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The Sahrawi (or Saharawi) Arab Democratic Republic ( ; SADR; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʿArabīyah aṣ-Ṣaḥrāwīyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah; es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state, recognised by 45 UN member states, located in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of
Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...
, but controls only the easternmost one-fifth of that territory. Between 1884 and 1975, Western Sahara was known as Spanish Sahara, a
Spanish colony The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...
(later an overseas province). The SADR is one of the two African states in which
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
is a significant language, the other being
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
. The SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front (a former socialist liberation force that has since reformed its ideological and political views) on 27 February 1976, in
Bir Lehlou Bir Lehlou (also transliterated ''Bir Lahlou'', ''Bir Lehlu'' Arabic: بئر الحلو) is an oasis town in north-eastern Western Sahara, 236 km from Smara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in Polisario Front-held ter ...
, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about 20–25% of the
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
it claims. It calls the territories under its control the ''Liberated Territories'' or the '' Free Zone''. Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory, and calls these lands its
Southern Provinces The Southern Provinces ( ar, الأقاليم الجنوبية, Al-Aqalim al-Janubiyah, french: Provinces du Sud) or Moroccan Sahara ( ar, الصحراء المغربية, Assahra al-Maghribiya, french: Sahara marocain) are the terms used by th ...
. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory to be occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR-held territory to be a buffer zone. The claimed
capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the go ...
of the SADR is
El-Aaiún Laâyoune ( , also , ) or El Aaiún ( , ; Hassaniya Arabic: , romanized: ; ber, ⵍⵄⵢⵓⵏ, Leɛyun; ar, label= Literary Arabic, العيون, al-ʿUyūn/el-ʿUyūn, lit=The Springs) is the largest city of the disputed territory of We ...
(Laayoune) (the former capital of Western Sahara). Since SADR does not control El-Aaiún, they have a
temporary capital A temporary capital or a provisional capital is a city or town chosen by a government as an interim base of operations due to some difficulty in retaining or establishing control of a different metropolitan area. The most common circumstances leadin ...
that moved from
Bir Lehlou Bir Lehlou (also transliterated ''Bir Lahlou'', ''Bir Lehlu'' Arabic: بئر الحلو) is an oasis town in north-eastern Western Sahara, 236 km from Smara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in Polisario Front-held ter ...
to
Tifariti Tifariti ( Berber: Tifariti, ar, تيفاريتي) is an oasis town located in north-eastern Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, from Smara and north of the border with Mauritania. It is part of what Polisario Front calls the '' Liberate ...
in 2008. The seat of the SADR government is located in the Sahrawi refugee camps in
Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...
,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
. The SADR maintains diplomatic relations with 45
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
states, and is a full member of the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
.


Etymology

The name ''Sahrawi'' is the romanization of the Arabic word , meaning 'Inhabitant of the Desert'. The word then is derived from the
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
word (), meaning 'desert'.


History

Following the evacuation of the Spaniards, due to the Moroccan
Green March The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. At that time, the Span ...
, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania signed the
Madrid Accords The Madrid Accords, formally the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania setting out six principles which would end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara and arrange a t ...
on 14 November 1975, six days before Francisco Franco died. Morocco and Mauritania responded by annexing the territory of Western Sahara. On 26 February 1976, Spain informed the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
(UN) that as of that date it had terminated its presence in Western Sahara and relinquished its responsibilities, which left the region devoid of any Administering Power. Neither Morocco nor Mauritania gained international recognition, and war ensued with the independence-seeking Polisario Front. The UN considers the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, and maintains that the people of Western Sahara have a right to " self-determination and independence". The creation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was proclaimed on 27 February 1976, as the Polisario declared the need for a new entity to fill what they considered a political void left by the departing Spanish colonizers. While the claimed capital is the former Western Sahara capital El-Aaiún (which is in Moroccan-controlled territory), the proclamation was made in the
government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...
's provisional capital,
Bir Lehlou Bir Lehlou (also transliterated ''Bir Lahlou'', ''Bir Lehlu'' Arabic: بئر الحلو) is an oasis town in north-eastern Western Sahara, 236 km from Smara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in Polisario Front-held ter ...
, which remained in Polisario-held territory under the 1991
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
(see Settlement Plan). On 27 February 2008, the provisional capital was formally moved to
Tifariti Tifariti ( Berber: Tifariti, ar, تيفاريتي) is an oasis town located in north-eastern Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, from Smara and north of the border with Mauritania. It is part of what Polisario Front calls the '' Liberate ...
. Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf Province,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
, which house most of the Sahrawi exile community.


