Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Western Sahara is a territory contested on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is dominated by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and the remaining 80% is occupied and controlled by neighboring Morocco. Its surface area reaches 266,000 square kilometers (103,000 square miles). It is one of the least populated areas in the world and consists primarily of desert plains. The population is estimated to be over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara.

Western Sahara, which was occupied by Spain until 1975, has been on the UN's list of non-autonomous regions since 1963 at the request of Morocco. It is the most populous area on the list and by far the largest in area. In 1965, the UN General Assembly adopted the first resolution on Western Sahara, calling on Spain to colonize its territory. A year later, a new resolution was passed at the General Assembly requiring Spain to hold a referendum on self-determination. In 1975, Spain delegated control of the territory to joint control by Morocco (which had officially claimed territory since 1957) and Mauritania. A war broke out between these countries and the Sahrawi nationalist movement Polisario Front, proclaiming the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government in exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew its claim in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured de facto control of all major cities and most territories, including most natural resources. The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be a legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and claims that the Sahrawi people have the right to self-determination.

Two-thirds of the territory since the UN-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991 (including most of the Atlantic coastline-the only part of the outer coast of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Wall in western Morocco is the southernmost tip, including the Rasnu Ajib Peninsula) Managed by, with implicit support from France and the United States, the rest is managed by the Algerian-backed SADR. Internationally, countries such as Russia take a generally vague and neutral position on both claims and pressure both parties to agree on a peaceful solution. Both Morocco and Polisario have sought to strengthen their claims, especially by accumulating formal approvals from the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Polisario Front has gained formal SADR approval from 46 states and has expanded its membership in the African Union. Morocco has gained support for its position from several African governments, and from most Islamic worlds and the Arab League. In both cases, awareness has been expanded and withdrawn back and forth over the last two decades in response to the development of relations with Morocco.

Until 2020, other UN member states had never officially recognized Morocco's sovereignty over parts of Western Sahara. In 2020, the United States granted Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Morocco's normalization of relations with Israel.

In 1984, the Organization of African Unity, the predecessor of the African Union, recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as one of the full members of the same position as Morocco, and Morocco protested by suspending membership in OAU. Morocco re-entered the African Union on January 30, 2017. This is by ensuring that the conflicting claims between Morocco and the SADR are peacefully resolved and by building additional walls to prevent the expansion of its monopoly military control. Until their conflict is resolved, the African Union has not issued a formal statement on the border between Morocco's sovereign territory and the SADR in Western Sahara. Instead, the African Union is participating in the United Nations mission to maintain a ceasefire and reach a peace agreement between its two members. The African Union will provide peacekeeping associated with the UN mission deployed to manage the buffer zone near the de facto border of the walls constructed by Morocco in Western Sahara.