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Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية (Arabic) República Árabe Saharaui Democrática (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  حرية، ديمقراطية، وحدة (Arabic) Libertad, Democracia, Unidad (Spanish) "Freedom, Democracy, Unity"
Anthem: يا بني الصحراء Yā Banī aṣ-Ṣaḥrāʾ "Oh, Sons of the Sahara!"
Location of the Sahrawi Republic (dark green)
Status	State partially recognised by 46 UN member states and South Ossetia
Capital and largest city	El Aaiún (de jure) 27°9′N 13°12′W
Capital-in-exile	Rabuni, Tindouf (de facto) Tifariti (declared provisional)
Official languages	Arabic
Second language	Spanish
Spoken language	Hassaniya
Religion	Islam (official)
Demonym(s)	Sahrawi Saharawi Western Saharan
Government	Unitary one-party semi-presidential republic
• President	Brahim Ghali
• Prime Minister	Bucharaya Hammudi Beyun
Legislature	Sahrawi National Council
Formation
• Relinquished by Spain	14 November 1975
• Republic declared	27 February 1976
• Sovereignty disputed with Morocco	Ongoing
Area
• Total	266,000 km2 (103,000 sq mi) (claimed) 90,000 km2 (35,000 sq mi) (controlled) (77th)
• Water (%)	Negligible
Currency	Sahrawi peseta (de jure) (EHP) De facto Moroccan dirham (MAD) Algerian dinar (DZD) Mauritanian ouguiya (MRU) Euro (EUR)
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Driving side	right
ISO 3166 code	EH
Internet TLD	.eh (reserved)

The Sahrawi Republic, formally the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, located in North Africa. The SADR claims the territory of Western Sahara, controlling only the easternmost one-fifth of that territory (which it denominates the Liberated Territories) after a lengthy war with Morocco (which claims the territory as its Southern Provinces) which followed their invasion in 1975, leading to Spain leaving the territory, which the United Nations consider as a non-self governing territory. It borders Morocco to the north, Algeria to the east-northeast, Mauritania to the east and south and the North Atlantic Ocean to the west, where it also shares a maritime border with Spain's Canary Islands.

Etymology

The name Sahrawi is the romanization of the Arabic word Ṣaḥrāwī (صحراوي), meaning 'inhabitant of the desert', with Ṣaḥrāwī deriving from the Arabic word Ṣaḥrāʼ (Arabic: صحراء, lit. 'desert').

History

Main article: History of Western Sahara

Colonial era

Main article: Spanish Sahara

Engraving depicting the exploratory works led by Emilio Bonelli in the Río de Oro Peninsula.

The territory of Western Sahara came under Spanish rule after the Berlin Conference, establishing a protectorate in the coast between Cape Bojador and Ras Nouadhibou (Cabo Blanco) after an expedition commanded by Emilio Bonelli in 1884 led to an agreement with the Ulad Bu Sba tribe, setting up a permanent Spanish colonial presence in Villa Cisneros. The Ulad Delim attacked the fort in 1885 after it deemed itself marginalised from the deal signed by the Ulad Bu Sbaa. Spain also attempted to establish a protectorate the Emirate of Adrar (in modern-day Mauritania), signing the Idjil Treaties in 1886 with the ruling Emir and several tribes present there; with Spain shortly comunicating later to the colonial powers its control of the region of Western Sahara. A colonial expedition launched by Álvarez Pérez in 1886 also secured the Tekna Zone in the north for the Spaniards. The border between the Spanish and French colonial possessions was officially delimited in 1900, with Spain dividing the Spanish Sahara into two regions: Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro. Spain managed to get Cape Juby (Tekna Zone) as the southern protectorate of Morocco after the French and Spanish protectorates were established in 1912 as a concession from France.

Western Sahara conflict

Main article: Western Sahara conflict

Geography

Main article: Geography of Western Sahara

Topographical map of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara, the territory the Sahrawi Republic claims, 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 to the north-northeast, Algeria to the east-northeast, and Mauritania to the east and south. Sahrawi territory covers 266,000 km² (103,000 sq mi), with internal waters being negligible. The territory controlled by the Sahrawi Republic (known by the SADR as the Liberated Territories) cover 90,000 km² (35,000 sq mi), or around a quarter of the territory of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara has a 1,110 kilometres (690 mi) long coastline, with almost all of it being occupied by Morocco. The Ras Nouadhibou peninsula was the only sea access of the SADR, with administration ceded to Mauritania, but direct access to the Peninsula was lost after an eight Moroccan berm was built after clashes in 2020. While the area can experience flash flooding in the spring, there are no permanent streams. Wadis exist in the country, with the most important ones being Saguia el-Hamra (and its affluent Oued el Khatt) and Khatt Atui. At times, a cool off-shore current can produce fog and heavy dew. The terrain is mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast.

