Mauritania–Western Sahara Border
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The Mauritania–Western Sahara border is in length and runs from the
tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...
with
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
in the north-east to the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
in the south-west.


Description

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Algeria, proceeding south in a straight of , then turning west following the 26th parallel north for , then turning south along the 12th meridian west for . The border then turns to the south-west via a broad arc down to 21°20'N, following this parallel westwards for . Just south of Guerguerat the border turns south, bisecting the
Ras Nouadhibou Ras Nouadhibou () is a peninsula or headland divided by the border between Mauritania and Western Sahara on the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Since colonial times, it has internationally been known as ''Cabo Blanco'' in Spanish or ''Cap ...
peninsula and terminating at its tip on the Atlantic Coast.


History

The border emerged during the '
Scramble for Africa The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, conquest, and colonialism, colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the era of ...
', a period of intense competition between European powers in the later 19th century for territory and influence in Africa. The process culminated in the
Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 was a meeting of colonial powers that concluded with the signing of the General Act of Berlin,
of 1884, in which the European nations concerned agreed upon their respective territorial claims and the rules of engagements going forward. As a result of this process,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
announced its intention to declare a protectorate over the north-west African coast between
Cape Bojador Cape Bojador (, Arabic transliteration, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; , ''Bujdur''; Spanish language, Spanish and ; ) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W (various sources give various locations: this ...
and
Ras Nouadhibou Ras Nouadhibou () is a peninsula or headland divided by the border between Mauritania and Western Sahara on the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Since colonial times, it has internationally been known as ''Cabo Blanco'' in Spanish or ''Cap ...
(Cape Blanco/Cap Blanc), which was formally created as the Rio de Oro colony the following year.
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
had been granted control over much of West Africa, including what is now Mauritania, with their territories later federalized as
French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
. On 27 June 1900 France and Spain signed a treaty which created a border between Rio de Oro and
French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...
starting at Ras Nouadhibou and terminating at the junction of the 12th meridian west and the 26th parallel north (i.e. the bulk of the modern Mauritania–Western Sahara border). This boundary was then extended by a treaty of 3 October 1904 north up to what is now the tripoint with Algeria and then west along the parallel of 27°40'N, this latter line forming the modern Morocco–Western Sahara border; the new Spanish territory thus formed was named
Saguia el-Hamra Saguia el-Hamra ( , ) is the northern geographic region of Western Sahara. It was, with Río de Oro, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969. Its name comes from a waterway that goes through the ca ...
. Another Franco-Spanish treaty was signed on 27 November 1912 which created a French protectorate over most of Morocco, whilst ceding parts of the country to Spain viz, the Mediterranean littoral (the 'Northern Zone', or more commonly Spanish Morocco), the exclave of
Ifni The Territory of Ifni () was a Spanish province on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, south of Agadir and across from the Canary Islands. It had a total area of , and a population of 51,517 in 1964. The main industry was fishing. The present-day Mor ...
and the
Cape Juby Cape Juby (, trans. ''Raʾs Juby'', ) is a cape on the coast of southern Morocco, near the border with Western Sahara, directly east of the Canary Islands. Its surrounding area, including the cities of Tarfaya and Tan-Tan, is called the C ...
/Tarfaya Strip (aka the 'Southern Zone'), the latter forming what is now the far south of Morocco proper, between the
Draa River :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa (, ; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara, ) is Morocco's longest river, at . It is formed by the confluence of the Dadès River and Imini Ri ...
and the Saguia el-Hamra border at 27°40'N agreed upon in 1904. The entire French West Africa-Saguia el Hamara/Rio de Oro boundary was confirmed by treaty on 19 December 1956, with France and Spain then demarcating it on the ground in 1957 with several pillars. From 1946 to 1958 Spanish Morocco, the Tarfaya Strip, Ifni, Rio de Oro and Saguia el Hamra were united as
Spanish West Africa Spanish West Africa (, AOE) was a grouping of Spanish colonies along the Atlantic coast of northwest Africa. It was formed in 1946 by joining the southern zone (the Cape Juby Strip) of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco with the colonies of I ...
. Morocco gained independence from France in 1956, including Spanish Morocco (minus the
