Nomads and Nation-Building in the Western Sahara by Konstantina Isidoros

In 1975, Spain relinquished administrative control of the territory to a joint administration by Morocco, which had formally claimed the territory since 1957 and Mauritania. One year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination. In 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, asking Spain to decolonize the territory. It is the most populous territory on that list, and by far the largest in area. Occupied by Spain until 1975, Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand. The population is estimated at just over 500,000, of which nearly 40% live in Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara. It is the second most sparsely populated country in the world and the most sparsely populated in Africa, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. It has a surface area of 266,000 square kilometres (103,000 sq mi).

About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) the remaining 80% of the territory is occupied and administered by neighboring Morocco. Western Sahara ( Arabic: الصحراء الغربية‎ aṣ-Ṣaḥrā' al-Gharbiyyah Berber languages: Taneẓroft Tutrimt Spanish: Sáhara Occidental) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa.

Nomads and Nation-Building in the Western Sahara by Konstantina Isidoros