Climate

Main article: Climate of Western Sahara

Köppen climate classification map of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh). Annual average rainfall is below 50 millimetres (2.0 in) everywhere. Along the Atlantic coast, averages high and low temperatures are constant and very moderated throughout the year because cool offshore ocean currents considerably cool off the climate, especially during the day. However, summertime is long and extremely hot and wintertime is short and very warm to truly hot further in the interior, where cooling marine influences aren't felt anymore. Average high temperatures exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in summer during a prolonged period of time but can reach as high as 50 °C (122 °F) or even more in places such as Smara, Tichla, Bir Ganduz, Bir Anzarán, Agüenit, Auserd and others. Average high temperatures exceed 20 °C (68 °F) in winter but average low temperatures can drop to 7 °C (45 °F) in some places. The sky is usually clear and bright throughout the year and sunny weather is the norm.

Western Sahara contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Saharan halophytics, Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets, Atlantic coastal desert, and North Saharan steppe and woodlands.

Biodiversity

See also: Wildlife of Western Sahara

Over 350 bird species have been found in the territory of Western Sahara.

Politics

Main articles: Politics of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Elections in the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Brahim Ghali
President
since 2016

The Sahrawi Republic is a one-party semi-presidential republic.

Law

Main article: Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

The foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic are conducted by the SADR Ministry of Foreign Affairs in countries that recognise that SADR and by the Polisario Front in countries that do not officially recognise the SADR. 84 United Nations member states have recognised the SADR at some point, with 46 out of 193 UN member states currently maintaining the recognition as of 2023. Several states that do not recognize the Sahrawi Republic and the United Nations nonetheless recognize the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, but not as the government-in-exile of a sovereign state.

Military

Main article: Sahrawi People's Liberation Army

Women soldiers in 1980

The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was founded in 10 May 1973 as the armed wing of the Polisario Front, lauching its first attack on 20 May against Francoist Spain. After the Moroccan invasion of Western Sahara and the Madrid Accords in which Spain handed out the territory of Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania, the SPLA changed its focus from fighting the Spanish colonial administration to resisting the joint Morocccan-Mauritanian invasion and attempt at partitioning the territory in the context of the 1975-1991 Western Sahara War. After the declaration of independence the SPLA became the army of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Its commander-in-chief is the President of the SADR, who is also the general secretary of the Polisario Front. The army is fully integrated into the SADR Ministry of Defence. The SPLA currently has no navy or air force, although a naval unit was created in 1977 to attack boats fishing illegally on the territorial waters of Western Sahara. Its armed units are considered to have a manpower of around 5,000–7,000 active soldiers today, but during the war years its strength appears to have increased to 100,000 men. It has a potential manpower of many times that number, since all refugees in the Sahrawi refugee camps undergo military training at age 18. Women formed auxiliary units protecting the camps during war years.

Administrative divisions

The Sahrawi Republic is a unitary country divided in wilayas, subdivided into dairas which are further subdivided into municipalities. This administrative division is currently only applied in the Sahrawi refugee camps, with the Liberated Territories being instead organised into military regions, with eight civil municipalities being established there in 2012.

Sahrawi refugee camps Wilaya Population (2018) Dairas Auserd 36,400 Agüenit, Bir Ganduz, La Agüera, Miyek, Tichla, Zug Bojador 16,500 Akti, Lemsid, 27 of February Dajla 19,500 Ain El Beida, Argub, Bir Anzarán, Gleibat El Fula, Jreifia, Tiniguir, Um Dreiga El Aaiún 50,500 Amgala, Bucraa, Daura, Dcheira, Guelta, Hagunía Smara 50,700 Bir Lehlu, Farsia, Hausa, Jdería, Mahbes, Mheiriz Rabuni Administrative centre of the Sahrawi refugee camps, de facto capital of the SADR.

Liberated Territories Military region Municipalities First Zug Second Tifariti, Bir Tiguissit Third Mijek Fourth Mehaires Fifth Bir Lehlu Sixth Dougaj Seventh Agüenit

Demographics

Religion

Main article: Religion in Western Sahara

See also: Catholic Church in Western Sahara

The predominant religion practiced by Sahrawis is the Maliki school of Sunni Islam, which is constitutionally recognised as the official religion of the SADR and a source of law. Virtually all Sahrawis identify as Muslim according to the CIA World Factbook, which makes the country one of the most religiously homogeneous nations in the world.

