This article is about the geographical area. For the partially-recognized state that controls the Free Zone and claims sovereignty over Western Sahara, seeSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Western Sahara[b] is anon-self-governing territory inNorth-western Africa undergoingdecolonization. It has a surface area of 272,000 square kilometres (105,000 sq mi).[8] Western Sahara is the last African colonial state yet to achieve independence and has been dubbed "Africa's last colony".[9][10] With an estimated population of around 600,000 inhabitants, it is the most sparsely populated territory in Africa and thesecond most sparsely populated territory in the world, consisting mainly of desert flatlands.
Among the most arid and inhospitable on the planet, the land along the coast is low flat desert and rises, especially in the north, to small mountains reaching up to 600 metres (2,000 ft) on the eastern side.
While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams. At times, a cool off-shore current can produce fog and heavy dew.
The interior experiences extreme summer heat, with average highs reaching 43–45 °C (109–113 °F) in July and in August; during winter, days are still hot to very hot, with average highs from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F); however, in the northern part of the territory, the thermometer may drop below 0 °C (32 °F) at night and it can be freezing in December and in January, although this is rare.
The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were theGaetuli. Depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes. Berber heritage is still evident from regional and place-nametoponymy, as well as from tribal names.
Other early inhabitants of Western Sahara may be theBafour[17] and later theSerer. The Bafour were later replaced or absorbed byBerber-speaking populations, which eventually merged in turn with the migratingBeni Ḥassān Arab tribes.
The arrival of Islam in the 8th century played a major role in the development of theMaghreb region. Trade developed further, and the territory may have been one of the routes forcaravans, especially betweenMarrakesh andTombouctou inMali.
In the 11th century, theMaqil Arabs (fewer than 200 individuals) settled inMorocco (mainly in theDraa River valley, between theMoulouya River,Tafilalt andTaourirt).[18] Towards the end of theAlmohad Caliphate, the Beni Hassan, a sub-tribe of the Maqil, were called by the local ruler of theSous to quell a rebellion; they settled in the SousKsours and controlled such cities asTaroudant.[18] DuringMarinid dynasty rule, the Beni Hassan rebelled but were defeated by the Sultan and escaped beyond the Saguia el-Hamra dry river.[18][19] The Beni Hassan then were at constant war with theLamtuna nomadic Berbers of theSahara. Over roughly five centuries, through a complex process of acculturation and mixing seen elsewhere in the Maghreb and North Africa, some of the indigenous Berber tribes mixed with the Maqil Arab tribes and formed a culture unique to Morocco andMauritania.[citation needed]
The Spanish presence in the region of modern-day Western Sahara lasted from 1884 to 1975. While initial Spanish interest in the Sahara was focused on using it as a port for theslave trade, by the 1700sSpain had transitioned economic activity on the Saharan coast towards commercial fishing.[20] By the 19th century, Spain had claimed the southern coastal region and penetration of the hinterland gradually followed; later in 1904 the northern region was acquired. After an agreement among theEuropean colonial powers at theBerlin Conference in 1884 on the division ofspheres of influence in Africa, the same year Spain seized control of Western Sahara and established it as a Spanish colony.[21] Despite establishing their first colony in the region at Río de Oro Bay in 1884, the Spanish were unable to pacify the interior of the region until the 1930s. Raids and rebellions by the indigenous Saharan population kept the Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. The territory was eventually subdued by joint Spanish andFrench forces in 1934, the same year the Spaniards divided their Saharan territories into two regions named after the rivers:Saguía el-Hamra andRío de Oro. After 1939 and the outbreak ofWorld War II, this area was administered bySpanish Morocco. In 1958, Spain joined the district ofSaguia el-Hamra (the "Red River") in the north with theRío de Oro (in the south) to form the province of Spanish Sahara, following Morocco's claiming these regions in 1957. As a consequence,Ahmed Belbachir Haskouri, the Chief of Cabinet, General Secretary of the Government of Spanish Morocco, cooperated with the Spanish to select governors in that area. The Saharan lords who were already in prominent positions, such as the members ofMaa El Ainain family, provided a recommended list of candidates for new governors. Together with the Spanish High Commissioner, Belbachir selected from this list.[citation needed] During the annual celebration ofMuhammad's birthday, these lords paid their respects to the caliph to show loyalty to the Moroccan monarchy.[citation needed]
Spanish and French protectorates in Morocco and Spanish Sahara, 1912
As time went by, Spanish colonial rule began to unravel with the general wave of decolonization afterWorld War II; former North African and sub-Saharan African possessions and protectorates gained independence from European powers. Spanish decolonization proceeded more slowly, but internal political and social pressures for it in mainland Spain built up towards the end ofFrancisco Franco's rule. There was a global trend towards completedecolonization. Spain abandoned most territories within neighboring Morocco in 1956, but resisted encroachment by theMoroccan Liberation Army withinIfni and Spanish Sahara from 1956 to 1958. In 1971, Sahrawi (anArabic term for those fromSahara) students in Moroccan universities began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro. The movement tried without success to gain backing from several Arab governments, including Algeria and Morocco. Spain began rapidly to divest itself of most of its remaining colonial possessions. By 1974–75 the government issued promises of a referendum on independence in Western Sahara.
