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119-628: It is the southernmost town of Western Sahara . La Güera is situated south of the Moroccan Wall and is technically abandoned. The name La Güera comes from the Spanish word Agüera which is a ditch that carries rainwater to crops. La Güera came into existence in late 1920, when Spanish colonizer Francisco Bens (who had earlier taken possession of the Cape Juby region as a protectorate in 1916), after negotiating with tribal chiefs of

238-677: A 1955 book on the subject. According to the Ethnologue database, there were more than three million Hassaniya speakers in 2006, of whom 2.7 million resided in Mauritania. The number of Hassaniya speakers identifying as Sahrawi in the modern political sense is unknown, and estimates are hotly contested by partisans in the Western Sahara conflict. Most estimates however center around 200,000 to 400,000. These populations are centered in southern Morocco, Western Sahara, and in

357-493: A French non-settler colonial administration which, if light in its demands on the nomads, also deliberately overturned the existing social order, allying itself with lower-ranking marabout and zenaga tribes against the powerful warrior clans of the Hassane Arabs. In southern Morocco, France upheld indirect rule through the sultanate in some areas, while Spain exercised direct administration in others. Spanish Sahara

476-713: A TV station, were also set on fire. Moroccan officials said five security personnel had been killed in the unrest. 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

595-466: 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 the behalf of the Polisario Front. In May 2005, demonstrations and riots by supporters of independence or a referendum broke out in

714-503: A few Imraguen fishermen and guarded by a Mauritanian military outpost, despite this not being Mauritanian territory. 20°50′N 17°5.5′W  /  20.833°N 17.0917°W  / 20.833; -17.0917 Western Sahara Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North-western Africa . It has a surface area of 272,000 square kilometres (105,000 sq mi). Approximately 30% of

833-486: A few slaves at the most, as nomadic societies have less use of slave labour than sedentary societies; however, in some cases, slaves were used to work oasis plantations, farming dates , digging wells etc. An important reference on Sahrawi population ethnography is the work of Spanish anthropologist Julio Caro Baroja , who in 1952–53 spent several months among native tribes of the Spanish Sahara . He published

952-520: A grain of its sand." In 2006, he created an appointed advisory body Royal 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-General Kofi Annan reported increased military activity on both sides of

1071-636: A multi-party system at the achievement of independence. It is presently based at the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, which it controls. It also controls the part of Western Sahara to the east of the Moroccan Wall, known as the liberated territories . This area has a very small population, estimated to be approximately 30,000 nomads. The Moroccan government views it as a no-man's land patrolled by UN troops. The SADR government whose troops also patrol

1190-621: A tribe's cultural heritage reflects social stratification. In traditional Moorish-Sahrawi society, Arab tribes of the Tekna confederation claimed a role as rulers and protectors of the disarmed weaker Berber tribes of the Takna confederation. Thus, the warrior tribes and nobility would be Arab. However, most tribes, regardless of their mixed heritage, tend to claim some form of Arab ancestry, as this has been key to achieving social status. Many (the so-called chorfa tribes) will also claim descendancy from

1309-553: A €25 million ($ 27 million) investment in Guelmim-Oued Noun , which includes part of the Western Sahara. Sovereignty over Western Sahara is contested between Morocco and the Polisario Front and its legal status remains unresolved. The United Nations considers it to be a " non-self-governing territory ". Formally, Morocco is administered by a bicameral parliament under a constitutional monarchy wherein

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1428-453: Is rare. Western Sahara contains four terrestrial ecoregions : Saharan halophytics , Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets , Atlantic coastal desert , and North Saharan steppe and woodlands . The earliest known inhabitants of Western Sahara were the Gaetuli . Depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or

1547-753: Is spoken as a lingua franca by most of the Sahrawis, especially among the Sahrawi diaspora, with the Sahrawi Press Service , official news service of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic , being available in Spanish since 2001 and the Sahara Film Festival , Western Sahara's only film festival , showing mainly Spanish-language films. After the Madrid Accords which transferred administration of

