western sahara history
This peace proposal was accepted by both Morocco and the Polisario Front, and the two sides agreed to a cease-fire in 1991. Occupied by Spain until 1975, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. However, Morocco continues to occupy the Saharawi territory without any respect to UN resolutions on decolonization. [37] The protest coincided with a fresh round of negotiations at the UN. The Guerguerat crossing was obstructed on 21 October last by Saharawi civilians whose aim was "to denounce and demand the closure of the illegal breach and to call for the holding of the referendum agreed in 1991". By the 4th century bce there was trade between Western Sahara and Europe across the Mediterranean; the Phoenicians sailed along the west coast of Africa in this period. Western Sahara has had two capital cities in its history; Tifariti and Laayoune. 489,000. [10] Internationally, countries such as Russia have taken a generally ambiguous and neutral position on each side's claims, and have pressed both parties to agree on a peaceful resolution. The Polisario has its home base in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, and declares the number of Sahrawi population in the camps to be approximately 155,000. In 2011, leaked United States diplomatic cables revealed that the territory is somewhat of an economic burden for Morocco;[98] the Moroccan US$800 million subsidy program to Western Sahara was said to be one of the larger per-capita aid programs in history. Source: The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050. These actions are closely monitored by the UN. 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. They are Hassaniya-speaking or Berber-speaking tribes of Berber origin (97% of Y-DNA). 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. The UN forces oversee the cease-fire between Polisario and Morocco agreed upon in the 1991 Settlement Plan. It became a protectorate of Spain in the 19th century and was later claimed by Morocco, Mauritania, and local inhabitants. Local religious custom (Urf) is, like other Saharan groups, heavily influenced by pre-Islamic Berber and African practices, and differs substantially from urban practices. 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. Sources of potash and iron ore are at Agracha and elsewhere, and vast phosphate deposits are at Bu Craa, southeast of Laayoune. In 2005, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported increased military activity on both sides of the front and breaches of several cease-fire provisions against strengthening military fortifications. Faced with consistent pressure from Morocco and Mauritania and itself undergoing a period of domestic uncertainty, Spain agreed to the partition of Western Sahara between the two countries despite a World Court ruling that Morocco’s and Mauritania’s legal claims to the Spanish Sahara were tenuous and did not negate the right to self-determination by the Sahrawis. Sayad's graffiti depicts aspects of Sahrawi culture and includes actual Sahrawi people as his subjects. Berber heritage is still evident from regional and place-name toponymy, as well as from tribal names. [122], Poetry is a popular artform in Sahrawi culture, and is composed by both men and women. US and French companies (notably Total and Kerr-McGee) began prospecting on behalf of the Moroccan Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Petrolières (ONAREP). [citation needed]. Western Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الغربية aṣ-Ṣaḥrā' al-Gharbiyyah; Berber languages: Taneẓroft Tutrimt; Spanish: Sáhara Occidental) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. [103] 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. Ungoverned Areas, and Safe Havens: The Terrorization of the Western Sahara Peace Process // Fonkem Achankeng. These 86,425 Sahrawis were dispersed between Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara and the refugee camps in Algeria, with smaller numbers in Mauritania and other places of exile. [118] During Spanish colonial rule, Sahrawi women actively provided financial and physical support to the resistance movements during the 1930s, 1950s, and the late 1960s. 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. Until 2017[update], no other member state of the United Nations had ever officially recognized Moroccan sovereignty over parts of Western Sahara. The new king, Mohammed VI of Morocco, opposes 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."[33]. This blockade was a way of … It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and northwest, by Morocco on the north, by Algeria for a few miles in the northeast, and by Mauritania on the east and south. Moroccan claims of Polisario terrorism has generally little to no support abroad, with the US, EU, AU and UN all refusing to include the group on their lists of terrorist organizations. Phosphate extraction, however, presents problems because of the shortage of water. 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[32] His resignation followed several months of failed attempts to get Morocco to enter into formal negotiations on the plan, but he met with rejection. 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. 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. Together with the Spanish High Commissioner, Belbachir selected from this list. They reached as far as to threaten Marakesh. Sahrawi women could inherit property, and subsist independently from their fathers, brothers, husbands, and other male relatives. Spanish troops succeeded in repelling Moroccan military incursions into the territory, and in 1958 Spain formally united Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra into a Spanish province known as Spanish Sahara. 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. 