Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic



The Sahrawi Republic, officially the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; Spanish: República Árabe Saharaui Democrática; Arabic: الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-‘Arabīyah aṣ-Ṣaḥrāwīyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah), is a partially recognized state that controls a thin strip of area in the Western Sahara region and claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony and later province. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlou, Western Sahara, a former socialist liberation force which has since reformed its ideological and political views.

The SADR government controls about 20–25% of the territory it claims.[5] 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 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.[6] The claimed capital of the SADR is former Western Sahara capital El-Aaiún, while the temporary capital moved from Bir Lehlou to Tifariti in 2008.

The Sahrawi Republic maintains diplomatic relations with 40 UN states, and is a full member of the African Union.