1666-454: Is whether the tribal confederations fell under French or Spanish colonial rule. France conquered most of North and West Africa largely during the late 19th century. This included Algeria and Mauritania, and, from 1912, Morocco. But Western Sahara and scattered minor parts of Morocco fell to Spain, and were named Spanish Sahara (subdivided into Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra ) and Spanish Morocco respectively. These colonial intrusions brought

1785-709: The Almoravid dynasty of Morocco and Andalusia , and several emirates in Mauritania. In the 11th century, the Bedouin tribes of the Beni Hilal and Beni Sulaym emigrated westwards from Egypt to the Maghreb region. In the early 13th century, the Yemeni Maqil tribes migrated westwards across the entirety of Arabia and northern Africa, to finally settle around present-day Morocco. They were badly received by

1904-520: The Berlin Conference in 1884 on the division of spheres of influence in Africa , the same year Spain seized control of Western Sahara and established it as a Spanish colony. 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

2023-733: The Greater Morocco ideology point to some Sahrawi tribes calling upon the Moroccan sultan, who until 1912 remained the last independent Islamic ruler of the area, for assistance against the Europeans (see Ma al-'Aynayn ). Pro-independence Sahrawis, on the other hand, point out that such statements of allegiance were almost routinely given by various tribal leaders to create short-term alliances, and that other heads of tribes indeed similarly proclaimed allegiance to Spain, to France, to Mauritanian emirates, and indeed to each other; they argue that such arrangements always proved temporary, and that

2142-665: The Hassaniya dialect of Arabic . The Arabic word Ṣaḥrāwī ( صحراوي ) literally means "Inhabitant of the Desert". The word Sahrawi is derived from the Arabic word Ṣaḥrā' ( صحراء ), meaning "desert". A man is called a Sahrawi , and a woman is called a Sahrawiya . In other languages it is pronounced in similar or different ways: Nomadic Berbers , mainly of the Senhaja / Zenaga tribal confederation, inhabited

2261-463: The Islamic prophet Muhammad . In any case, no tribal identity is cut in stone, and over the centuries a great deal of intermarriage and tribal re-affiliation has occurred to blur former ethnic/cultural lines; groups have often seamlessly re-identified to higher status identities, after achieving the military or economic strength to defeat former rulers. This was, for example, the case of the largest of

2380-652: The Lamtuna nomadic Berbers of the Sahara . 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 and Mauritania . The Spanish presence in the region of modern-day Western Sahara lasted from 1884 to 1975. While initial Spanish interest in

2499-660: The Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, respectively. Morocco and organizations such as France 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. Morocco has been repeatedly criticized for its actions in Western Sahara by international human rights organizations including: Sahrawis The Sahrawis , or Sahrawi people ( Arabic : صحراويون ṣaḥrāwīyūn ), are an ethnic group native to

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2618-573: The Spanish Sahara to Mauritania and Morocco, and Morocco claimed souvereignty over the territories, dismissing a judgement of the International Court of Justice reaffirming the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, from late 1975 an exodus of refugees fled the violence that ensued. Substantial numbers ended up in the Polisario Front movement's base areas in the Algerian Sahara, where refugee camps were set up in

2737-869: The Tindouf Province of Algeria, where large number of refugees from Western Sahara are located. Sahrawis' native language is the Hassānīya , a variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassan Arabian tribes of the Western Sahara . It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages originally spoken in this region. Though clearly a western dialect, Hassānīya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic. Its geographical location exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof . There are several dialects of Hassaniya;

2856-583: The Tindouf Province , and a smaller number in camps in Mauritania . The camps in Tindouf were named after towns in the Western Sahara (Awserd, Laayoune, Smara and Dakhla). As of January 2018, the number of Sahrawi refugees living in the five camps in Tindouf is estimated about 174.000, of whom 125,000 were entitled to food and nutrition assistance by UNHCR and 90,000 individuals regarded "most vulnerable refugees". The Moroccan government has contended that

2975-647: The Zenata Berber descendants of the Merinid dynasty , and among the tribes pushed out of the territory were the Beni Hassan . This tribe entered the domains of the Sanhaja , and over the following centuries imposed itself upon them, intermixing with the population in the process. Berber attempts to shake off the rule of Arab warrior tribes occurred sporadically, but assimilation gradually won out, and after

