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Western Sahara |
Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara), former overseas
province of Spain, located in northwestern Africa, occupied since 1979 by Morocco.
Western Sahara
encompasses about 267,000 sq km (about 103,000 sq mi); it is located on the Atlantic Ocean between Morocco
and Mauritania. |  |
With a hot, dry climate, and rocky and sandy soils, the region is not suitable for agriculture, but it does possess
rich deposits of phosphates. The population is 206,629 (1993 estimate), mostly Berbers and Arabs.
The main towns are El Aaiún, which was formerly the capital of Spanish Sahara, and Ad Dakhla. Spain held the region briefly in the
1500s before Morocco took it. In 1884 Spain reestablished control, holding the area until the 1970s.
At that time nationalists began seeking independence for the territory, while Algeria, Mauritania, and Morocco
laid claims to it. The Spaniards departed in 1976. Morocco and Mauritania subsequently occupied the territory,
and Algeria supported the Polisario Front, an armed nationalist group seeking independence for Western Sahara.
When Mauritania withdrew in 1979, Morocco laid claim to all of Western Sahara and continued the war against
the Polisario. A United Nations-sponsored truce took effect in 1991, but a proposed referendum on self-determination has been postponed repeatedly. |
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