Constitution

A new 1999 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic took a form similar to the
parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
constitutions of many European states, but with some paragraphs suspended until the achievement of "full independence". Among key points, the head of state is constitutionally the Secretary General of the Polisario Front during what is referred to as the "pre-independence phase", with provision in the constitution that on independence, Polisario is supposed to be dismantled or separated completely from the government structure. Provisions are detailed for a transitory phase beginning with independence, in which the present SADR is supposed to act as Western Sahara's government, ending with a constitutional reform and eventual establishment of a state along the lines specified in the constitution. The broad guidelines laid down in the constitution for an eventual Western Saharan state include eventual
multi-party democracy In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coa ...
with a market economy. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a Muslim, African and
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
people. The Constitution also declares a commitment to the principles of human rights and to the concept of a Greater Maghreb, as a regional variant of Pan-Arabism.


Government structure

Since August 1982, the highest office of the republic has been the
President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the head of state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), a government in exile based in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria. From the declaration of independence on Febru ...
, a post held by the secretary-general of the Polisario Front, presently
Brahim Ghali Brahim Ghali () ( ar, rtl=yes, إبراهيم غالي, Ibrāhīm Ġālī; es, Brahim Gali; born 16 September 1949) is a Sahrawi politician and military officer that serves as the current president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) ...
,Zunes S; Mundy J (2010)
Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution
Syracuse University Press. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
who appoints the Prime Minister, presently
Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun (in ; born 9 July 1954) is a Sahrawi politician currently serving as the Prime Minister of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since . He was a former ambassador to Algeria, with a base in Algiers. He has been prime mi ...
. The SADR's government structure consists of a Council of Ministers (a cabinet led by the Prime Minister), a judicial branch (with judges appointed by the President) and the parliamentary
Sahrawi National Council The Sahrawi National Council (SNC) or Sahrawi Parliament is the legislature of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Its structure and competences are guided by the Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The present speake ...
(SNC; the present
speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
is
Khatri Addouh Khatri Addouh (born 1954) ( ar, خطري أدوه) is a former president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the president of the Sahrawi National Council from 2010 to 2020. He was appointed as the Acting President and the Secretary Gener ...
). Since its inception in 1976, the various constitutional revisions have transformed the republic from an ''ad hoc'' managerial structure into something approaching an actual governing apparatus. From the late 1980s the parliament began to take steps to institute a division of powers and to disentangle the republic's structures from those of the Polisario Front, although without clear effect to date. Its various ministries are responsible for a variety of services and functions. The judiciary, complete with trial courts, appeals courts and a supreme court, operates in the same areas. As a
government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...
, many branches of government do not fully function, and has affected the constitutional roles of the institutions. Institutions parallel to government structures also have arisen within the Polisario Front, which is fused with the SADR's governing apparatus, and with operational competences overlapping between these party and governmental institutions and offices. A 2012 report mentioned the existence of the Sahrawi Bar Association. In 2016, the bar association (going by the name Union of Sahrawi Lawyers) issued a report calling for the implementation of political and civil rights. Unfortunately, there is no clear indication as to how certain demographic groups, such as women, have fared in the legal field. The SNC is weak in its legislative role, having been instituted as a mainly consultative and consensus-building institution, but it has strengthened its theoretical legislative and controlling powers during later constitutional revisions. Among other things, it has added a ban on the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
to the constitution, and brought down the government in 1999 through a vote of no-confidence. The Sahrawi National Council is composed of 53 members, all from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro.


Military

The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army is the defence force of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and previously served as the armed wing of the Polisario Front prior to the foundation of the Republic.


Economy

The SADR in its controlled territories uses the Sahrawi Peseta although the majority of the country uses the Moroccan Dirham.


Demographics


Religion

The predominant religion practised in Sahrawi territories is Islam.


Islamic dates

Dates kept according to the lunar Islamic calendar.


Area of authority

The SADR acted as a government administration in the Sahrawi refugee camps located in the Tindouf Province of western Algeria. It is headquartered in Camp Rabouni, south of
Tindouf Tindouf (Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...
, although some official events have taken place in towns in the Free Zone, including the provisional capitals, first
Bir Lehlou Bir Lehlou (also transliterated ''Bir Lahlou'', ''Bir Lehlu'' Arabic: بئر الحلو) is an oasis town in north-eastern Western Sahara, 236 km from Smara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in Polisario Front-held ter ...
until 2008, then Tifariti. The government of the SADR claims sovereignty over all of the Western Sahara territory, but has control only within the Free Zone. Several foreign
aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organizations, are continually active in the camps.