The Catholic Church had an important presence during Spanish rule, with 20,000 Spanish Catholics present before Spain abandoned the territory (30% of the population). Today around 300 people in the Moroccan-controlled areas are Catholic (mostly of Spanish origin), being able to attend the St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in El Aaiún and the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Dajla.

Language

Main article: Languages of Western Sahara

Modern Standard Arabic is the sole constitutionally recognised official and national language of the Sahrawi Republic. Hassaniya, a variety of Arabic also spoken in neighbouring countries such as Mauritania, is the common vernacular language of the Sahrawi people.

Spanish was introduced during the Spanish colonisation in the late 19th century, and remains as the preferred second language of the Sahrawi, also enjoying a de facto working language status. Instituto Cervantes estimates that around 20,000 Sahrawis have limited competencies in Spanish

Culture

Music

Main article: Music of Western Sahara

Aziza Brahim performing at WOMEX 15, Budapest.

The Sahrawi people have a well-established music tradition shared with the rest of the Hassaniya-speaking region, known as haul. Due to the context of the Western Sahara conflict, Sahrawi music has taken a very political turn in which the main topic has been the struggle for independence and decolonialism.

The tbal is the basic instrument of percussion, though the traditional string instruments, tidinit and ardin, have largely been replaced by the electric guitar.

Some of the most important modern Sahrawi artists include Mariem Hassan, Aziza Brahim, Najm Allal and the bands Tiris and El Wali.

Public holidays

Main article: Public holidays in the Sahrawi Republic

Public holidays celebrated in the Sahrawi Republic include a mix of religious (Sunni Islam) and national observances. The national observances constitutionally defined on 1999, with religious observances being also added in 2003. In 2023 the list was removed from the Constitution, being replaced with a new article that gives the government the powers to define its own list of public holidays.

References

Bibliography

Books

• Ahmed Omar, Emboirik (2023). Breve historia del Frente Polisario [Brief History of the Polisario Front] (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Los Libros de la Catarata. ISBN 9788413526980.
• Bárbulo, Tomás (2021). La historia prohibida del Sáhara Español [The Forbidden History of the Spanish Sahara] (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Península. ISBN 9788413524962.
• Barreñada, Isaías (2022). Breve historia del Sáhara Occidental [Brief History of Western Sahara] (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Los Libros de la Catarata. ISBN 9788413524962.
• Oliver, Paula (1987). Sáhara, drama de una descolonización (1960-1987) [Sahara, the drama of a decolonization (1960-1987)] (in Spanish). Palma de Mallorca, Spain: Miquel Font Editor. ISBN 8486366569.
• Ruiz Miguel, Carlos (2022). El Frente Polisario: Desde sus orígenes hasta la actualidad [The Polisario Front: From its origins to the present] (in Spanish). Córdoba, Spain: Editorial Almuzara. ISBN 9788411312134.
• Wilson, Alice (2017). "'For us, Parliament is a tool for liberation': elections as an Opportunity for a transterritorial Sahrawi population". In Ojeda, Raquel; Fernandez-Molina, Irene; Veguilla, Victoria (eds.). Global, Regional and Local Dimensions of Western Sahara’s Protracted Decolonization: When a Conflict Gets Old. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 313–331. doi:10.1057/978-1-349-95035-5. ISBN 9781349950348.

Legislation and government source

• Establishing the Maritime Zones of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (PDF) (Law 03/2009). Sahrawi National Council. 21 January 2009.
• On The Mining Law (PDF) (Law 02/014). Sahrawi National Council. 26 May 2014.
• On Sovereignty over the Natural Resources of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (PDF) (Law 01/2019). Sahrawi National Council. 6 July 2019.

Constitutions

• "Acte Constitutionnel Provisoire du 26 février 1976" [Provisional Constitutional Act of 26 February 1976] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in French). 26 February 1976. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "Constitución de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática de 1976" [1976 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Spanish). 30 August 1976. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "Constitution de la Repúblique Arabe Sahraoui Democrátique de 1982" [1982 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in French). 16 October 1982. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "Constitución de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática de 1991" [1991 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Spanish). 19 June 1991. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "1995 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela. 26 August 1995. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "Constitución de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática de 1999" [1999 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Spanish). 4 September 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "دستور الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية لعام 2003" [2003 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Arabic). 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "Constitución de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática de 2011" [2011 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Spanish). 22 December 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "2015 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "دستور الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية لعام 2019" [2019 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Arabic). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• "دستور الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية لعام 2023" [2023 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic] (PDF). Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Arabic). 17 January 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.

