![Western Sahara situation January 1976 en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Western_Sahara_situation_January_1976_en.svg)
The Annexation of Western Sahara was the occupation and incorporation 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 ...
into
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
in two stages in 1976 and 1979. On 14 April 1976 the area was annexed by Morocco and
Mauritania
Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
via the
Western Sahara partition agreement
The Western Sahara partition agreement, formally the Convention concerning the State frontier line, was a treaty signed at Rabat on 14 Apr 1976 between Morocco and Mauritania in order to partition the disputed territory of Western Sahara between t ...
, following the two countries' occupation of the area which began on 30 October 1975, and on 14 August 1979 Morocco annexed the remaining territory following Mauritania's withdrawal and renunciation.
Annexation
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
is illegal under
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
. Under international law, Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara is
null and void
In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document, or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity—the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened. The term void ''ab initio'', which means " ...
, such that the territory is not a legal part of Morocco and it remains under the international laws of
military occupation
Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
.
The annexation was
supported by the United States,
which in 2020 became the only country to formally recognise it as part of the
Israel–Morocco normalization agreement
The Israel–Morocco normalization agreement is an agreement announced by the United States government on December 10, 2020, in which Israel and Morocco agreed to begin normalizing relations. On December 22, 2020, a joint declaration was signed ...
.
Background
As Spain began the process of decolonization 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 ...
, a number of international bodies were asked to opine on the territories' status. The
UN visiting mission to Spanish Sahara, carried out in May 1975, published their report on 15 October 1975. On the next day, on 16 October 1975, the
was published. Both reports supported a referendum of the people of Western Sahara; the ICJ report acknowledged that Western Sahara had historical links with Morocco and Mauritania, but not sufficient to prove the sovereignty of either State over the territory at the time of the Spanish colonization. The population of the territory thus possessed the right of
self-determination
The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...
.
1975: start of the occupation
On 31 October 1975, Moroccan troops began an invasion of Western Sahara from the north.
The Moroccan government’s
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 Spani ...
took place on 6 November 1975, in which 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on the city of
Tarfaya
Tarfaya ( ar, طرفاية - ''Ṭarfāya''; ber, ⵟⵔⴼⴰⵢⴰ) is a coastal Moroccan town, located at the level of Cape Juby, in western Morocco, on the Atlantic coast. It is located about 890 km southwest of the capital Rabat, and ...
in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King
Hassan II of Morocco
Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
He was a member of the 'Ala ...
to cross the border in a peaceful march.
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 ...
were signed by Spain with Morocco and Mauritania on 14 November 1975.
The Moroccan and Mauritanian annexations were resisted by the
Polisario Front
The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس ...
, primarily by guerrilla warfare, which had gained backing from
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
.
1976: annexation and partition
Following the occupation, on 14 April 1976, the
Western Sahara partition agreement
The Western Sahara partition agreement, formally the Convention concerning the State frontier line, was a treaty signed at Rabat on 14 Apr 1976 between Morocco and Mauritania in order to partition the disputed territory of Western Sahara between t ...
was signed to formalize the annexation and agree the borders between Morocco and Mauritania. Morocco annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara as 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 ...
, and Mauritania annexed the southern third as
Tiris al-Gharbiyya
Tiris al-Gharbiyya ( ar, تيرس الغربية, links=, lit=Western Tiris, translit=Tīris al-Ġarbiyya) was the name for the area of Western Sahara under Mauritanian control between 1975 and 1979.
Background
Mauritania annexed the southern ...
.
1979: Mauritanian withdrawal and Morocco further annexation
In 1979, Mauritania withdrew due to pressure from Polisario, including a bombardment of its capital and other economic targets.
On 14 August 1979, Morocco extended its control and annexed the rest of the territory.
Similar events
Armed Conflicts over "
non-self-governing territories
Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations Gener ...
" in the Name of "Restoration of Inherent Territories".
*
Annexation of Goa
The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed ', the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1961. In Indi ...
*
Ifni war
The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain (''la Guerra Olvidada''), was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi I ...
*
Falkland War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland I ...
References
{{reflist
Annexation
History of Western Sahara