At the same time, Morocco andMauritania, which had historical and competing claims of sovereignty over the territory, argued that it had been artificially separated from their territories by the European colonial powers.Algeria, which also bordered the territory, viewed their demands with suspicion, as Morocco also claimed the Algerian provinces ofTindouf andBéchar. After arguing for a process of decolonization to be guided by theUnited Nations, the Algerian government underHouari Boumédiènne in 1975 committed to assisting the Polisario Front, which opposed both Moroccan and Mauritanian claims and demanded full independence of Western Sahara.
The UN attempted to settle these disputes through avisiting mission in late 1975, as well as averdict from theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ). It acknowledged that Western Sahara had historical links with Morocco and Mauritania, but not sufficient to prove the sovereignty of either State over the territory at the time of the Spanish colonization. The population of the territory thus possessed the right ofself-determination. On 6 November 1975 Morocco initiated theGreen March into Western Sahara; 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city ofTarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from KingHassan II of Morocco to cross the border in a peaceful march. A few days before, on 31 October, Moroccan troops invaded Western Sahara from the north.[22]
In the waning days of GeneralFranco's rule, and after theGreen March, the Spanish government signed atripartite agreement with Morocco and Mauritania as it moved to transfer the territory on 14 November 1975. The accords were based on a bipartite administration, and Morocco and Mauritania each moved to annex the territories, with Morocco taking control of the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara as itsSouthern Provinces, and Mauritania taking control of the southern third asTiris al-Gharbiyya. Spain terminated its presence in Spanish Sahara within three months, repatriating Spanish remains from its cemeteries.[23]
The Moroccan and Mauritanian annexations were resisted by thePolisario Front, which had gained backing fromAlgeria.[24] It initiated guerrilla warfare and, in 1979, Mauritania withdrew due to pressure from Polisario, including a bombardment of its capital and other economic targets. Morocco extended its control to the rest of the territory. It gradually contained the guerrillas by setting upthe extensive sand-berm in the desert (known as the Border Wall or Moroccan Wall) to exclude guerrilla fighters.[25][26] Hostilities ceased in a 1991 cease-fire, overseen by the peacekeeping missionMINURSO, under the terms of a UNSettlement Plan.
The referendum, originally scheduled for 1992, foresaw giving the local population the option between independence or affirming integration with Morocco, but it quickly stalled. In 1997, theHouston Agreement attempted to revive the proposal for a referendum but likewise has hitherto not had success. As of 2010[update], negotiations over terms have not resulted in any substantive action. At the heart of the dispute lies the question of who qualifies to be registered to participate in the referendum, and, since about the year 2000, Morocco considers that since there is no agreement on persons entitled to vote, a referendum is not possible. Meanwhile, Polisario still insisted on a referendum with independence as a clear option, without offering a solution to the problem of who is qualified to be registered to participate in it.
Both sides blame each other for the stalling of the referendum. The Polisario has insisted on only allowing those found on the 1974 Spanish Census lists (see below) to vote, while Morocco has insisted that the census was flawed by evasion and sought the inclusion of members of Sahrawi tribes that escaped from Spanish invasion to the north of Morocco by the 19th century.
Efforts by the UN special envoys to find a common ground for both parties did not succeed. By 1999 the UN had identified about 85,000 voters, with nearly half of them in the Moroccan-occupied parts of Western Sahara, and the others scattered between theTindouf refugee camps, Mauritania and other places of exile. Polisario accepted this voter list, as it had done with the previous list presented by the UN (both of them originally based on the Spanish census of 1974), but Morocco refused and, as rejected voter candidates began a mass-appeals procedure, insisted that each application be scrutinized individually. This again brought the process to a halt.
According to a NATO delegation, MINURSO election observers stated in 1999, as the deadlock continued, that "if the number of voters does not rise significantly the odds were slightly on theSADR side".[27] By 2001, the process had effectively stalemated and the UN Secretary-General asked the parties for the first time to explore other, third-way solutions. Indeed, shortly after the Houston Agreement (1997), Morocco officially declared that it was "no longer necessary" to include an option of independence on the ballot, offering instead autonomy. Erik Jensen, who played an administrative role in MINURSO, wrote that neither side would agree to a voter registration in which they were destined to lose (seeWestern Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemate).
As personal envoy of the Secretary-General,James Baker visited all sides and produced the document known as the "Baker Plan".[28] This was discussed by theUnited Nations Security Council in 2000, and envisioned an autonomousWestern Sahara Authority (WSA), which would be followed after five years by the referendum. Every person present in the territory would be allowed to vote, regardless of birthplace and with no regard to the Spanish census. It was rejected by both sides, although it was initially derived from a Moroccan proposal. According to Baker's draft, tens of thousands ofpost-annexation settlers from Morocco would be granted the vote in the Sahrawi independence referendum, and the ballot would be split three ways by the inclusion of an unspecified "autonomy", further undermining the independence camp. Morocco was also allowed to keep its army in the area and retain control over all security issues during both the autonomy years and the election. In 2002, the Moroccan king stated that the referendum idea was "out of date" since it "cannot be implemented";[29] Polisario retorted that that was only because of the King's refusal to allow it to take place.
