Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form:
Western Sahara
former:
Rio de Oro, Saguia el Hamra, Spanish Sahara
Government type:
legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), near Tindouf, Algeria, led by President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ; territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976 when Spain withdrew, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds; Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control; the Polisario's government-in-exile was seated as an Organization of African Unity (OAU) member in 1984; Morocco between 1980 and 1987 built a fortified sand berm delineating the roughly 80 percent of Western Sahara west of the barrier that currently is controlled by Morocco; guerrilla activities continued sporadically until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented on 6 September 1991 (Security Council Resolution 690) by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
Capital:
none
time difference:
UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
none (territory west of the berm under de facto Moroccan control)
Suffrage:
none; (residents of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara participate in Moroccan elections)
Executive branch:
none
Political pressure groups and leaders:
none
International organization participation:
AU, WFTU