International recognition and membership

states. Of these, 39 have since "frozen" or "withdrawn" recognition for a number of reasons. A total of 29 UN states maintain an embassy from the SADR, with Vietnam being the only nation not hosting an embassy but only sending their own mission ahrawi embassies exist in 18 states 6 UN states have other diplomatic relations, while a further 9 UN nations and South Ossetia also recognise the state either by previous regimes or through international agreements in the past, but do not have any active relations at the moment See 'Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic' for more details]. Chile, Australia, Brazil, and Sweden have all internally voted to recognise the SADR, but none have yet ratified it. Although it is not recognised by the UN, the SADR has held full membership of the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
(AU, formerly the
Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...
, OAU) since 1982. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest during 1984, and from the time of South Africa's admittance to the OAU in 1994 was the only African UN member not also a member of the AU, until it was readmitted on 30 January 2017. The SADR participates as a guest in meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement and the New Asian–African Strategic Partnership, over Moroccan objections to SADR participation. The SADR also participated in a conference of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of the Latin American and the Caribbean (
COPPPAL The Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (french: Conférence permanente des partis politiques d'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes; es, Conferencia Permanente de Partidos Políticos de América Latina y el ...
) in 2006; the SADR ambassador to Nicaragua participated in the opening conference of the
Central American Parliament The Central American Parliament ( es, Parlamento Centroamericano), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City. History ...
in 2010, and a SADR delegation participated in the meeting of COPPPAL and International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Mexico City in 2012. On 27 February 2011, the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of SADR was held in Tifariti, Western Sahara. Delegations, including parliamentarians, ambassadors, NGOs and activists from many countries participated in this event.
/ref> The SADR is not a member of the
Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, nor of the
Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) or simply the Maghreb Union (MU) ( ar, اتحاد المغرب العربي ', french: Union du Maghreb Arabe) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity am ...
, both of which include Morocco as a full member.


Proposed Western Sahara Authority

Under the
Baker Plan The Baker Plan (formally, Peace Plan for Self-Determination of the People of Western Sahara) is a United Nations initiative to grant self-determination to Western Sahara. It was intended to replace the Settlement Plan of 1991, which was furthe ...
created by James Baker, former UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the found ...
's personal envoy to Western Sahara, the SADR would have been replaced with a five-year transitional Western Sahara Authority (WSA), a non-sovereign
autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy— ...
supervised by Morocco, to be followed by a referendum on independence. It was endorsed by the UN in 2003. As Morocco has declined to participate, however, the plan appears dead. In April 2007, the government of Morocco suggested that a self-governing entity, through the
Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs ( ar, المجلس الملكي الاستشاري للشؤون الصحراوية; french: Conseil royal consultatif pour les affaires sahariennes) is an advisory committee to the Moroccan governm ...
(CORCAS), should govern the territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was presented to the UN Security Council in mid-April 2007. A stalemate over the Moroccan proposal led the UN, in an April 2007 "Report of the UN Secretary-General", to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.


National holidays


Gallery


File:Mezquita en Dajla (Sahara Occidental).jpg, A mosque in Dakhla, a city under Moroccan control. File:Veronica Forque en el Sáhara libre.jpg, The Spanish actress
Verónica Forqué Verónica Forqué Vázquez-Vigo (; 1 December 1955 – 13 December 2021) was a Spanish stage, film and television actress. She was a four-time Goya Award winner, the most award-winning actress alongside Carmen Maura. She had a knack for charact ...
at the
Sahara Film Festival The Sahara International Film Festival, also known as FiSahara, is an annual event which takes place in the Sahrawi refugee camps, at the southwest corner of Algeria, near the border with Western Sahara. It is the only film festival in the wor ...
. File:RASD - Commemoration of the 30th independence day in the Liberated Territories (2006).jpg, Commemoration of the 30th independence day in Tifariti, Liberated Territories,
Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...


See also

*
Elections in Western Sahara The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) claims the Western Sahara, a territory largely administered by Morocco since Spain abandoned it in 1975. The sovereignty over Western Sahara is unresolved: the territory is contested by Morocco and Poli ...
*
Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) are conducted by the Polisario Front, which maintains a network of representation offices and embassies in foreign countries. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is the g ...
*
International recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. SADR claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony; however, at prese ...
*
List of cities in Western Sahara The following are cities in Western Sahara, listed by population. Due to an ongoing conflict over the territory, the majority is controlled by Morocco, and the eastern and southern portions are controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Re ...
*
Moroccan Western Sahara Wall The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or Berm is an approximately sand wall or berm running south to north through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It separates the Moroccan-controlled areas (the Southern Provinces) on the ...
* Outline of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic * Polisario Front * Political status of Western Sahara * Politics of Western Sahara


References


External links

; Official SADR pages *
Polisario.es
*
Sahara Press Service (SPS)
*
RASD TV
*


SADR Oil & Gas 2005
*
Sahara salud
*
Economic development ministry of the SADR
*
Ministry of Culture of the SADR
*
UJSARIO
*
UNMS
; SADR pages *
Sahara Today
*
Futuro Saharaui
*
FiSahara
Festival de cine del Sahara – Sahara Film Festival] *
El Bubisher
Bookmobile and permanent Libraries Project in the Saharawi refugee camps) *
EFA Abidin Kaid Saleh de la RASD
Audiovisual Education School Abidin Kaid Saleh of the SADR) *
ARTifariti
; Others

{{Authority control Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, North African countries Maghrebi countries Saharan countries Arab republics Disputed territories in Africa Territorial disputes of Morocco Governments in exile Former Spanish colonies Member states of the African Union One-party states Polisario Front States and territories established in 1976 1976 establishments in Western Sahara Geography of Western Sahara Arabic-speaking countries and territories Spanish-speaking countries and territories Countries in Africa States with limited recognition