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Flag of Western Sahara

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Revision as of 05:23, 20 March 2012 by Χ (talk | contribs) (→Regional flags: fix disambiguation)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the different flags used to represent Western Sahara. For the flag of the republic that claims sovereignty over the territory, see Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

There is no official flag for the territory of Western Sahara since its sovereignty is disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

Morocco, controls most of the territory and administers it as its Southern Provinces, while the Polisario Front controls the remainder. Since the disengagement of the Spanish forces in 1976, the Polisario proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as the state that represents the territory.

Flag of Morocco, flown over the part controlled by Morocco.
Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, flown over the part controlled by the Polisario Front; this flag is commonly referred to as the "flag of Western Sahara".

History

In the late 19th-century, Western Sahara became a Spanish colony. After the Madrid Accords of 1975, Spain disengaged itself leaving the territory to Morocco and Mauritania, who split the territory, giving two thirds to the former. The Polisario Front rejected this and declared in exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as the state representing an "independent" Western Sahara.

In 1979, Mauritania signed a peace treaty with the Polisario front, and Morocco annexed the part formerly controlled by Mauritania. A U.N-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1991 between the two parties, but the sovereignty of the territory remains unresolved pending ongoing peace-talks.

Historical flags

Regional flags

In the 1976-1997 provincial division of Morocco, four provinces included parts of Western Sahara. The provincial division was however re-organized in 1997, consequently some of these flags are no longer in official use.

See also

References

  1. ^ Staff. "CIA - The World Factbook". CIA. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  2. "Subnational flags of Morocco". flagspot. Retrieved 13 March 2012.

External links

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