3094-465: The cease-fire terms , but most observers seem to consider armed conflict unlikely without the green light from Algeria , 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 of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project

3213-413: The monarch retains significant powers, such as the capacity to appoint the government and to dissolve parliament. The last elections to the parliament's lower house were deemed reasonably free and fair by international observers. The Morocco-controlled parts of Western Sahara are divided into several provinces that are treated as integral parts of the kingdom. The Moroccan government heavily subsidizes

3332-469: 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

3451-707: The 8th century played a major role in the development of the Maghreb region. Trade developed further, and the territory may have been one of the routes for caravans , especially between Marrakesh and Tombouctou in Mali . In the 11th century, the Maqil Arabs (fewer than 200 individuals) settled in Morocco (mainly in the Draa River valley, between the Moulouya River , Tafilalt and Taourirt ). Towards

3570-599: 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. Western Sahara is located on the north-west coast in West Africa and on the cusp of North Africa , bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to

3689-478: The French colonial regime) managed to impose rigid, if arbitrary, borders on the previously fluid Sahara. The wide-ranging grazing lands of the nomads were split apart, and their traditional economies, based on trans-Saharan caravan trade and raiding of each other and the northern and southern Sahel neighbors, were broken. Little attention was paid to existing tribal confederations and zones of influence when dividing up

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3808-573: The Gaetulian Daradae tribes. Berber heritage is still evident from regional and place-name toponymy , as well as from tribal names. Other early inhabitants of Western Sahara may be the Bafour and later the Serer . The Bafour were later replaced or absorbed by Berber-speaking populations, which eventually merged in turn with the migrating Beni Ḥassān Arab tribes. The arrival of Islam in

3927-595: The Hassaniya populations were (or are) divided into several groups, of different social status. At the peak of society were the aristocratic "warrior" lineages or clans , the Hassane , supposed descendants of the Beni Hassan Arab tribe (cf. Oulad Delim ). Below them stood the "scholarly" or "clerical" lineages. These were called marabout or zawiya tribes (cf. Oulad Tidrarine ). The latter designation

4046-657: 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 (see Western Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemate ). As personal envoy of the Secretary-General, James Baker visited all sides and produced

4165-506: 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 and Mauritania , which had historical and competing claims of sovereignty over

4284-664: The Moroccan-Israeli normalisation deal, the United States established a temporary consulate post in Dakhla in January 2021 as a transition to establishing a permanent consulate within the near future. The Western Sahara conflict has resulted in severe human-rights abuses, constantly reported by external reporters and human rights activists, most notably the displacement of tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians from

4403-528: The Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara and in parts of southern Morocco (notably the town of Assa ). 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

4522-490: The Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara or Southern Morocco, and the others scattered between the Tindouf 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

4641-718: The Muslim Saharan peoples under Christian European rule for the first time, and created lasting cultural and political divides between and within existing populations, as well as upsetting traditional balances of power in differing ways. The Sahrawi-Moorish areas, then still undefined as to exact territorial boundaries, proved troublesome for the colonizers, just as they had for neighbouring dynasties in previous centuries. The political loyalty of these populations were first and foremost to their respective tribes, and supertribal allegiances and alliances would shift rapidly and unexpectedly. Their nomadic lifestyle made direct control over

4760-442: The Polisario Front and Morocco broke down, leading to armed clashes between both sides. On 10 December 2020, the United States announced that it would recognize full Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco normalizing relations with Israel with a view for subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations . In February 2021, Morocco proposed to Spain the creation of an autonomy for Western Sahara under

4879-501: 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 a visiting mission in late 1975, as well as a verdict from the International 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

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4998-564: The Sahara was focused on using it as a port for the slave trade , by the 1700s Spain had transitioned economic activity on the Saharan coast towards commercial fishing. 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 the European colonial powers at

5117-505: The Sahara was generally considered Blad Essiba or "the land of dissidence" by the Moroccan central government and Sultan of Morocco in Fez , and by the authorities of the Deys of Algiers . The governments of the pre-colonial Sahelian empires of Mali and Songhai appear to have had a similar relationship with the tribal territories, which were at once the home of undisciplined raiding tribes and