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. Title Date “No one can divide us”. History of Ibn Khaldun Volume 6, pp80-90 by, Tomás Bárbulo, "La historia prohibida del Sáhara Español,", Jacob Mundy – Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Colgate University. [28] 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. Major Sahrawi political events, such as Polisario congresses and sessions of the Sahrawi National Council (the SADR parliament in exile) are held in the Free Zone (especially in Tifariti and Bir Lehlou), since it is politically and symbolically important to conduct political affairs on Sahrawi territory. Western Sahara: Historical Timeline 1884–2014 Beginning of guerrilla warfare between the POLISARIO and the Moroccan Army. Dr. Mark Milburn, one of the founders of the Archibald William Milburn Foundation, has promoted archaeological sites (among others) in the Westsahara in 1978 at the Sorbonne University in Paris. It presents weapons, vehicles and uniforms, as well as abundant documentation history. In 1997, the Houston Agreement attempted to revive the proposal for a referendum but likewise has hitherto not had success. Morocco fortified the vital triangle formed by the Bu Craa mines, Laayoune, and Semara while the Polisario Front guerrillas continued their raids. Article : Sahara, Western, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. Both Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating formal recognition, especially from African, Asian, and Latin American states in the developing world. In November 1975, after a UN mission reported that the majority of Sahrawis wanted independence and recommended self-determination…, Spain’s departure from the Spanish (Western) Sahara was the signal for a guerrilla struggle among Moroccan and Mauritanian claimants and the Polisario movement backed by Algeria. The principal city is Laayoune, the old colonial capital. Spain began rapidly to divest itself of most of its remaining colonial possessions. 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. [45] In January 2020, The Gambia[46] and Guinea[47] opened consulates in Dakhla; meanwhile, Gabon opened a consulate general in Laayoune. The continued negotiations bore little fruit, however, and the UN renewed its peacekeeping mission nonetheless. Three Moroccan regions are within or partly within Western Sahara: Morocco controls territory to the west of the berm (border wall) while the Sahrawi Republic controls territory to the east (see map on right). A Sahrawi exile government, with Algerian support, was formed in 1976. As a UN administrative and peacekeeping force arrived in Western Sahara to prepare to conduct the referendum, however, Morocco moved tens of thousands of “settlers” into the territory and insisted that they have their voting qualifications assessed. 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. [124] 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. 2. 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 the independence camp. [119] 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. [25] It initiated guerrilla warfare and, in 1979, Mauritania withdrew due to pressure from Polisario, including a bombardment of its capital and other economic targets. 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. This area has a sparse population, estimated to be approximately 30,000 in 2008. The presence of land mines scattered throughout the territory by the Moroccan army makes this a dangerous way of life. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Further Spanish penetration was hindered by French claims to Mauritania and by partisans of Sheikh Māʾ al-ʿAynayn, who between 1898 and 1902 constructed the town of Semara at an inland oasis. 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. 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. Updates? Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square kilometres (103,000 sq mi). WESTERN SAHARA : pre 1060 flags Phoenicia : ±1060 - 1147 : Morocco. 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 the Polisario Front, which opposed both Moroccan and Mauritanian claims and demanded full independence of Western Sahara. Latest Religion News. The Algerian government has consistently refused, claiming it has neither the will nor the right to negotiate on the behalf of the Polisario Front. Links regarding the history of Westsahara. The original clan-/tribe-based society underwent a massive social upheaval in 1975 when the war forced part of the population to settle in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, where they remain. [120] 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. Laayoune was designated the capital of Spanish Sahara in 1940 by the Spanish. Algeria, which also bordered the territory, viewed their demands with suspicion, as Morocco also claimed the Algerian provinces of Tindouf and Béchar. Subsequently, the Spanish government claimed a protectorate over the coastal zone. 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 earliest recorded inhabitants of the Western Sahara in historical times were agriculturalists called Bafour. Morocco gained the northern two-thirds of the area and, consequently, control over the phosphates; Mauritania gained the southern third. While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams. [98] Most food for the urban population comes from Morocco. Instead, he proposes, through an appointed advisory body Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), a self-governing Western Sahara as an autonomous community within Morocco. Lexington Books, 2015, most sparsely populated territories in the world, United Nations list of non-self-governing territories, Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets, Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs, Morocco establishing relations with Israel, Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara, International Federation for Human Rights, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1979, President of the Polisario proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Museum of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army, Outline of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, List of national border changes since World War I, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, "Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly During Its Twentieth Session – Resolution 2072 (XX) – Question of Ifni and Spanish Sahara", "Milestones in the Western Sahara conflict", "Documento de Trabajo núm. The disputed Western Sahara region: part of the contested area (shaded) lies under the control of the Polisario Front. After the United States insisted in 2018 that the continued presence of UN peacekeeping forces be contingent on progress made toward settling the long-running dispute, Morocco and the Polisario Front met in December of that year to renew discussion over the situation. [citation needed] Certain powers, such as the capacity to appoint the government and to dissolve parliament, remain in the hands of the monarch. In 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, asking Spain to decolonize the territory. [citation needed], While initial Spanish interest in 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. [90] These forces are dug into permanent positions, such as gun emplacements, defensive trenches and underground military bases, as well as conducting mobile patrols of the territory. [110] 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.