In 2003, a new version of the plan was made official, with some additions spelling out the powers of the WSA, making it less reliant on Moroccandevolution. It also provided further detail on the referendum process in order to make it harder to stall or subvert. This second draft, commonly known as Baker II, was accepted by the Polisario as a "basis of negotiations" to the surprise of many.[30] This appeared to abandon Polisario's previous position of only negotiating based on the standards of voter identification from 1991 (i.e. the Spanish census). After that, the draft quickly garnered widespread international support, culminating in the UN Security Council's unanimous endorsement of the plan in the summer of 2003.
Baker resigned his post at the United Nations in 2004; his term did not see the crisis resolved.[31] His resignation followed several months of failed attempts to get Morocco to enter into formal negotiations on the plan, but he was met with rejection.
KingHassan II of Morocco initially supported the referendum idea in principle in 1982, and signed contracts with Polisario and the UN in 1991 and 1997. No major powers have expressed interest in forcing the issue, however, and Morocco has shown little interest in a real referendum. Hassan II's son and successor,Mohammed VI, has opposed any referendum on independence, and has said Morocco will never agree to one: "We shall not give up one inch of our beloved Sahara, not a grain of its sand."[32] In 2006, he created an appointed advisory bodyRoyal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), which proposes a self-governing Western Sahara as an autonomous community within Morocco.
The UN has put forth no replacement strategy after the breakdown of Baker II, and renewed fighting has been raised as a possibility. In 2005, former United Nations Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan reported increased military activity on both sides of the front and breaches of several cease-fire provisions against strengthening military fortifications.
Morocco has repeatedly tried to engage Algeria in bilateral negotiations, based on its view of Polisario as thecat's paw of the Algerian military. It has received vocal support from France and occasionally (and currently) from the United States. These negotiations would define the exact limits of a Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan rule but only after Morocco's "inalienable right" to the territory was recognized as a precondition to the talks. The Algerian government has consistently refused, claiming it has neither the will nor the right to negotiate on behalf of the Polisario Front.
In May 2005, demonstrations and riots by supporters of independence or a referendum broke out in the Moroccan-occupied parts of Western Sahara and in parts of southern Morocco (notably the town ofAssa). They were met by police. Several international human rights organizations expressed concern at what they termed abuse by Moroccan security forces, and a number of Sahrawi activists have been jailed. Pro-independence Sahrawi sources, including the Polisario, have given these demonstrations the name "Independence Intifada", while most sources have tended to see the events as being of limited importance. International press and other media coverage have been sparse, and reporting is complicated by the Moroccan government's policy of strictly controlling independent media coverage within the territory.
A demonstration in Madrid for the independence of Western Sahara
Demonstrations and protests still occur, even after Morocco declared in February 2006 that it was contemplating a plan for devolving a limited variant of autonomy to the territory but still explicitly refused any referendum on independence. As of January 2007, the plan had not been made public, though the Moroccan government claimed that it was more or less complete.[33]
Polisario has intermittently threatened to resume fighting, referring to the Moroccan refusal of a referendum as a breach of thecease-fire terms, but most observers seem to consider armed conflict unlikely without the green light fromAlgeria, which houses the Sahrawis' refugee camps and has been the main military sponsor of the movement.
In April 2007, the government of Morocco suggested that a self-governing entity, through the CORCAS, should govern the territory with some degree ofautonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the UN Security Council in mid-April 2007. The stalemating of the Moroccan proposal options has led the UN in the recent "Report of the UN Secretary-General" to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.[34]
2010s
A MINURSO car (left), and a post of the Polisario Front (right) in 2017 in southern Western Sahara
In October 2010, Gadaym Izik camp was set up nearLaayoune as a protest by displacedSahrawi people about their living conditions. It was home to more than 12,000 people. In November 2010, Moroccan security forces entered Gadaym Izik camp in the early hours of the morning, using helicopters and water cannon to force people to leave. The Polisario Front said Moroccan security forces had killed a 26-year-old protester at the camp, a claim denied by Morocco. Protesters in Laayoune threw stones at police and set fire to tires and vehicles. Several buildings, including a TV station, were also set on fire. Moroccan officials said five security personnel had been killed in the unrest.[35]
On 15 November 2010, the Moroccan government accused the Algerian secret services of orchestrating and financing the Gadaym Izik camp with the intent to destabilize the region. The Spanish press was accused of mounting a campaign of disinformation to support the Sahrawi initiative, and all foreign reporters were either prevented from traveling or else expelled from the area.[36] The protest coincided with a fresh round of negotiations at the UN.[37]
In 2016, the European Union (EU) declared that "Western Sahara is not part of Moroccan territory."[38] In March 2016, Morocco "expelled more than 70 U.N. civilian staffers with MINURSO" due to strained relations afterBan Ki-moon called Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara an "occupation".[39]
The 2020s have seen a diplomatic shift in favor of Morocco, with several African states openingconsulates accredited to Morocco in Western Sahara, implyingde facto recognition.[40] Even so, the Polisario Front has seen limited victories in cases brought before theAfrican Court and theEuropean Court of Justice. In November 2020, the ceasefire between the Polisario Front and Morocco broke down, leading to ongoingarmed clashes between both sides.