5236-494: The Saharan caravan routes.) As with most Saharan peoples, the tribes reflect a highly mixed heritage, combining Arab, and other influences, including ethnic and cultural characteristics found in many ethnic groups of the Sahel . The latter were primarily acquired through mixing with Wolof , Soninke and other populations of the southern Sahel, and through the acquisition of slaves by wealthier nomad families. In pre-colonial times,

5355-489: The Saharan interior. French and Spanish colonial governments would gradually, and with varying force, impose their own systems of government and education over these territories, exposing the native populations to differing colonial experiences. The populations in Algeria were subjected to direct French rule, which was organized to enable the massive settlement of French and European immigrants. In Mauritania, they experienced

5474-408: The Saharan provinces under its control with cut-rate fuel and related subsidies, to appease nationalist dissent and attract immigrants from Sahrawis and other communities in Morocco proper. The exiled government of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a form of single-party parliamentary and presidential system, but according to its constitution, this will be changed into

5593-599: The Sahrawi tribes, the Reguibat . A Berber-descended zawiya (scholarly) tribe who in the 18th century took up camel nomadism and warrior traditions, they simultaneously took on more and more of an Arab identity , reflecting their new position alongside the traditional warrior castes of Arab Hassane origin, such as the Oulad Delim and the Arabic-speaking tribes of the Tekna confederation. Generally speaking,

5712-484: The Sahrawis, enabling them to choose for themselves whether they wanted Spanish Sahara to turn into an independent state, or to be annexed to Morocco or Mauritania. The area today referred to as Western Sahara remains, according to the United Nations, one of the world's last remaining major non-self-governing territories . Morocco controls most of the territory as its Southern Provinces , and while recognized by

5831-404: The Spanish forces out of much of the territory for a long time. The territory was eventually subdued by joint Spanish and French forces in 1934, the same year the Spaniards divided their Saharan territories into two regions named after the rivers: Saguía el-Hamra and Río de Oro . After 1939 and the outbreak of World War II , this area was administered by Spanish Morocco . In 1958, Spain joined

5950-523: The UN General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination. In 1975, Spain relinquished administrative control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco and Mauritania . 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

6069-408: The UN had ever recognized Moroccan sovereignty over parts of Western Sahara. In 2020, the US recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Moroccan normalization of relations with Israel . In 2023, Israel recognized Moroccan sovereignty. In 1984, the African Union 's predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity , recognized the SADR as one of its full members, with

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6188-478: The United States, the legality is disputed militarily by the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed movement claiming independence for the territory as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Since 1991, there has been a cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario, but disturbances in Moroccan-held territories as well as the ongoing dispute over the legal status of the territory guarantees continued United Nations involvement and occasional international attention to

6307-436: The Western Sahara society, stood the znaga tribes—tribal groups labouring in demeaning occupations, such as fishermen (cf. Imraguen ), as well as peripheral semi-tribal groups working in the same fields (among them the "professional" castes, mallemin and igawen ). All these groups were considered to be among the bidan grouping. Below them ranked servile groups known as Haratin , according to some sources descendants of

6426-424: The area have proclaimed a village in the area, Bir Lehlou and Tifariti , as SADR's former and actual temporary factual capitals. On 18 December 2019, the Comoros became the first nation to open a consulate in Laayoune in support of Moroccan claims to Western Sahara. In January 2020, The Gambia and Guinea opened consulates in Dakhla ; meanwhile, Gabon opened a consulate general in Laayoune. As part of

6545-416: The area. The protest coincided with a fresh round of negotiations at the UN. In 2016, the European Union (EU) declared that "Western Sahara is not part of Moroccan territory." In March 2016, Morocco "expelled more than 70 U.N. civilian staffers with MINURSO" due to strained relations after Ban Ki-moon called Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara an "occupation". In November 2020, the ceasefire between

6664-419: The areas now known as Western Sahara , southern Morocco , Mauritania and southwestern Algeria , before Islam arrived in the 8th century CE. It is not known when the camel was introduced to the region (probably in the first or second millennium BCE), but it revolutionized the traditional trade routes of North Africa . Berber caravans transported salt, gold, and slaves between North and West Africa , and

