{"id":7027,"date":"2026-08-03T20:52:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T18:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiquie.fr\/the-moroccan-western-sahara\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:52:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T18:52:50","slug":"the-moroccan-western-sahara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiquie.fr\/en\/the-moroccan-western-sahara\/","title":{"rendered":"The Moroccan Western Sahara"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Western Sahara<\/strong> is a territory of 266,000 km<sup>2<\/sup> in the northwest of <strong>Africa<\/strong>, bordered by the Moroccan province of <strong>Tarfaya<\/strong> to the north, <strong>Algeria<\/strong> to the northeast, <strong>Mauritania<\/strong> to the east and south, while its western coast faces the <strong>Atlantic<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former <strong>Spanish<\/strong> province located in northwest Africa and composed of the territories of the <strong>Rio de Oro<\/strong> in the south and the <strong>Saguia el-Hamra<\/strong> in the north, the Western Sahara fuels all passions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the mid-14th century, the <strong>Portuguese<\/strong> discovered a bay they wrongly identified as the Rio de Oro (most likely the Senegal River). The coastal region was little explored by <strong>Europeans<\/strong> until <strong>Scottish<\/strong> and <strong>Spanish<\/strong> merchants settled there in the mid-19th century. After the signing of trade treaties in 1884, the Spanish government claimed a protectorate over the coastal zone and sought to pursue its expansion, which was hindered by French claims in Mauritania. Cape Juby (Tarfaya) was occupied by Spain in 1916; Smara and the interior were occupied in 1934.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1957, <strong>Morocco<\/strong>, independent since the previous year, laid claim to the territory. Spanish troops repelled Moroccan military incursions and, in 1958, <strong>Madrid<\/strong> formally united the Rio de Oro and the Saguia el-Hamra into one province, the <strong>Spanish Sahara<\/strong>. However, the situation became more complicated with claims on the province in 1960 by newly independent <strong>Mauritania<\/strong> and also with the discovery in 1963 of huge phosphate deposits at <strong>Bou Craa<\/strong>, in the northern part of the <strong>Spanish Sahara<\/strong>. The province therefore became an important economic stake for the country that would take possession of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Morocco<\/strong> claims the Western Sahara as an integral part of the <strong>Kingdom of Morocco<\/strong>. And this is justified: the International Court of Justice recognizes the existence of certain allegiance ties linking the nomadic tribes of the region to the Moroccan sovereigns. Their histories are connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hassan II<\/strong> organized, in October 1975, the <strong>Green March<\/strong>, after which 300,000 Moroccans occupied the north of the Spanish Sahara (two thirds).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, <strong>Morocco<\/strong> controls 80% of the territory and proposes extensive autonomy under its sovereignty. The <strong>Polisario Front<\/strong>, supported by <strong>Algeria<\/strong>, demands a referendum on self-determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Spain<\/strong> fully expresses its support for <strong>Morocco<\/strong> as do other countries such as the <strong>United States<\/strong>, <strong>Qatar<\/strong>, the <strong>United Arab Emirates<\/strong>, <strong>Colombia<\/strong> and many <strong>African states<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Morocco<\/strong> has developed this region by installing all necessary infrastructure and offering a pleasant living environment, as can be seen often in cities such as <strong>Dakhla<\/strong> and <strong>La\u00e2youne<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Global recognition of the Western Sahara as Moroccan is necessary to achieve peace in this region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Spanish province located in northwest Africa and composed of the territories of the Rio de Oro in the south and the Saguia el-Hamra in the north, the Western Sahara fuels all passions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[454],"tags":[58,200,177,102,199],"class_list":["post-7027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paysages","tag-maroc","tag-polisario","tag-royaume","tag-sahara","tag-sahara-occidental","latest_post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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