Academic publications

• Ahmed Abdelahe, M'Beirick (2015). El Nacionalismo Saharaui, de Zemla a la Organización de la Unidad Africana [Sahrawi Nationalism, from Zemla to the Organization of African Unity] (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. hdl:10553/21618. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• Amoros, Luis Gimenez (2015). "Azawan: Precolonial Musical Culture and Saharawi Nationalism in the Refugee Camps of the Hamada Desert in Algeria". African Music: Journal for the International Library of African Music. 10 (1): 31–51. doi:10.21504/amj.v10i1.1225. ISSN 0065-4019. JSTOR 24877332.
• Amoros, Luis Gimenez (2020). "Beyond nationhood: Haul music from a postcolonial perspective in Western Sahara and Mauritania". African Music: Journal for the International Library of African Music. 11 (2): 40–58. doi:10.21504/amj.v11i2.2313. ISSN 0065-4019.
• de Dalmases y de Olabarría, Pablo-Ignacio (3 March 2022). Los títulos jurídicos de España en la Costa Noroccidental de África [The legal titles of Spain on the Northwest Coast of Africa] (PDF) (Speech). Entrance speech at the Royal European Academy of Doctors, as Full Academician, at the reception (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: Royal European Academy of Doctors. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
• Martos, Isabel Molina (2014). Linguistic policy in the camps of Sahrawi refugees (PDF). 5th European Conference on African Studies. ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. pp. 1195–1207. hdl:10071/7573. ISBN 978-989-732-364-5. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
• Mundy, Jacob A. (14 May 2007). "Performing the nation, pre-figuring the state: the Western Saharan refugees, thirty years later". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 45 (2): 275–297. doi:10.1017/S0022278X07002546. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
• Perez-Martin, Fernando (15 December 2014). "International Encounters: Art and Human Rights in Western Sahara and the Sahrawi Refugee Camps". Canadian Review of Art Education: Research & Issues. 41 (2): 223–242. ISSN 0706-8107.
• San Martin, Pablo (2005). "Nationalism, identity and citizenship in the Western Sahara". The Journal of North African Studies. 10 (3): 565–592. doi:10.1080/13629380500336870. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
• Solana, Vivian (19 December 2019). "Hospitality's Prowess: Performing Sahrāwī Sovereignty in Refugee Camps". PoLAR: Political & Legal Anthropology Review. 42 (2): 362–379. doi:10.1111/plar.12312. ISSN 1081-6976. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
• Rossetti, Sonia (6 July 2008). Formal and Informal Gender Quotas in State-Building: The Case of the Sahara Arab Democratic Republic. Australasian Political Studies Association (APSA) Conference 2008. Brisbane: University of Queensland. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
• Tripp, Aili Mari (19 December 2019). "The Social and Political Lives of Women in an Egalitarian Matricultural Society: The Case of Western Sahara". Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society. 30 (2): 678–700. doi:10.1093/sp/jxac036. ISSN 1072-4745. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
• Ventura, Helena; Soler, Joaquim; Soler, Narcís; Serra, Carles (3 November 2018). "The Style of Blugzeimat and the "Masks" of the Prehistoric Rock Art of the Western Sahara: New Evidence for Long-Distance Contacts". The African Archaeological Review. 35 (4): 609–626. doi:10.1007/s10437-018-9315-1. JSTOR 45383178.
• Wilson, Alice (21 October 2010). "Democratising elections without parties: reflections on the case of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic". The Journal of North African Studies. 15 (4): 423–438. doi:10.1080/13629380903424380. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
• Zunes, Stephen (1988). "Participatory Democracy in the Sahara: A Study of Polisario Self-Governance". Scandinavian Journal of Development Alternatives. 7 (2–3): 141–156.

Websites

• Garrido, Ana; Gómez, Enrique. "Una mirada al Sáhara Occidental" [A look at Western Sahara] (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 October 2023.

External links

• Western Sahara profile from BBC News
• Official website of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
• Center for Studies on Western Sahara of the University of Santiago de Compostela

Government

• English edition of Sahara Press Service (state news agency)