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Cape Juby (Arabic:رأس جوبي,trans.Raʾs Juby, Spanish:Cabo Juby) is acape on the coast of southernMorocco, near theborder with Western Sahara, directly east of theCanary Islands.
Its surrounding area, including the cities ofTarfaya andTan-Tan, is called theCape Juby Strip (after thehomonymous cape), theTarfaya Strip (after thehomonymous city) or theTekna Zone (after theTekna, the nativeSahrawi tribe). The region is presently the far south of internationally recognized Morocco, and makes up a semi-desertbuffer zone between Morocco proper at theDraa River andWestern Sahara. The strip was under Spanish rule during much of the 20th century, officially as part of theSpanish protectorate in Morocco, but mainly administered alongsideSaguía el-Hamra andRío de Oro as part ofSpanish Sahara, with which the Strip had closer cultural and historical links.
On 28 May 1767,Mohammed ben Abdallah, theSultan of Morocco, signed a peace and commerce treaty with KingCharles III of Spain. In the treaty, Morocco was unable to guarantee the security of Spanish fishermen along the coasts south of theNoun River, as Morocco did not have control over theTekna tribes of that area (Art. 18).[1][2][3]
On 1 March 1799, SultanSlimane signed an accord with KingCharles IV of Spain, in which he recognized that theSaguia el Hamra and Cape Juby regions were not part of his dominions (Art. 22).[2][3]
In 1879, theBritish North West Africa Company established a trading post near Cape Juby called "Port Victoria". On 26 March 1888, Moroccan soldiers attacked the post, killing the director of the post and leaving two workers badly injured.[4] In 1895, the company sold its post to the Sultan of Morocco.
In 1912, Spain negotiated with France (which controlled the affairs of Morocco at the time) for concessions on the southern coast of Morocco.[citation needed]Francisco Bens [es] officially occupied the Cape Juby region for Spain on 29 July 1916. It was administered by Spain as a single entity withSpanish Sahara and theIfni enclave, asSpanish West Africa.
The Spanish area comprised 12,700 sq mi (33,000 km2) and had a population of 9,836.[citation needed] Its main town was founded by the Spanish asVilla Bens (now calledTarfaya). Villa Bens was used as a staging post forairmail flights.
When Morocco regained full independence in 1956, it requested the cession of officially Moroccan areas controlled by Spain. After some resistance and some fighting during 1957 (theIfni War), the Spanish government in 1958 ceded the Cape Juby Strip to Morocco.
In 1877, the Scottish engineerDonald Mackenzie was the first to propose the creation of aSahara Sea. Mackenzie's idea was to cut a channel from one of the sand-barred lagoons north of Cape Juby south to a large plain which Arab traders had identified to him asEl Djouf.[5][6] Mackenzie believed this vast region was up to 61 metres (200 ft) below sea level and that flooding it would create an inland sea of 155,400 square kilometres (60,000 sq mi) suited to commercial navigation and even agriculture. He further believed that geological evidence suggested this basin had once been connected to the Atlantic via a channel near theSaguia el-Hamra. He proposed that this inland sea, if augmented with a canal, could provide access to theNiger River and the markets and rich resources of West Africa.[6]There are several small depressions in the vicinity of Cape Juby; at 55 m (180 ft) below sea level, theSebkha Tah[7][circular reference] is the lowest and largest. But it covers less than 250 km2 (97 sq mi) and is 500 km (310 mi) north of the geographical area identified asEl Djouf (also known as the Majabat al-Koubra[8]) which has an average elevation of 320 m.Mackenzie never travelled in this area but had read of other sub-sea level desert basins in present-dayTunisia,Algeria andEgypt similar to those found near Cape Juby.[6] These basins contain seasonally drysalt lakes, known aschotts orsebkhas. Egypt'sQattara Depression is perhaps the largest such basin in North Africa.
27°56′52″N12°55′24″W / 27.94778°N 12.92333°W /27.94778; -12.92333
