Western Sahara
Western Sahara
الصحراء الغربية (Arabic) Sáhara Occidental (Spanish) | |
|---|---|
UN Non-Self-Governing Territory | |
Map of Western Sahara | |
| Coordinates: 25°N 13°W / 25°N 13°W | |
| Status | UN non-self-governing territory under partial Moroccan military occupation |
| Legitimate representative | Polisario Front |
| Administering power | Spain (de jure)[a] |
| Claimants |
|
| Largest city | Laayoune |
| Area | |
• Total | 272,000 km2 (105,000 sq mi) |
| [8] | |
| Population | |
• Total | 565,581[6][7] |
| • Density | 2.03/km2 (5.3/sq mi) |
| (2021) | |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 |
| ISO 3166 code | EH |
Western Sahara[b] is a non-self-governing territory in North-western Africa undergoing decolonization. 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 the second most sparsely populated territory in the world, consisting mainly of desert flatlands.
Spain previously colonized the territory as the Spanish Sahara until 1976, when it attempted to transfer its administration to Morocco and Mauritania while ignoring a International Court of Justice's verdict that those countries had no sovereignty over Western Sahara. A war erupted and the Polisario Front—a national liberation movement recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the people of Western Sahara—proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government-in-exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979, and Morocco secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all major cities and most natural resources. A UN-sponsored ceasefire agreement was reached in 1991, though a planned referendum monitored by the UN's MINURSO mission has since stalled.
Approximately 30% of the Western Sahara is controlled by the Polisario Front; the remaining 70% is occupied[11][12] by Morocco.[13] Morocco maintains the Berm, a 2,700 km-long (1,700 mi) wall lined with land mines that splits the territory. The Polisario Front is primarily supported by Algeria and has won formal recognition for the SADR from 84 UN member states[14] and membership in the African Union. Morocco is supported by France and the United States, and several states began expressing support for its autonomy proposal in the 2020s.
- ^ "AAN 256/2014 - ECLI:ES:AN:2014:256A" (PDF). 21 November 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
In conclusion, Spain is still de 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.
- ^ United Nations Security Council Letter dated 29 January 2002 from the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, the Legal Counsel, addressed to the President of the Security Council S/2002/161 12 February 2002. Retrieved accessdate.
- ^ 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. ISBN 9892008200.
- ^ 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 the de 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. ISBN 9781868886043.
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.
- ^ "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950–2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica: Western Sahara summary
- ^ "Western Sahara: A Rare Look Inside Africa's Last Colony as U.S. Recognizes Moroccan Occupation". Democracy Now!. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ Connett, David (23 January 2016). "Africa's last colony has taken its struggle for self-determination to European courts". The Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "A/RES/35/19 – E – A/RES/35/19". Question of Western Sahara. p. 214. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Christian Walter; Antje von Ungern-Sternberg; Kavus Abushov (5 June 2014). Self-Determination and Secession in International Law. OUP Oxford. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-19-100692-0.
- ^ "Western Sahara: Provinces & Urban Places - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
- ^ 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. ISBN 978-0-19-888475-0.
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