6783-488: The closest thing to centralized government that was ever achieved by the Hassaniya tribes, but even these emirates were weak, conflict-ridden and rested more on the willing consent of the subject tribes than on any capacity to enforce loyalty. Modern distinctions drawn between the various Hassaniya -speaking Sahrawi- Moorish groups are primarily political, but cultural differences dating from different colonial and post-colonial histories are also apparent. An important divider

6902-410: The control of trade routes became a major ingredient in the constant power struggles between various tribes and sedentary peoples. On more than one occasion, the Berber tribes of present-day Mauritania, Morocco and Western Sahara united behind religious leaders to sweep the surrounding governments from power, then founding principalities, dynasties, or even vast empires of their own. This was the case with

7021-411: The country, the expulsion of tens of thousands of Moroccan civilians by the Algerian government from Algeria, 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

7140-428: 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 . In most instances, recognitions are extended or withdrawn due to a change in relations with Morocco. Until 2020, no other member state of

7259-446: The district of Saguia el-Hamra (the "Red River") in the north with the Río 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

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7378-406: The document known as the "Baker Plan". This was discussed by the United Nations Security Council in 2000, and envisioned an autonomous Western 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

7497-454: The earlier pre-Arab populations. (Note that "Haratin", a term of obscure origin, has a different meaning in the Berber regions of Morocco.) They often lived serving affiliated bidan families, and as such formed part of the tribe, not tribes of their own. Below them came the slaves themselves, who were owned individually or in family groups, and could hope at best to be freed and rise to the status of Haratin. Rich bidan families would normally own

7616-441: The end of Francisco Franco 's rule. There was a global trend towards complete decolonization . Spain abandoned most territories within neighboring Morocco in 1956, but resisted encroachment by the Moroccan Liberation Army within Ifni and Spanish Sahara from 1956 to 1958. In 1971, Sahrawi (an Arabic term for those from Sahara ) students in Moroccan universities began organizing what came to be known as The Embryonic Movement for

7735-410: The end of the Almohad Caliphate , the Beni Hassan, a sub-tribe of the Maqil, were called by the local ruler of the Sous to quell a rebellion; they settled in the Sous Ksours and controlled such cities as Taroudant . During Marinid dynasty rule, the Beni Hassan rebelled but were defeated by the Sultan and escaped beyond the Saguia el-Hamra dry river. The Beni Hassan then were at constant war with

7854-502: The fact that many if not all of the Sahrawi/Moorish tribes today claim Arab ancestry; several are even claiming to be descendants of Muhammad , so-called sharifian tribes. The modern day Sahrawis are a mixed ethnic group of Arabs, West Africans & diverse Berbers. The people inhabit the westernmost Sahara desert, in the area of modern Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara, and parts of Algeria. (Some tribes would also traditionally migrate into northern Mali and Niger, or even further along

7973-450: The failed Char Bouba uprising (1644–74), the Berber tribes virtually without exception embraced Arab or Muslim culture and even claim Arab heritage. The Arabic dialect of the Beni Ḥassān , Hassaniya , remains the mother-tongue of Mauritania and Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara to this day, and is also spoken in southern Morocco and western Algeria, among affiliated tribes. Berber vocabulary and cultural traits remain common, despite

8092-600: The figure is much lower, around 45,000 to 50,000, and that these people are kept in the refugee camps against their will by Polisario. Mauritania housed as of 2009 about 26,000 Sahrawi refugees, classified by UNHCR as "people in a refugee-like situation". Many of them moved back and forth from the camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Additionally, between 3,000 and 12,000 Sahrawis live in Spain, their former colonizer. In 2018, thirty Sahrawi refugees died in an air crash of Algerian Air Force Il-76 . They had been visiting Algiers for various medical and bureaucratic reasons. Sahrawis from

8211-405: 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 the cat'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

8330-421: 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". In July 2023, Israel officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. In October 2024, in a speech to the Parliament of Morocco , French President Emmanuel Macron backed Morocco's autonomy proposal. Macron also unveiled

