Disputed Corner of the Sahara

Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square kilometres (103,000 sq mi). It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. The population is estimated at just over 500,000, many of whom live in El Aaiún (also called Laayoune), the largest city in Western Sahara.

A colony of Spain since the late 19th century, the Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963. In 1965, the UN General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, asking Spain to decolonise the territory. One year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting Spain to organise a referendum on self-determination. In 1975, Spain relinquished the administrative control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco, which had formally claimed the territory since 1957, and Mauritania. A war erupted between those countries and the Sahrawi national liberation movement Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) (exiled government in Tindouf, Algeria). Mauritania withdrew in 1979 and Morocco eventually secured effective control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources.

The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by Morocco for Western Sahara, in reference to the part of Western Sahara that lies to the west of the Moroccan Berm. Following the Madrid Accords signed with Spain and Mauritania in 1975, Morocco took control of Saguia el-Hamra, and the northern part of Rio de Oro, while Mauritania took control of the remaining part of Rio de Oro, renamed as Tiris al-Gharbiyya. A locally based Sahrawi national liberation movement, the Polisario Front launched a guerrilla war, with the backing of the Algeria, aiming to win independence of the territory, which caused Mauritania to pull out in 1979, despite the backing of France.^{[citation needed]} Morocco then proceeded to take control of the remaining parts of Saguia el-Hamra as well.

Since a United Nations-sponsored cease-fire agreement in 1991, most of the territory is at present administered by Morocco. The Polisario Front claims to control most of the remainder, which is almost unpopulated. The cease-fire line corresponds to the route of the Moroccan Wall. Both sides claim the territory in its entirety. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is recognized by 53 nations, and is a full member of the African Union. Moroccan territorial integrity is explicitly recognized by the Arab League^{[citation needed]}. Administratively, Morocco divided the territory under its control into administrative units (wilayas). Flags and coats of arms were created for the three wilayas of Boujdour, Smara and Laayoune. There were further changes in the territories in 1983, with the area becoming four wilayas through the addition of Dakhla. In 1990 Wadi al-Dhahab (Rio de Oro) was added.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Morocco, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Most Moroccans are Sunni Muslims, mainly of Arab-Berber, Arabized Berber or Berber stock. Morocco was inhabited by Berbers since at least 5000 years ago. The Arabs conquered the territory that would become Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries, at the time under the rule of various late Byzantine Roman princips and indigenous Berber and Romano-Berber principalities, such as the one of Julian, count of Ceuta, laying the foundation for the emergence of the Morish culture. A small minority of the population is identified as Haratin and Gnaoua, dark-skinned sedentary agriculturalists of the southern oases that speak either Berber or Arabic. Morocco's Jewish minority has decreased significantly and today numbers about 5,000. Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French or Spanish.

Recent studies make clear no significant genetic differences exist between Arabic and non-Arabic speaking populations, highlighting that in common with most of the Arab World, Arabization was mainly via acculturation of indigenous populations over time and intermarriage between Arabs and Berbers. According to the European Journal of Human Genetics, Moroccans from North-Western Africa are genetically closer to Iberians and other South Europeans than to Middle Easterners and Sub-Saharan Africans.