On 10 December 2020, theUnited States announced that it would recognize full Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange forMorocco normalizing relations with Israel with a view for subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations.[41][42][43] Following this,Israel officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2023.[44][45]
In February 2021, Morocco proposed to Spain the creation of an autonomy for Western Sahara under the sovereignty of theKing of Morocco.[46] In March 2022, theSpanish government abandoned its traditional position of neutrality in the conflict, siding with the Moroccan government and recognizing the autonomy proposal "as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the dispute".[47] This sudden turnaround was generally rejected by both the Opposition, the parties that make up the government coalition, the Polisario Front, as well as members of the governing party, who support a solution "that respects the democratic will of the Saharawi people".[48]
In October 2024, in a speech to theParliament of Morocco, French PresidentEmmanuel Macron backed Morocco's autonomy proposal.[49] Macron also unveiled a €25 million ($27 million) investment inGuelmim-Oued Noun, which includes part of the Western Sahara.[50] In June 2025,UK Foreign SecretaryDavid Lammy stated that Morocco's plan for autonomy in Western Sahara represented "the most credible, viable and pragmatic" solution to the conflict.[51] In July 2025, theCopernicus Programme corrected its cartography, separating Morocco from Western Sahara.[52]
In October 2025, the United Nations Security Council referenced Morocco's Autonomy Proposal as a basis for negotiations "with a view to achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable resolution to the dispute, consistent with the UN Charter" and welcomed "any constructive suggestions by the parties in response to the Autonomy Proposal". The resolution recognised that "genuine autonomy could represent a most feasible outcome" and encouraged the parties to submit ideas to support "a final mutually acceptable solution".[53]
Formally, Morocco is administered by abicameralparliament under aconstitutional monarchy wherein themonarch retains significant powers, such as the capacity to appoint the government and to dissolve parliament. The last elections tothe parliament's lower house were deemed reasonably free and fair by international observers.[citation needed] The Morocco-occupied parts of Western Sahara are divided intoseveral provinces that are treated as integral parts of the kingdom. The Moroccan government heavily subsidizes the Saharan provinces under its occupation with cut-rate fuel and related subsidies, to appease nationalist dissent and attract immigrants from Sahrawis and other communities in Morocco proper.[54]
Theexiled government of the self-proclaimedSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a form of single-party parliamentary and presidential system, but according to its constitution, this will be changed into a multi-party system at the achievement of independence. It is presently based at theTindouf refugee camps in Algeria, which it controls. It also controls the part of Western Sahara to the east of the Moroccan Wall, known as theliberated territories. This area has a very small population, estimated to be approximately 30,000 nomads.[55] The Moroccan government views it as a no-man's land patrolled by UN troops. The SADR government whose troops also patrol the area have proclaimed a village in the area,Bir Lehlou andTifariti, as SADR's former and actual temporary factual capitals.
On 18 December 2019, theComoros became the first nation to open a consulate inLaayoune in support of Moroccan claims to Western Sahara.[56] In January 2020,The Gambia[57] andGuinea[58] opened consulates inDakhla; meanwhile,Gabon opened a consulate general in Laayoune.[59] As part of the Moroccan-Israeli normalisation deal, theUnited States established a temporary consulate post in Dakhla in January 2021 as a transition to establishing a permanent consulate within the near future.[42][60]
Asangar (fortification) from the Western Sahara conflict. The fortification is built of rocks on top of a mesa overlooking the Grart Chwchia, Al Gada, Western Sahara. The Sangar is facing north and was probably built by the Sahrawis in the 1980s.Sahrawi human rights defenderAli Salem Tamek inAit Meloul Prison, Morocco[61]
The Western Sahara conflict has resulted in severe human-rights abuses, constantly reported by external reporters and human rights activists,[62] most notably the displacement of tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians from the country, the expulsion of tens of thousands of Moroccan civilians by the Algerian government from Algeria,[63] and numerous casualties of war and repression.
During the war years (1975–1991), both sides accused each other of targeting civilians. Moroccan claims of Polisario terrorism have generally had little to no support abroad, with the US, European Union,African Union and UN all refusing to include the group on theirlists of terrorist organizations. Polisario leaders maintain that they are ideologically opposed to terrorism, and insist that collective punishment andforced disappearances among Sahrawi civilians[64] should be consideredstate terrorism on the part of Morocco.[65] Both Morocco and the Polisario additionally accuse each other of violating the human rights of the populations under their control, in theMoroccan-occupied parts of Western Sahara and theTindouf refugee camps in Algeria, respectively. Morocco and organizations such asFrance Libertés consider Algeria to be directly responsible for any crimes committed on its territory, and accuse the country of having been directly involved in such violations.[66][unreliable source?]
Morocco has been repeatedly criticized for its actions in Western Sahara by international human rights organizations including:
ThePOLISARIO has received criticism from the French organization France Libertes on its treatment of Moroccan prisoners of war,[88] and on its general behaviour in the Tindouf refugee camps in reports by theBelgian commercial counseling societyESISC.[89][90] Social anthropologist of the Sahara Desert, Konstantina Isidoros, said that in both 2005 and 2008, ESISC issued two near-identical reports proclaiming distorted truths that Polisario is evolving to new fears terrorism,[clarification needed] radical Islamism or international crime. According Isidoros "lies appear to play some peculiar importance in this report".[91][clarification needed] Jacob Mundi[92] considers this report as a part of the Moroccan propaganda designed to discredit the Polisario Front.[93]
A number offormer Polisario officials who have defected to Morocco accuse the organization of abuse of human rights and sequestration of the population in Tindouf.[94][95]
Administrative divisions
Image showing Western Sahara divided between the Moroccan-held area (in red) and the SADR-held area (in green).