8449-421: The group on their lists of terrorist organizations. Polisario leaders maintain that they are ideologically opposed to terrorism, and insist that collective punishment and forced disappearances among Sahrawi civilians should be considered state terrorism on the part of Morocco. Both Morocco and the Polisario additionally accuse each other of violating the human rights of the populations under their control, in

8568-455: 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"; Polisario retorted that that was only because of the King's refusal to allow it to take place. In 2003, a new version of

8687-477: The issue. The Polisario Front is the Western Sahara's national liberation movement, fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara since 1973—originally against Spanish rule; after 1975, against Mauritania and Morocco; since 1979, against Morocco only. The organization is based in Algeria, where it is responsible for the Tindouf refugee camps. The organization has maintained a cease-fire with Morocco since 1991 (see Settlement Plan ), but continues to strive for

8806-586: The large Reguibat , have a Berber background but have since been thoroughly arabized; others, such as the Oulad Delim , are considered descendants of the Beni Hassan , even though intermarriage with other tribes and former slaves have occurred; a few, such as the Tekna tribal confederation , have retained some Berber dialect of the area. Often, though not in the case of the Tekna, the Berber-Arab elements of

8925-560: The largest city of Western Sahara. 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. In 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Western Sahara, asking Spain to decolonize the territory. A year later, resolution 2229 (XXI) was passed by

9044-537: The main trade route for the Saharan caravan trade . Central governments had little control over the region, although the Hassaniya tribes would occasionally extend " beya " or allegiance to prestigious rulers, to gain their political backing or, in some cases, as a religious ceremony. The Moorish populations of what is today northern Mauritania established a number of emirates, claiming the loyalty of several different tribes and through them exercising semi-sovereignty over traditional grazing lands. This could be considered

9163-772: The members of Maa El Ainain family, provided a recommended list of candidates for new governors. Together with the Spanish High Commissioner, Belbachir selected from this list. During the annual celebration of Muhammad 's birthday, these lords paid their respects to the caliph to show loyalty to the Moroccan monarchy. As time went by, Spanish colonial rule began to unravel with the general wave of decolonization after World 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

9282-590: The most important among these are the Qadiriyya and Tijaniyya . Further, among the Hassaniya tribes, certain lineages reputed to be descended from Mohammad, the chorfa , have played an important role in intertribal religious society. The tribe was the historical basis of social and political organisation among the Hassaniya-speaking tribes of the Sahara, well into the colonial and arguably post-colonial period. Traditionally, Hassaniya Sahrawi society

9401-469: 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. Demonstrations and protests still occur, even after Morocco declared in February 2006 that it

9520-500: The new rulers, and its fighters would regularly slip in out of French and Spanish territory, similarly exploiting the rivalries between European powers. The last major Reguibat raid took place in 1934, after which the Spanish authorities occupied Smara , finally gaining control over the last unpatrolled border territories. The Sahrawi-Moorish tribes remained largely nomadic until the early to mid-20th century, when Franco-Spanish rivalries (as well as disagreements between different wings of

9639-543: The north. In the waning days of General Franco 's rule, and after the Green March , the Spanish government signed a tripartite 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 its Southern Provinces , and Mauritania taking control of

9758-401: The northwest, Morocco proper to the north-northeast , Algeria to the east-northeast , and Mauritania to the east and south . 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

9877-516: The official languages of the Moroccan administered part of Western Sahara. While Standard Arabic is the only official language in Mauritania , Algeria and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic . The current Moroccan constitution (adopted in July 2011) mentions, in its 5th article, the Hassaniya language and recommends its preservation as a cultural heritage of Morocco. Due to the past colonization of Western Sahara and Cape Juby by Spain, Spanish

9996-467: The option between independence or affirming integration with Morocco, but it quickly stalled. In 1997, the Houston Agreement attempted to revive the proposal for a referendum but likewise has hitherto not had success. As of 2010 , 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

10115-417: The people of Western Sahara. As described above, the Hassaniya speaking tribes are of Arabian , Beni Hassan descent, who fused with the dominant Sanhaja Berber tribes, as well as Black African and other indigenous populations (e.g. indigenous Soninke speaking groups). Even though cultural arabization of the Berber people was thorough, some elements of Berber identity remain. Some tribes, such as

