What is the reason why Western Sahara has never been independent?

There are 232 countries and regions in the world today, including 195 countries and 37 regions. The so-called regions refer to those special zones that have not yet achieved national sovereignty. Among many regions, Western Sahara, located in northwest Africa, often disturbs the sensitive nerves of its neighbors. Why is this land not independent?

0 1 Africa's barren edge

Western Sahara is located in the northwest of Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the west, Morocco in the north and Mauritania and Algeria in the east. As the name implies, most of the territory of Western Sahara is desert and semi-desert, and the land is barren. Most residents have been nomadic people for thousands of years. The economic value of this land is relatively low, and it has been on the edge of Mediterranean civilization and West African civilization. Theoretically, it is not a battleground for military strategists.

However, no matter how remote the strategic geographical location is, Western Sahara is located at the junction of Mao, Afghanistan and Morocco. In the long process of historical development, there must be territorial issues contested by different forces here. In addition, the potential economic benefits within Western Sahara have attracted the attention of the three neighboring countries.

Almost abandoned Spanish colony

Before modern times, Western Sahara was not regarded as a core territory by neighboring African countries for a long time because of its desolate geographical environment. Except for the passage to the Northwest Sea, the whole area has been uninhabited for thousands of years. After the beginning of the great voyage era, the strategic value of Western Sahara suddenly rose because of its proximity to the Atlantic coast, which attracted the attention of the Spanish. 1884, Western Sahara became a Spanish colony. Fifty years later, in order to keep this last piece of territory in Africa, Spain directly upgraded it to Sahara Province.

However, Spanish colonial rule could not resist the wave of African independence movement after all. With the secret support of three Arab neighboring countries, the local organization of Western Sahara, the Frente Polisario, was established in 1973. Seeing that Spain is powerless, it can only announce the handover of power.

Unwilling Spaniards, like other colonial countries, laid a mine in the local area and publicly announced that Western Sahara would be handed over to Morocco and Mauritania for temporary management. This not only puts the people of Western Sahara in an advantageous position, but also lays a hidden danger for the competition among the three neighboring countries.

Figure/Western Sahara People's Front Organization

03 Battle of Western Sahara

The three countries of Western Sahara immediately disagreed on the issue of Western Sahara. Algeria, which did not benefit, turned to support the "Saharan Republic" established by the local people's organization Frente Polisario, hoping to balance the other two countries with nominal jurisdiction.

As countries directly adjacent to Western Sahara, these two ugly countries actually divided most of Western Sahara into spheres of influence in the third year of Spain's withdrawal (1976). This way of sharing the spoils obviously angered the Frente POLISARIO (also known as the People's Front of Western Sahara at this time), so the local people and the invaders in the east and north launched guerrilla and mobile warfare in the desert and swore to defend the country's independence.

Due to the existence of a large number of desert areas between Mauritania and Western Sahara, the cost of governance is too high, and the country gave up the competition for this area in advance. In this way, the whole Western Sahara has become a stage for Moroccans, and Moroccans with convenient transportation have contributed to the rapid control of most parts of Western Sahara.

Figure/Morocco's constant occupation

After A.D. 1975, the Kingdom of Morocco not only openly incorporated Western Sahara into its territory, but even called on the people of the whole country to emigrate there, and constantly occupied the territory of Western Sahara by advancing the military defense line. So far, Morocco's substantial occupation of Western Sahara will not change in the short term, although the Popular Front for Western Sahara still persists in resisting aggression and constantly seeks the appeal of the international community.