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The SADR has two levels of notional administrative division:
Remains of the former Spanish barracks inTifariti after the Moroccan airstrikes in 1991
Western Sahara was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring the northern two-thirds of the territory.[96] When Mauritania, under pressure fromPolisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979, Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control over the whole territory.[96] The official Moroccan government name for Western Sahara is the "Southern Provinces", consisting of theRío de Oro andSaguia el-Hamra regions.
The portion not under the occupation of the Moroccan government is the area that lies between theborder wall and the actual border with Algeria. The Polisario Front claims to run this as the Free Zone on behalf of theSADR. The area is patrolled by Polisario forces,[97] and access is restricted, even among Sahrawis, due to the harsh climate of theSahara, the military conflict and the abundance ofland mines. Landmine Action UK undertook preliminary survey work by visiting the Polisario-controlled area of Western Sahara in October 2005 and February–March 2006. A field assessment in the vicinity of Bir Lahlou, Tifariti and the berms revealed that the densest concentrations of mines are in front of the berms. Mines were laid in zigzags up to one meter apart, and in some parts of the berms, there are three rows of mines. There are also berms in the Moroccan-occupied zone, around Dakhla and stretching from Boujdour, includingSmara on the Moroccan border. Mine-laying was not restricted to the vicinity of the berms though, as towns throughout the Polisario-controlled areas, such as Bir Lehlou and Tifariti, are ringed by mines laid by Moroccan forces.[98]
Major Sahrawi political events, such asPolisario congresses and sessions of theSahrawi National Council (the SADR parliament in exile) are held in the Free Zone (especially inTifariti and Bir Lehlou), since it is politically and symbolically important to conduct political affairs on Sahrawi territory. In 2005, MINURSO lodged a complaint to the Security Council of the United Nations for "military maneuvers with real fire which extends to restricted areas" by Morocco.[101] A concentration of forces for the commemoration of the Saharawi Republic's 30th anniversary[102] were subject to condemnation by the United Nations,[103] as it was considered an example of a cease-fire violation to bring such a large force concentration into the area. In late 2009, Moroccan troops performed military maneuvers nearUmm Dreiga, in the exclusion zone, violating the cease-fire. Both parties have been accused of such violations by the UN, but to date there has been no serious hostile action from either side since 1991.
UN sponsored peace talks, the first in six years between Morocco and Polisario, were held in Geneva on 5 December 2018, with both sides agreeing to meet again in a few months for further talks.[104][105]
During the joint Moroccan–Mauritanian occupation of the area, the Mauritanian-occupied part, roughly corresponding to Saquia el-Hamra, was known asTiris al-Gharbiyya.
Aside from its rich fishing waters and phosphate reserves, Western Sahara has few natural resources and lacks sufficient rainfall and freshwater resources for most agricultural activities. Western Sahara's much-touted phosphate reserves are relatively unimportant, representing less than two percent of proven phosphate reserves in Morocco. There is speculation that there may be off-shore oil and natural gas fields, but the debate persists as to whether these resources can be profitably exploited, and if this would be legally permitted due to thenon-self-governing status of Western Sahara (see below).
Western Sahara's economy is based almost entirely on fishing, which employs two-thirds of its workforce, with mining, agriculture and tourism providing modest additional income. Most food for the urban population comes from Morocco. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan government (as its de facto southern province). The government has encouraged citizens to relocate to the territory by giving subsidies and price controls on basic goods. These heavy subsidies have created a state-dominated economy in the Moroccan-occupied parts of Western Sahara.
Due to the disputed nature of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory, the application of international accords to Western Sahara is highly ambiguous. Political leadership of trade agreement signatories such as the United States (US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement) and Norway (European Free Trade Association trade accord) have made statements as to these agreements' non-applicability – although practical policy application is ambiguous.[106][107][108]
After reasonably exploitable oil fields were located in Mauritania, speculation intensified on the possibility of major oil resources being located off the coast of Western Sahara. Despite the fact that findings remain inconclusive, both Morocco and the Polisario have signed deals with oil and gas exploration companies. US and French companies (notably TotalEnergies andKerr-McGee) began prospecting on behalf of the Moroccan Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Petrolières (ONAREP).[109]
In 2002,Hans Corell, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and head of itsOffice of Legal Affairs, issued a legal opinion on the matter.[109] The opinion was rendered following an analysis of relevant provisions of theCharter of the United Nations, theUnited Nations General Assembly resolutions, the case law of theInternational Court of Justice and the practice of sovereign states.[109] It concluded that while the existing exploration contracts for the area were not illegal, "if further exploration and exploitation activities were to proceed in disregard of the interests and wishes of the people of Western Sahara, they would be in violation of the principles of international law."[109] After pressures from corporate ethics-groups, TotalEnergies pulled out in late 2004.[110]
In May 2006, the remaining company, Kerr-McGee, also left, following sales of numerous shareholders like the National Norwegian Oil Fund, due to continued pressure from NGOs and corporate groups.[111]
In December 2014, it became known thatSeabird Exploration operated controversial seismic surveys offshore Western Sahara, in violation of the 2002Hans Corell legal opinion.[112]
TheEuropean Union fishing agreements with Morocco include Western Sahara.