10234-503: The plan was made official, with some additions spelling out the powers of the WSA, making it less reliant on Moroccan devolution . 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. This appeared to abandon Polisario's previous position of only negotiating based on

10353-522: The plan, but he was met with rejection. King Hassan 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

10472-525: The preferred one in among the Western Sahara-centered tribes, who would also almost invariably claim chorfa status to enhance their religious credibility. The zawiya tribes were protected by Hassan overlords in exchange for their religious services and payment of the horma , a tributary tax in cattle or goods; while they were in a sense exploited, the relationship was often more or less symbiotic. Under both these groups, but still part of

10591-516: The primary differences among them are phonetics. Today Hassaniya is spoken in south-western Algeria, northern Mali, Mauritania, southern-Morocco and Western Sahara. (Mauritania has the biggest concentration of speakers) . Some Sahrawis speak Tashelhit and/or Moroccan Arabic as a second language due to interaction with neighboring populations. Modern Standard Arabic and the Amazigh language (a standardized version of Moroccan Berber languages) are

10710-526: 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 the SADR side". 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

10829-473: 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

10948-485: The refugee camps are regularly provided with free flights in Algerian military transport aircraft . Religiously , the Sahrawis are Sunni Muslims of the Maliki rite or school. Historically, religious practice has been pragmatically adapted to nomad life and local tradition. Also, since the late medieval period, various Sufi Turuq (brotherhoods or orders), have played an important role in popular religious practice;

11067-472: The rest of the territory. It gradually contained the guerrillas by setting up the extensive sand-berm in the desert (known as the Border Wall or Moroccan Wall) to exclude guerrilla fighters. Hostilities ceased in a 1991 cease-fire, overseen by the peacekeeping mission MINURSO , under the terms of a UN Settlement Plan . The referendum, originally scheduled for 1992, foresaw giving the local population

11186-525: The same areas. The period of colonization radically changed existing power structures, leaving a confused legacy of contradictory political affiliations, European-drawn borders with little resemblance to ethnic and tribal realities, and the foundations of modern political conflict. For example, both sides in the Western Sahara conflict (Morocco vs. the Polisario Front ) draw heavily on colonial history to prove their version of reality. Proponents of

11305-569: 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,

11424-548: The southern third as Tiris al-Gharbiyya . Spain terminated its presence in Spanish Sahara within three months, repatriating Spanish remains from its cemeteries. The Moroccan and Mauritanian annexations were resisted by the Polisario Front , which had gained backing from Algeria . 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

11543-570: The sovereignty of the King of Morocco . In March 2022, the Spanish government abandoned its traditional position of neutrality in the conflict, siding with the Moroccan government and recognising the autonomy proposal "as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of the dispute". This sudden turnaround was generally rejected by both the Opposition, the parties that make up

11662-633: 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

11781-527: 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. His resignation followed several months of failed attempts to get Morocco to enter into formal negotiations on

11900-448: The struggle against France and Spain into the traditional power play of the nomads, aggravating the internal struggles. Uprisings and violent tribal clashes therefore took place with increasing frequency as European encroachment increased, and on occasion took the form of anti-colonial holy war, or Jihad , as in the case of the Ma al-'Aynayn uprising in the first years of the 20th century. It

12019-473: The territories hard to achieve, as did general lawlessness, an absence of prior central authority, and a widely held contempt for the kind of settled life that the colonizers sought to bring about. Centuries of intertribal warfare and raids for loot ( ghazzu ) guaranteed that the populations were well armed and versed in guerilla-style warfare. Tribes allied to hostile European powers would now also be considered fair game for cattle raids on those grounds, which tied

12138-547: The territory (82,500 km (31,900 sq mi)) is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is occupied and administered by neighboring Morocco . It is the most sparsely populated territory in Africa and the second most sparsely populated territory 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 ,

12257-469: The territory at the time of the Spanish colonization. The population of the territory thus possessed the right of self-determination . On 6 November 1975 Morocco initiated the Green March into Western Sahara; 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross the border in a peaceful march. A few days before, on 31 October, Moroccan troops invaded Western Sahara from

12376-744: 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 . 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

