara
Map of Western Sahara
Coordinates: 25°N 13°W / 25°N 13°W / 25; -13
StatusPolitical status of Western Sahara
Countries
Largest cityLaayoune
Area
 • Total272,000 km2 (105,000 sq mi)
 [3]
Population
 • Total565,581[1][2]
 • Density2.03/km2 (5.3/sq mi)
 (2021)
Time zoneUTC+01:00
ISO 3166 codeEH

Western Sahara[a] is a disputed territory in North-western Africa. It has a surface area of 272,000 square kilometres (105,000 sq mi).[3] Approximately 30% of the territory (82,500 km2 (31,900 sq mi)) is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is occupied[4][5] and administered by neighboring Morocco.[6] It is the most sparsely populated country in Africa and the second most sparsely populated country in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. The population is estimated at 618,600. Nearly 40% of that population lives in Morocco-controlled Laayoune, the largest city of Western Sahara.[6][7]

Previously occupied by Spain as the Spanish Sahara until 1975, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand.[8][clarification needed] In 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Western Sahara, asking Spain to decolonize the territory.[9] A year later, resolution 2229 (XXI) was passed by the UN General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination.[10] In 1975, Spain relinquished administrative control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco[11] and Mauritania.[10] A war erupted between those countries and a Sahrawi nationalist movement, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed itself the rightful leadership of the SADR with a government-in-exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979, and Morocco secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all major cities and most natural resources. The UN considers the Polisario Front the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, and maintains the Sahrawis have a right to self-determination.[12][13] Western Sahara is the last African colonial state yet to achieve independence and has been dubbed "Africa's last colony".[14][15]

Since a UN-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991, most of the territory has been administered by the Moroccan government, with tacit support from France and the United States. The remainder is administered by the SADR, backed by Algeria.[16] The only part of the coast in SADR territory is the extreme south. Internationally, countries such as Russia have taken an ambiguous and neutral position on each side's claims and pressed parties to agree on a peaceful resolution. Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating formal recognition, especially from African, Asian, and Latin American states in the developing world. The Polisario Front has won formal recognition for the SADR from 46 UN member states and South Ossetia, and was extended membership of the African Union. Morocco has won support from several African governments and most of the Muslim world and Arab League.[17][unreliable source?] In most instances, recognitions are extended or withdrawn due to a change in relations with Morocco. Until 2020, no other member state of the UN had ever recognized Moroccan sovereignty over parts of Western Sahara.[18][19][20] In 2020, the US recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Moroccan normalization of relations with Israel.[21][22] In 2023, Israel recognized Moroccan sovereignty.[23]

In 1984, the African Union's predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, recognized the SADR as one of its full members, with the same status as Morocco, and Morocco protested by suspending its membership of the OAU. Morocco was readmitted to the Union in 2017, after promising conflicting claims would be resolved peacefully and it would stop building walls to extend its military control. Meanwhile, the African Union has not issued any formal statement about the border separating the sovereign territories of Morocco and the SADR. Instead, the African Union works with the UN mission to maintain the ceasefire and reach a peace agreement. The African Union provides a peacekeeping contingent to the UN mission which is used to control a buffer zone near the de facto border walls built by Morocco.

  1. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  2. ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica: Western Sahara summary
  4. ^ "A/RES/35/19 – E – A/RES/35/19". Question of Western Sahara. p. 214. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  5. ^ Christian Walter; Antje von Ungern-Sternberg; Kavus Abushov (5 June 2014). Self-Determination and Secession in International Law. OUP Oxford. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-19-100692-0.
  6. ^ a b City Population: Western Sahara (disputed territory)
  7. ^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009). "World Population Prospects, Table A.1" (PDF). 2008 revision. United Nations. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  8. ^ Mariano Aguirre, Vers la fin du conflit au Sahara occidental, Espoirs de paix en Afrique du Nord Latine Archived 13 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine in: Le Monde diplomatique, Novembre 1997
  9. ^ United Nations General Assembly (16 December 1965). "Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly During Its Twentieth Session – Resolution 2072 (XX) – Question of Ifni and Spanish Sahara".
  10. ^ a b "Milestones in the Western Sahara conflict". Archived from the original on 27 February 2012.
  11. ^ González Campo, Julio. "Documento de Trabajo núm. 15 DT-2004. Las pretensiones de Marruecos sobre los territorios españoles en el norte de África (1956–2002)" (PDF) (in Spanish). Real Instituto Elcano. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  12. ^ Stefan Gänzle; Benjamin Leruth; Jarle Trondal (15 November 2019). Differentiated Integration and Disintegration in a Post-Brexit Era. Taylor & Francis. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-429-64884-7.
  13. ^ "United Nations General Assembly Resolution 34/37, The Question of Western Sahara". undocs.org. United Nations. 21 November 1979. A/RES/34/37. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Western Sahara: A Rare Look Inside Africa's Last Colony as U.S. Recognizes Moroccan Occupation". Democracy Now!. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  15. ^ Connett, David (23 January 2016). "Africa's last colony has taken its struggle for self-determination to European courts". The Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  16. ^ Baehr, Peter R. The United Nations at the End of the 1990s. 1999, page 129.
  17. ^ "Arab League Withdraws Inaccurate Moroccan maps". Arabic News, Regional-Morocco, Politics. 17 December 1998. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013.
  18. ^ "Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara (paragraph 37, p. 10)". 2 March 1993. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  19. ^ Watch, Western Sahara Resource. "Western Sahara not part of EFTA-Morocco free trade agreement – wsrw.org". www.wsrw.org. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  20. ^ "International law allows the recognition of Western Sahara – Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice". 7 November 2015.
  21. ^ Magid, Jacob (10 December 2020). "'Historic decision': Israel and Morocco agree on full ties 'as soon as possible'". Times of Israel. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Joint Declaration of the Kingdom of Morocco, The United States of America and the State of Israel" (PDF).
  23. ^ Eljechtimi, Ahmed (17 July 2023). "Israel recognises Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara". Reuters. Retrieved 19 July 2023.


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