In a previously confidential legal opinion (published in February 2010, although it was forwarded in July 2009), the European Parliament's Legal Service opined that fishing by European vessels under a current EU–Morocco fishing agreement covering Western Sahara's waters is in violation of international law.[113]
Similarly, the exploitation ofphosphate mines inBou Craa has led to charges of international law violations and divestment from several European states.[114]
This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: Most recent info date says 2008. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024)
Morocco built several empty towns in Western Sahara, ready for refugees returning from Tindouf.[115]
The indigenous population of Western Sahara is usually known in Western media asSahrawis, but they are also referred to in Morocco as "Southerners" or "Southern Berbers". They areHassaniya-speaking orBerber-speaking tribes ofBerber origin (97% of Y-DNA). Many of them have mixedBerber-Arab heritage, effectively continuations of the tribal groupings of Hassaniya-speaking andZenaga-Berber speakingMoorish tribes extending south into Mauritania and north into Morocco as well as east into Algeria. The Sahrawis are traditionally nomadic Bedouins with a lifestyle very similar to that of theTuareg Berbers from whom Sahrawis most likely have descended, and they can be found in all surrounding countries. War and conflict has led to major population displacement.
As of July 2004, an estimated 267,405 people (excluding about 160,000 Moroccan military personnel) lived in the Moroccan-occupied parts of Western Sahara. Many people from parts of Morocco have come to settle in the territory, and these latest arrivals are today thought to outnumber the indigenous Western Sahara Sahrawis. The precise size and composition of the population is subject to political controversy.
The Polisario-controlled parts of Western Sahara are barren. This area has a sparse population, estimated to be approximately 30,000 in 2008.[55] The population is primarily made up of nomads who engage in herding camels back and forth between theTindouf area and Mauritania. The presence of land mines scattered throughout the territory by the Moroccan army makes this a dangerous way of life.
Spanish census and MINURSO
A 1974 Spanish census claimed there were some 74,000 Sahrawis in the area at the time (in addition to approximately 20,000 Spanish residents), but this number is likely to be on the low side, due to the difficulty in counting a nomad people, even if Sahrawis were by the mid-1970s mostly urbanized. Despite these possible inaccuracies, Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed on using the Spanish census as the basis for voter registration when striking acease-fire agreement in the late 1980s, contingent on the holding of a referendum on independence or integration into Morocco.
In December 1999, the United Nations'MINURSO mission announced that it had identified 86,425 eligible voters for the referendum that was supposed to be held under the 1991Settlement plan and the 1997Houston accords. By "eligible voter" the UN referred to any Sahrawi over 18 years of age that was part of the Spanish census or could prove their descent from someone who was. These 86,425 Sahrawis were dispersed between Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara and the refugee camps in Algeria, with smaller numbers in Mauritania and other places of exile. These numbers cover only Sahrawis 'indigenous' to Western Sahara during the Spanish colonial period, not the total number of "ethnic" Sahrawis (i.e., members of Sahrawi tribal groupings), who also extend into Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. The number was highly politically significant due to the expected organization of a referendum on self-determination.
The Polisario has its home base in theTindouf refugee camps in Algeria, and declares the number of Sahrawi population in the camps to be approximately 155,000. Morocco disputes this number, saying it is exaggerated for political reasons and for attracting more foreign aid. The UN uses a number of 90,000 "most vulnerable" refugees as basis for its food aid program.
The major ethnic group of Western Sahara are theSahrawis, a nomadic orBedouin ethnic group speaking theHassānīya dialect ofArabic, also spoken in much of Mauritania. They are of mixed Arab-Berber descent, but claim descent from theBeni Hassan, an Arab tribe that migrated across the desert in the 11th century.
Like other Saharan Bedouin and Hassaniya groups, the Sahrawis are mostly Muslims of theSunni branch and theMalikifiqh. Local religious custom (Urf) is, like other Saharan groups, heavily influenced by pre-Islamic Berber and African practices, and differs substantially from urban practices. For example, Sahrawi Islam has traditionally functioned without mosques, in an adaptation to nomadic life.[citation needed]
The originalclan-/tribe-based society underwent a massive social upheaval in 1975 when the war forced part of the population to settle in therefugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, where they remain. Families were broken up by the dispute.
TheMuseum of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army is located in this refugee camp. This museum is dedicated to the struggle for the independence of Western Saharan people. It presents weapons, vehicles and uniforms, as well as abundant documentation history.
Cross-cultural influence
The contemporary history of the territory has experienced long-term international presence and occupation that has deeply influenced the cultural practices of the people, such as languages spoken throughout the territory and its institutions.[116] Spanish colonization lasted roughly from 1884 to 1976, following the creation of the Madrid Accords where Spain absolved all responsibility over the territory and left it to Morocco and Mauritania.[117]
Throughout the nine decades of Spanish colonial presence, one of the primary spoken languages in Western Sahara came to be Spanish. The reasons for its widespread usage was due to the necessity of communicating with Spanish leadership and administrators throughout the territory, who ultimately established institutions modeled after those of Spain.[116] The importance and prevalence of Spanish has persisted to the present day, even after Spanish withdrawal from Western Sahara in 1976, due to various education exchanges and host programs for Sahrawi children to Spain and Cuba.[118]
One such exchange program to Spain is Vacaciones en Paz (Vacations in Peace), which is an annual holiday program that was created in 1988 and is organized by the Union of Sahrawi Youth (UJSARIO) in collaboration with 300 other associations throughout Spain.[119] The program itself allows 7,000 to 10,000 Sahrawi children between the ages of 8 and 12 the opportunity to live in Spain for the summer outside of the refugee camps. Sometimes children return to the same Spanish household year after year while they are still eligible, and forge strong relationships with their host families.[119] These types of exchange programs that successfully create cross-border and cross-cultural relationships reinforce the usage of the Spanish language throughout subsequent generations of Sahrawi children.