plazas de soberanía The (), meaning "strongholds of sovereignty", are a series of Spanish overseas territories scattered along the Mediterranean coast bordering Morocco, or that are closer to Africa than Europe. This term is used for those territories that have ...
which remain part of Spain today). The newly independent state, inspired by the idea of creating a ' Greater Morocco', claimed all of Spanish West Africa as Moroccan land. In 1958 Spain merged Rio de Oro and Saguia el-Hamara in 1958 as
Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara (; ), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958, then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain bet ...
; that same year Spain ceded the Tarfaya Strip to Morocco (via the
Treaty of Angra de Cintra The Treaty of Angra de Cintra, signed by Spain and Morocco on 1 April 1958, ended the Spanish protectorate in Morocco and helped end the Ifni War. The Spanish foreign minister, Fernando María Castiella y Maíz, and his Moroccan counterpart, Ahm ...
). Ifni was ceded in 1969 (following a failed Moroccan attempt to capture the region by force in 1957).José Luis Villanova, "La organización política del territorio de Ifni duranta la dominación colonial española (1934–1969)", ''Anales: Revista de Estudios Ibéricos e Iberoamericanos'
3
(2007): 49–82, esp. 62–72.
Morocco then turned its sights to Spanish Sahara, however Mauritania (independent since 1960) also contested the territory, claiming the former colony of Rio de Oro as part of ' Greater Mauritania'. A
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
was built in 1960-63 which paralleled the southern half of the boundary, including an expensive tunnel through an escapement north-west of Choum constructed so as to order to avoid the right-angle of the south-eastern Spanish Sahara. Saharawi nationalists had meanwhile formed the Polisario, seeking independence for the whole of Spanish Sahara as Western Sahara, and began a low-level guerrilla campaign. An
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
ruling on the matter in October 1975 stated that neither the Moroccan nor Mauritanian claims to Western Sahara were strong enough to justify annexation, and that the Saharawi people should be allowed to determine their own future. Morocco thereafter sought to settle the matter militarily, and in November 1975 conducted the '
Green March The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government and military, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. The Spani ...
', in which thousands of soldiers and Moroccan nationalists forcibly crossed the Morocco-Spanish Sahara border. Spain's dictator
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
was at this time near-death, and the country was unwilling to respond militarily at such a delicate time, keen to avoid the kind of drawn-out colonial war similar to the
Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
. Spain therefore signed a treaty with Morocco and Mauritania, splitting Spanish Sahara roughly in two, roughly two-thirds in Morocco's favor. By this treaty only the northern third of the traditional Mauritania–Western Sahara border remained extant. Polisario forces declared a
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only ...
based on the boundaries of Spanish Sahara, thus starting a long
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
against Morocco and Mauritania. Unwilling to continue the conflict, Mauritania pulled out of their zone in 1979, which was then annexed by Morocco, thereby reinstating the former Mauritania-Western Sahara frontier. In the 1980s, in an effort to control the territory and stymie the Polisario, Morocco began building a number of elaborate walls (or 'berms'), eventually completing the
Moroccan Western Sahara Wall The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or the Berm, also called the Moroccan sand wall (), is an approximately berm running south to north through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It separates the Moroccan-controlled areas ...
in 1987.
Milestones of the conflict
'', page 2. Website of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
MINURSO mission.
In the south the wall parallels the southern straight line section of the border out to the sea, effectively abandoning the Western Saharan half of the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula; at present Mauritania retains a military presence in the area. Abdallah Ben Ali,
Guéguerre à Lagouira
', Maroc Hebdo International, issue 534, 22–28 November 2002
Redouane Ramdani,
Enquête: Aux frontières du réel
'', TelQuel, issue 248, 18–24 November 2004
Morocco and Polisario signed a ceasefire agreement in 1991 ending the war; Morocco retained control of areas west of the wall (roughly 80% of Western Sahara), with Polisario controlling those
east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
, which includes the entirety of the Mauritania-Western Sahara boundary. At present the dispute remains unresolved.


Settlements near the border


Mauritania

* Fderîck * Choum *
Nouadhibou Nouadhibou (; , ), formerly named Port-Étienne, is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial center. The city has about 173,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a 65-kilometre peninsula or headland called Ras Nouadhibou ...


Western Sahara

*
Tifariti Tifariti () is an oasis town and the temporary capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, 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 ...
* Guerguerat * La Güera


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauritania-Western Sahara border Borders of Mauritania Borders of Western Sahara International borders