Western Sahara
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Western Sahara (EH in ISO 3166-1) is a territory of northwestern Africa, bordering Morocco on the north, Algeria on the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The largest city is El Aaiún (Laayoune), containing the majority of the population.
Whether it is part of Morocco or is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), is disputed. At present it is largely occupied, and entirely claimed, by Morocco, but this claim is not recognized by any state, whereas the SADR is recognized by several dozen. Western Sahara is on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.
In the peace plan a future Western Sahara Authority (WSA) is envisaged.
Western Sahara is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, with some rankings listing it as the least dense.
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| National motto: none | |||||
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| Official language | Arabic and Spanish | ||||
| Capital and largest city | Laâyoune (El Aaiún) | ||||
| President (in exile) | Mohamed Abdelaziz | ||||
| Prime Minister (in exile) | Abdelkader Taleb Oumar | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 83rd 266,000 km² Negligible | ||||
| Population - Total - Density | Ranked 182nd 267,405 (July 2004 est.) 1/km² | ||||
| Independence - Declared - Claimed and controlled | From Spain February 27, 1976 By Morocco | ||||
| Currency | Moroccan Dirham (MAD) | ||||
| Time zone | UTC 0 | ||||
| National anthem | n/a | ||||
| Internet TLD | None (.eh is reserved) | ||||
| Calling Code | + 212 (same code as Morocco) | ||||
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History
Main article: History of Western Sahara
Morocco occupied the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war carried by the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 cease-fire; a referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. The 1991 peace accords included an agreement on the carrying out of a referendum among the indigenous population. The referendum was planned to give the population the option between independence or inclusion to Morocco. The referendum has, however, to this date not been carried out due to the conflict over who is entitled to vote.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of Western Sahara
The legal status of the territory and the question of its sovereignty is unresolved; the territory is contested by Morocco and Polisario Front.
See also Foreign relations of Morocco, Foreign relations of Western Sahara
Subdivisions
Currently, Western Sahara is largely administered by Morocco. The extent of Morocco's administration is north and west of the berm, approxiametly two-thirds of the territory. The Moroccan name for Western Sahara is the "Southern Provinces" - Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra. The remaining area is administered by the SADR. When the territory was a dependency of Spain, the same two subdivisions existed.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Western Sahara
Western Sahara is located in Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco. It also borders Algeria to the northeast.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Western Sahara
Western Sahara has few natural resources and lacks sufficient rainfall for most agricultural activities. Its economy is centred around nomadic herding, fishing, and phosphate mining. Most food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan government. Incomes and standards of living are substantially below those of Morocco.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Western Sahara
As of July 2004 there are an estimated 267,405 people living in the territory of Western Sahara, most of the Sahrawi nationality. They speak Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and Spanish. The main religion is Islam.
From the CIA World Factbook 2004
Culture
Main article: Culture of Western Sahara
The indigenous people of Western Sahara are the Sahrawis, a nomadic people who speak the Hassaniya dialect of Arabic. In recent years, the West has been introduced to their culture through the release of a handful of compact discs of Sahrawi music. The majority are Muslims. To date, there have been few thorough studies of the culture due in part to the political situation.
See also
- Communications in Western Sahara
- List of cities in Morocco and Western Sahara
- MINURSO
- Music of Western Sahara
- Transportation in Western Sahara
Further reading
- Toby Shelley (2004), Endgame in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa's Last Colony?, Zed Books (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1842773410/qid=1118614431/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4498649-0891841?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
- Erik Jensen (2005), Western Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalemante, International Peace Studies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1588263053/qid=1118614315/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4498649-0891841?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
External links
Template:Commonscat Template:Wiktionary
News
- allAfrica.com - Western Sahara (http://allafrica.com/westernsahara/) news headline links
Overviews
- CIA World Factbook - Western Sahara (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/wi.html)
Directories
- LookSmart - Western Sahara (http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us317916/us559898/us559899/us10065674/us559963/) directory category
- Open Directory Project - Western Sahara (http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Western_Sahara/) directory category
- Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Western Sahara (http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/westernsahara.html) directory category
- The Index on Africa - Western Sahara (http://www.afrika.no/index/Countries/Western_Sahara/) directory category
- University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Western Sahara (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/W_Sahara.html) directory category
- Yahoo! - Western Sahara (http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Western_Sahara/) directory category
Tourism
Other
- Association de soutien à un référendum libre et régulier au Sahara Occidental, a multilingual resouce (http://www.arso.org/)
- Western Sahara Online (http://www.wsahara.net/)
- Western Sahara - A Forgotten Country! (http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/suttonlink/334ws.pdf)
- The Yahoo! group Sahara-update, which gives up-to-date news (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-update/)
- Western Sahara, Landmine Monitor Report 2003 (http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/western_sahara.html)
| Countries in Africa | ||
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Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cameroon | Cape Verde | Central African Republic | Chad | Comoros | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Republic of the Congo | Côte d'Ivoire | Djibouti | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | The Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Mauritius | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | Rwanda | São Tomé and Príncipe | Senegal | Seychelles | Sierra Leone | Somalia | Somaliland | South Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe | Western Sahara | ||
| Dependencies: Canary Islands | Ceuta and Melilla | Madeira Islands | Mayotte | Réunion | Saint Helena and dependencies | ||
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