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The modern day Sahrawis are a mixed ethnic group of Arabs, West Africans & diverse Berbers. The people inhabit the westernmost Sahara desert, in the area of modern Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara, and parts of Algeria. (Some tribes would also traditionally migrate into northern Mali and Niger, or even further along the Saharan caravan routes.)
The predominant religion practiced by Sahrawis is the Maliki school of Sunni Islam, which is constitutionally recognized 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.
Western Sahara [a] is a disputed territory in North-western Africa.It has a surface area of 272,000 square kilometres (105,000 sq mi). [3] Approximately 30% of the territory (82,500 km 2 (31,900 sq mi)) is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is occupied [4] [5] and administered by neighboring Morocco. [6]
Map of Western Sahara Location of cities in Western Sahara Laayoun Smara Cape Bojador. 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 Republic (SADR).
Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979, and Morocco secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all major cities and most natural resources. The UN considers the Polisario Front the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, and maintains the Sahrawis have a right to self-determination. Western Sahara is the last African ...
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 present the SADR government controls approximately 20–25% of the territory it claims. [1]
Western Sahara conflict – ongoing conflict between the Polisario Front of the Sahrawi people and the state of Morocco. The conflict is the continuation of the past insurgency by Polisario against the Spanish colonial forces in 1973-1975 and the subsequent Western Sahara War between the Polisario and Morocco (1975–1991).
Primarily an encampment located near an oasis, it was always a kind of seasonal town for the Sahrawis, a Bedouin people controlling the area since medieval times. In 1912, a French Foreign Legion expedition commanded by Captain Gerard, who was trying to link with their troops in Morocco, was exterminated by Sahrawi rebel nomads near Tifariti. [5]