Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

The SADR is one of the two African states in which Spanish is a significant language, the other being Equatorial Guinea. The SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlou, Western Sahara. The SADR government calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone. Morocco occupies the rest of the disputed territory, and calls these lands its Southern Provinces. The claimed capital city of the SADR is Laayoune (the largest city of the Western Sahara territory). Since the SADR does not control Laayoune, it has established a temporary capital in Tifariti, although most of the day-to-day administration happens in Rabuni, one of the Sahrawi refugee camps located in Tindouf, Algeria. The Polisario Front's government-in-exile has been accused by Morocco of being a puppet state used by Algeria to fight a proxy war against Morocco. The SADR maintains diplomatic relations with 45 United Nations states, and is a full member of the African Union.

• Conventional Long Name — Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic • Common Name — Sahrawi Republic • Symbol Type — Coat of arms • National Motto — Libertad, Democracia, Unidad • Englishmotto — "Freedom, Democracy, Unity" • National Anthem — يا بني الصحراء (Arabic) Yā Banī aṣ-Ṣaḥrāʾ ¡Oh, hijos del Sahara! (Spanish) "Oh, Sons of the Sahara!" • Status — State with limited recognition, government-in-exile • Capital — Laayoune (de jure) • Capital Exile — * Rabuni, Tindouf (de facto) • Tifariti (declared provisional) • Largest City — capital • Official Languages — * Arabic • Spanish • Languages Type — Spoken languages • Languages — * Hassaniya Arabic • Saharan Spanish • Religion — Islam (official) • Demonym — * Sahrawi • Saharawi • Western Saharan • Population Estimate — c. 200,000 • Population Label2 — Refugee camps • Population Data2 — 173,600 (2023 estimate) • Population Label3 — Liberated Territories • Population Data3 — 40,000 (2010 estimate) • Government Type — Unitary one-party semi-presidential republic • Leader Title1 — President • Leader Name1 — Brahim Ghali • Leader Title2 — Prime Minister • Leader Name2 — Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun • Legislature — National Council • Sovereignty Type — Formation • Established Event1 — Relinquished by Spain • Established Date1 — 14 November 1975 • Established Event2 — Republic declared • Established Date2 — 27 February 1976 • Established Event3 — Sovereignty disputed with Morocco • Established Date3 — Ongoing • Area Rank — 77th • Area Km2 — 266,000 • Area Footnote — (claimed) 90,000 km2 (controlled) • Area Sq Mi — 102,703 • Percent Water — Negligible • Area Label — Total • Hdi — 0.500 • Hdi Year — 2015 • Currency — Sahrawi peseta (de jure) (EHP) • Time Zone — GMT • Utc Offset — +0 • Cctld —.eh (reserved) • Iso3166code — EH

The name Sahrawi is the romanisation of the Arabic word ar-Latn صحراوي, meaning 'Inhabitant of the Desert', derived from the Arabic word ar-Latn (صحراء), meaning 'desert'.

Following the evacuation of the Spaniards, due to the Moroccan Green March, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania signed the Madrid Accords 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 (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 colonial administration. While the claimed capital is the former Western Sahara capital Laayoune (which is in Moroccan-occupied territory), the proclamation was made in the government-in-exile's provisional capital, Bir Lehlou, which remained in Polisario-held territory under the 1991 ceasefire (see Settlement Plan). On 27 February 2008, the provisional capital was formally moved to Tifariti. Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf Province, Algeria, which house most of the Sahrawi exile community.

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is officially a one-party semi-presidential republic. Since August 1982, the highest office of the republic has been the President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a post held by the secretary-general of the Polisario Front, presently Brahim Ghali, who appoints the Prime Minister, currently Bouchraya Hammoudi Bayoun. 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 (SNC; the present speaker is Bashir Mustafa Sayed). Since its inception in 1976, the various constitutional revisions have transformed the republic from an ad hoc managerial structure into something approaching a 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, 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 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.

A 1999 Constitution of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic took a form similar to the parliamentary 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 with a market economy. The constitution also defines Sahrawis as a Muslim, African and Arab 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.

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

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, although some official events have taken place in towns in the Free Zone, including the provisional capitals, first Bir Lehlou 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 agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and non-governmental organisations, are continually active in the camps.

Under the Baker Plan created by James Baker, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan'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 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 (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.

The official currency of the SADR is the Sahrawi peseta, though, in practice, the Algerian dinar and Mauritanian ouguiya are the main currencies used within the controlled territories. The Moroccan dirham is also accepted, though it is mainly only used in the Moroccan-occupied territories.

Demographics 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. In 2018, President Brahim Gali stated that the SADR is the only Arab country in the world where Spanish is an official language. Instituto Cervantes estimates that around 20,000 Sahrawis have limited competencies in Spanish.

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-occupied 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 Dakhla.

The SADR was invited to participate in the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, which would have been the country's debut at a major international sporting event. However, its thirteen athletes were not allowed to compete by the Congolese organising committee. The country has a national football team, but its governing body, the Sahrawi Football Federation, is not a member of FIFA or the Confederation of African Football.

• Date — Name — Original event / Notes • 27 February — Independence Day — Proclamation of the SADR in Bir Lehlou, 1976 • 8 March — First Martyr • 10 May — Foundation of the Polisario Front — The anniversary of the front's establishment in 1973 • 20 May — 20 May Revolution — Start of the armed struggle against Spain in 1973 • 9 June — Day of the Martyrs — Day on which El-Ouali died in 1976 • 17 June — Zemla Intifada — Harakat Tahrir riots in El-Aaiun, 1970 • 12 October — Day of National Unity — Celebrating the commemoration anniversary of the Ain Ben Tili Conference, 1975 Additionally, Muslim celebrations are kept according to the lunar Islamic calendar. • Date — Name — Observance • Muharram 1 — Islamic New Year — The anniversary of the Hijra from Mecca to Medina and the beginning of the lunar Islamic year • Dhu'l-Hijja 10 — Eid al-Adha — Sacrifice feast • Shawwal 1 — Eid al-Fitr — End of Ramadan • Rabi' al-Awwal 12 — Mawlid — Birth of Muhammad

• Illustration — A mosque in Dakhla, a city under Moroccan occupation. • Illustration — The Spanish actress Verónica Forqué at the Sahara Film Festival. • Illustration — Commemoration of the 30th Independence Day in Tifariti, Liberated Territories, Western Sahara.