Gender relations
Two women outside a hospital emergencies at a Sahrawi refugee camps
Much Spanish literature and recent refugee studies scholarship has been dedicated to the exploration of the major role women play in Sahrawi society, and the degree of freedom they experience within the occupied territory and the refugee camps. There is a consensus among Sahrawi women that they have always enjoyed a large degree of freedom and influence within the Sahrawi community.[120]
Traditionally, women have played pivotal roles in Sahrawi culture, as well as in efforts to resist colonialism and foreign interference in their territory.[121] Similar to other nomadic traditions on the African continent, Sahrawi women traditionally exercised significant power and roles both in the camp and in their tents.
Sahrawi women could inherit property, and subsist independently from their fathers, brothers, husbands, and other male relatives.[121] Women were key for establishing alliances through marriage, being that the Sahrawi culture values monogamy, with their tribe and to others.[122] Furthermore, Sahrawi women were endowed with major responsibility for the camp during long periods of absence by the men of the camp due to war or trade. Among the responsibilities women had were setting up, repairing, and moving the tents of the camp, and participating in major tribal decisions.[123]
In the contemporary history of Western Sahara, women have occupied central roles and been highly represented in the political sphere.[124] During Spanish colonial rule, Sahrawi women actively provided financial and physical support to the resistance movements during the 1930s, 1950s, and the late 1960s.[121] In more official ways, women were consistently part of the Polisario Front, which in 1994 created the National Union of Sahrawi Women (NUSW).[124] The NUSW was structured at the local, regional, and national levels and concentrated on four areas: the occupied territories and emigration, information and culture, political and professional development, and foreign affairs.[124]
Art and cultural expression
FiSahara International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in one of the southwestern refugee camps in Algeria.[125] At this event, actors, directors, and film industry insiders from around the world join the Sahrawi people for a week-long festival of screenings, parallel activities, and concerts. The festival provides entertainment and educational opportunities for Sahrawi refugees alongside cultural celebrations for visitors and spectators. It aims to raise awareness of the humanitarian crises in the refugee camps, and expose the Sahrawi people to this medium of art and expression.[126]
Spanish filmmakers and actors, such asJavier Bardem,Penélope Cruz, andPedro Almodóvar have supported and attended the festival. In 2013, the festival screened over 15 films from around the world including comedies, short films, animations, and documentaries. Some of the films were made by the refugees themselves.[126] Art as embodied in film has been a strong and popular medium that Sahrawi youth have used to express themselves, and share their stories of conflict and exile.
ARTifariti, the International Art and Human Rights Meeting in Western Sahara, is an annual art workshop set up in the Liberated Zone and refugee camps, specifically in Tifariti, that brings artists from all over the world. This event led to the introduction of graffiti art to the camps, and popular graffiti artists have come to the workshop to work with refugees.[127] One such artist was Spanish street artist MESA, who travelled to the Sahrawi refugee camps in 2011 and displayed his own graffiti throughout the landscape.[128] His canvases of choice were destroyed walls, which he brought back to life through his art.
MESA inspired other Sahrawis to express themselves and embody their national struggle through art and graffiti. One such artist is Mohamed Sayad, a Sahrawi artist that has been transforming the refugee camp landscape by creating works of art amongst the devastation in camps that have existed for four decades.[128] His canvases, much like MESA, are walls that have been ruined by massive floods in the Sahrawi refugee camps in southwestern Algeria. Sayad's work tells a consistent story, one that draws on his experience of protracted conflict and a life under Moroccan occupation. Sayad's graffiti depicts aspects of Sahrawi culture and includes actual Sahrawi people as his subjects.[128]
Poetry is a popular artform in Sahrawi culture, and is composed by both men and women.[129] Notable poets include:Al Khadra Mabrook,Hadjatu Aliat Swelm, Beyibouh El Haj.[130] Traditionally, Sahrawi poetry was performed and passed on orally: younger poets would undergo 'apprenticeships to more experienced ones, today the internet is a key way in which Sahrawi poetry is transmitted between and within generations'.[131] However Sahrawi poets find it difficult to be published, especially by Arabic publishers, due to the political nature of much of their output.[129]
^In 1976, Spain withdrew from Western Sahara and informed theSecretary-General of the United Nations that it no longer considers itself responsible for the territory. Nonetheless, the criminal division of theSpanish National High Court ruled in 2014 that Spain remains as Western Sahara'sde jure administering power.[1] This position is shared by the United Nations, theAfrican Union, and several legal jurists.[2][3][4] Additionally, Spain continues to exert control over Western Saharan civilian air traffic.[5]
^"AAN 256/2014 - ECLI:ES:AN:2014:256A"(PDF). 21 November 2014. Retrieved2 July 2025.In conclusion, Spain is stillde jure, although not de facto, the Administering Power, and as such, until the end of the decolonization, has the obligations contained in articles 73 and 74 of the Charter of the United Nations.
