Western Sahara

Western Sahara's international legal status remains unresolved; most of the territory has been administered by Morocco since 1975, while the Polisario Front has declared independent statehood under the name Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, recognized by a number of African Union member states, though the United Nations continues to classify the territory as a "non-self-governing territory." A portion of the territory, known as the "liberated zone," is controlled by the Polisario Front. This description has been prepared with this complex situation in mind.

Overview

Western Sahara lies in North Africa on the Atlantic coast, bordered by Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania. Much of the territory is covered by desert, forming the western extension of the Sahara, with the population concentrated mainly in coastal towns. The territory was a Spanish colony until 1975, when Spain withdrew, and its international legal status has remained unresolved ever since: Morocco administers about 80 percent of the territory and considers it part of its own sovereign land, while the Polisario Front national liberation movement has declared independent statehood as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, recognized mainly by African and Latin American countries. The indigenous population, the Sahrawi people, traditionally followed an Arab-Berber nomadic way of life.

Laâyoune (El Aaiún), the territory's largest city, administered by Morocco, features buildings surviving from the Spanish colonial period alongside modern Moroccan development. Dakhla, on the southern coast, built along a narrow peninsula and lagoon, has become known in recent years mainly among the surfing and kitesurfing community for its consistent winds. In the interior, within the area controlled by the Polisario Front, sometimes called the "liberated zone," lies Tifariti, home to prehistoric rock art and symbolic capital functions of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, though this area is difficult to access and has limited infrastructure. The Río de Oro bay, on the southern coast, is an ecologically significant wetland protected under the Ramsar Convention.

Sahrawi nomadic culture, including the tea-making ceremony and traditional tent (haima) dwellings, forms a distinctive part of the region's heritage, still alive both among Sahrawi communities under Moroccan administration and in refugee camps. The waters of Dakhla Bay, with their flat seabed and consistent winds, have made the area a popular destination for both beginner and advanced kitesurfers, one of the territory's most developed tourism sectors. Local cuisine along the coast relies heavily on fish and seafood, while in the desert interior, traditional Maghrebi dishes such as couscous and lamb dominate.