12495-492: The territory's independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) through peaceful negotiations. The Polisario Front restricts its claims to the colonially-defined Western Sahara, holding no claim to, for example, the Sahrawi-populated Tarfaya Strip in Morocco, or any part of Mauritania . Since 1979, the Polisario Front has been recognized by the United Nations as the representative of

12614-496: 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 of Tindouf and Béchar . After arguing for a process of decolonization to be guided by the United Nations , the Algerian government under Houari Boumédiènne in 1975 committed to assisting

12733-466: 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 . Western Sahara is the last African colonial state yet to achieve independence and has been dubbed "Africa's last colony". Since a UN-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991, most of

12852-480: The tribal confederations always maintained de facto independence of central authority, and would even fight to maintain this independence. The International Court of Justice issued a ruling on the matter in 1975, stating that there had existed ties between the Moroccan sultan and some (mainly northerly Tekna ) tribes in then-Spanish Sahara, but that these ties were not sufficient to abrogate Western Sahara's right to self-determination. The same kind of ruling

12971-478: The western part of the Sahara desert, which includes the Western Sahara , southern Morocco , much of Mauritania , and along the southwestern border of Algeria . They are of mixed Hassani Arab and Sanhaji Berber descent, as well as West African and other indigenous populations. As with most peoples living in the Sahara, the Sahrawi culture is a mix of Arab and indigenous African elements. Sahrawis are composed of many tribes and are largely speakers of

13090-529: The zone, established a fort and an air base on the western side of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula, just a few kilometers away from the French settlement of Port-Étienne (now Nouadhibou ) on the eastern side of the peninsula. (In the 1912 Convention of Madrid , Spain and France had agreed on a border between Mauritania and Spanish possessions that ran down the middle of the peninsula.) In 1924, La Güera

13209-456: Was completely tribal, organized in a complex web of shifting alliances and tribal confederations, with no stable and centralized governing authority. Lawmaking, conflict resolution and central decision-making within the tribe, was carried out by the Djema'a , (Arabic, gathering) a gathering of elected elders ( shaykhs ) and religious scholars. Occasionally, larger tribal gatherings could be held in

13328-403: 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. Polisario has intermittently threatened to resume fighting, referring to the Moroccan refusal of a referendum as a breach of

13447-492: 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

13566-442: Was incorporated into the Spanish colony of Río de Oro . During the short period (1920–1924) that the town was ruled as a separate part of the colony it released its own postage stamps . The town was served by La Güera Airport until the 1970s. In 1979, when Mauritania withdrew from the war , La Güera's population was estimated to be 816 inhabitants. By 2002, it had been abandoned and partially overblown by sand, inhabited only by

13685-406: Was initially derived from a Moroccan proposal. According to Baker's draft, tens of thousands of post-annexation immigrants from Morocco proper (viewed by Polisario as settlers but by Morocco as legitimate inhabitants of the area) 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

13804-436: Was issued with regard to Mauritania , where the court found that there were indeed strong tribal and cultural links between the Sahrawis and Mauritanian populations, including historical allegiance to some Moorish emirates, but that these were not ties of a state or government character, and did not constitute formal bonds of sovereignty. Thus, the court recommended the United Nations to continue to pursue self-determination for

13923-439: Was not until the 1930s that Spain was able to finally subdue the interior of present-day Western Sahara , and then only with strong French military assistance. Mauritania's raiding Moors had been brought under control in the previous decades, partly through skilful exploitation by the French of traditional rivalries and social divisions between the tribes. In these encounters, the large Reguibat tribe proved especially resistant to

14042-435: 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. In October 2010, Gadaym Izik camp was set up near Laayoune as a protest by displaced Sahrawi people about their living conditions. It

14161-541: Was treated first as a colony, and later as an overseas province, with gradually tightening political conditions, and, in later years, a rapid influx of Spanish settlers (making Spaniards about 20% of the population in 1975). By the time of decolonization in 1950s–1970s, Sahrawi tribes in all these different territories had experienced roughly a generation or more of distinct experiences; often, however, their nomadic lifestyle had guaranteed that they were subjected to less interference than what sedentary populations experienced in

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