^de Martín-Pinillos, Eduardo Trillo (2007). "Spain as Administering Power of Western Sahara". In Arts, Karin; Leite, Pedro Pinto (eds.).International Law and the Question of Western Sahara. Leiden: International Platform of Jurists for East Timor.ISBN9892008200.
^Fernández-Molina, Irene; Ojeda-García, Raquel (2020). "Western Sahara as a Hybrid of a Parastate and a State-in-Exile: (Extra)territoriality and the Small Print of Sovereignty in a Context of Frozen Conflict".Nationalities Papers:83–99.doi:10.1017/nps.2019.34.A number of jurists argue that Spain remains thede jure administering power of Western Sahara since the Madrid Accords violated Article 73 of the UN Charter and failed to be endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Such has been the position advocated by the African Union [...] since 2014.
^Carlos, Ruiz Miguel (2010). "Spain's Legal Obligations as Administering Power of Western Sahara". In Oliver, Michele; van Tonder, Delarey; Botha, Neville (eds.).Multilateralism and International Law with Western Sahara as a Case Study. Pretoria:University of South Africa.ISBN9781868886043.As far as airspace is concerned, the airspace of the Western Sahara is included in the Spanish airspace, and more precisely in the Canary Islands Flight Information Region. This means that Morocco requires Spanish permission for flights in this territory.
^Saïd Haddad (2025). "Mauritania, Morocco, and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic". In Evert Kleynhans; Marco Wyss (eds.).The Handbook of African Defence and Armed Forces. Oxford:Oxford University Press. p. 135.ISBN978-0-19-888475-0.
^Handloff, Robert."The West Sudanic Empires". Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Archived fromthe original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved3 September 2009.
^abcHistory of Ibn Khaldun Volume 6, pp80-90 byibn Khaldun
^Nicolas Niarchos (29 December 2018)."Is One of Africa's Oldest Conflicts Finally Nearing Its End?".The New Yorker. Retrieved30 December 2018.For the past forty years, tens of thousands of Moroccan soldiers have manned a wall of sand that curls for one and a half thousand miles through the howling Sahara. The vast plain around it is empty and flat, interrupted only by occasional horseshoe dunes that traverse it. But the Berm, as the wall is known, is no natural phenomenon. It was built by the Kingdom of Morocco, in the nineteen-eighties, and it's the longest defensive fortification in use today—and the second-longest ever, after China's Great Wall
^Jacob Mundy – Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Colgate University
^Jacob Mundi. Failed States. Ungoverned Areas, and Safe Havens: The Terrorization of the Western Sahara Peace Process // Fonkem Achankeng. Nationalism and Intra-State Conflicts in the Postcolonial World. Lexington Books, 2015,ISBN1498500269, 9781498500265. Pp.139–140. "Decades later, substitute "'Al-Qaeda" for "Communism" and the discourse is essentially the same. One of the first major salvos in the Moroccan offensive to link Polisario to Al-Qaeda was a series of think tank reports paid for by the royal palace (Moniquet, 2005, 2008). When a Moroccan newsmagazine, Le Journal hebdomadaire (9 December 2005), dared expose the fact that the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Institute was being paid to tar and feather Polisario, thus began the regime's successful five-year campaign to drive one of the few independent media voices out of existence. Morocco even enlisted its academic voices to aid in the terrorization of the Western Sahara peace process by linking Al-Qaeda to Polisario. "
^abChris Brazier (December 1998)."Up Against the Wall".New Internationalist Magazine. Archived fromthe original on 18 December 2002. Retrieved12 May 2012.
^[1]Archived 26 May 2011 at theWayback Machine Commemoration of the Saharawi Republic's 30th anniversary in the liberated territories of Western Sahara Press Service, 27 February 2006[unreliable source?]
^abSan Martin, Pablo (2005). "Nationalism, identity and citizenship in the Western Sahara".The Journal of North African Studies.10 (3–4). Taylor & Francis:565–592.doi:10.1080/13629380500336870.S2CID144988314.
^Zunes, Stephen; Mundy, Jacob (2010).Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution. Syracuse UP.
^Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena (14 July 2009). "Representing Sahrawi Refugees' 'Educational Displacement' to Cuba: Self-Sufficient Agents of Manipulated Victims of Conflict?".Journal of Refugee Studies.22 (3). Oxford Journals:323–350.doi:10.1093/jrs/fep019.
^Juliano, Dolores (1998).La causa Saharaui y las mujeres: "siempre hemos sido muy libres". Icaria Editorial.
^abcLippert, Anne (Spring 1992). "Sahrawi Women in the Liberation Struggle of the Sahrawi People".Journal of Women in Culture and Society.17 (3). The University of Chicago Press:636–651.doi:10.1086/494752.JSTOR3174626.S2CID144819149.
^Mohsen, Safia (Fall 1967). "Legal Status of Women among the Awad'Ali'".Anthropological Quarterly.40 (3). Institute for Ethnographic Research:153–66.
1Entirely claimed by both Morocco and theSADR.2Spanish exclaves claimed by Morocco.3Portuguese archipelago claimed by Spain.4Disputed between Egypt and the Sudan.5Unclaimed territory located between Egypt and the Sudan.6Disputed between South Sudan and the Sudan.7Part of Chad, formerly claimed by Libya.8Disputed between Morocco and Spain
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