[112]. Sometimes children return to the same Spanish household year after year while they are still eligible, and forge strong relationships with their host families. History of Western Sahara von Frederic P. Miller und eine große Auswahl ähnlicher Bücher, Kunst und Sammlerstücke erhältlich auf AbeBooks.de. 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. Since a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991, two-thirds of the territory (including most of the Atlantic coastline—the only part of the coast outside the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall is the extreme south, including the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula) has been administered by the Moroccan government, with tacit support from France and the United States, and the remainder by the SADR, backed by Algeria. Jacob Mundi. Morocco extended its control to the rest of the territory. Sayad's work tells a consistent story, one that draws on his experience of protracted conflict and a life under Moroccan occupation. The main driver of this colonisation is natural resources. Sovereignty over Western Sahara is contested between Morocco and the Polisario Front and its legal status remains unresolved. Berber heritage is still evident from regional and place-name toponymy, as well as from tribal names. [44] The population is primarily made up of nomads who engage in herding camels back and forth between the Tindouf area and Mauritania. 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. Al-moravid Dynasty : 1147 - 1248 : Al-mohad Dynasty : 1248 - 1472 : Al-Marinid Dynasty : 1472 - 1554 : Wattasid Dynasty : 1554 - 1659 : Saadi Dynasty : 1659 - 1666 : Dila'i (interlude) 1666- 1865 : Alaouite Dynasty : 1884 - 1931 : Spanish (Spanish Sahara) 1931 - 1936 : 1936 - 1938 : 1938 - 1945 : 1945 - 1976 . The last elections to the parliament's lower house were deemed reasonably free and fair by international observers. [36], 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. 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.[56]. The festival provides entertainment and educational opportunities for Sahrawi refugees alongside cultural celebrations for visitors and spectators. Western Sahara is located on the northwest coast in West Africa and on the cusp of North Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean to the northwest, Morocco proper to the north-northeast, Algeria to the east-northeast, and Mauritania to the east and south.[16]. Western Sahara was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring the northern two-thirds of the territory. Depending on the century, Roman-era sources describe the area as inhabited by Gaetulian Autololes or the Gaetulian Daradae tribes. The territory remained disputed between Morocco and local forces well into the … It is the After the death of Moroccan King Hassan II, Muḥammad VI took the throne and announced in 2001 that Morocco would no longer agree to hold a referendum in Western Sahara. Many of them have mixed Berber-Arab heritage, effectively continuations of the tribal groupings of Hassaniya-speaking and Zenaga-Berber speaking Moorish tribes extending south into Mauritania and north into Morocco as well as east into Algeria. 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. In November 2020, the ceasefire between the Polisario Front and Morocco broke down, leading to armed clashes between both sides. The indigenous population of Western Sahara is usually known in Western media as Sahrawis, but they are also referred to in Morocco as "Southerners" or "Southern Berbers". Every person present in the territory would be allowed to vote, regardless of birthplace and with no regard to the Spanish census. These heavy subsidies have created a state-dominated economy in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara. As of January 2007, the plan had not been made public, though the Moroccan government claimed that it was more or less complete.[34]. In 2002, the Moroccan king stated that the referendum idea was "out of date" since it "cannot be implemented";[30] Polisario retorted that that was only because of the King's refusal to allow it to take place. 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. The biggest city is Laayoune, which is in the north. [118], FiSahara International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in one of the southwestern refugee camps in Algeria. 1976 p.90, 2nd ed. Since then it … UN Security Council, "Deadly Clashes as Morocco Breaks Up Western Sahara Camp", "New expulsions of Spanish citizens from Western Sahara", "Deadly Clashes Stall Western Sahara-Morocco Peace Talks", "Morocco Suffers Legal Setback As EU Official Declares Western Sahara 'Not Part of Morocco, "UN Document Says Morocco Violated Western Sahara Cease-Fire", "Morocco latest country to normalise ties with Israel in US-brokered deal", "Morocco recognized the United States in 1777. [88], Despite this, the area is traveled and inhabited by many Sahrawi nomads from the Tindouf refugee camps of Algeria and the Sahrawi communities in Mauritania. The Somali invasion of the Ogaden, Libyan intrusions into Chad and Sudan,…. 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. By 1999 the UN had identified about 85,000 voters, with nearly half of them in 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. According Isidoros "lies appear to play some peculiar importance in this report". Spanish decolonization proceeded more slowly, but internal political and social pressures for it in mainland Spain built up towards the end of Francisco Franco's rule. A conveyor belt more than 60 miles (100 km) long, meant to carry phosphate from the mines to the piers southwest of Laayoune, was frequently damaged after 1976 during the guerrilla warfare conducted by the Sahrawis against Morocco. 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. 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.
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