The Western Sahara region that caused the rift between Algeria and France

Western Sahara is located in the northwest of Africa, adjacent to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to the south and Algeria to the northeast. Situated in the western part of the Sahara Desert, it borders the Atlantic Ocean. This area is a disputed region, originally under Spain in 1886, and in 1958, Morocco, Algeria, and Mauritania opposed Spain's colonial rule over Western Sahara.

The "Madrid Square Treaty" was signed on November 14, 1975, requiring Spain to withdraw from Western Sahara as per the agreement. Since May 1973, the Sahrawi people, assisted by Algeria, formed the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro," also known as the "Polisario Front," to fight for independence from Spanish colonial rule. They started a war with Morocco, which extended its territory into Western Sahara, in November 1975. Spain completely withdrew from Western Sahara on February 26, 1976.

The local independent armed organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Western Sahara, also known as the Polisario Front, is secretly supported by Algeria. It mainly operates in about one-quarter of the desolate area east of the sand wall in the region, known as the "Free Zone," while the remaining areas are under the rule of the Kingdom of Morocco. Under the mediation of the United Nations in 1992, Morocco and the Polisario Front reached a ceasefire agreement. More than 30 countries recognize the Arab Sahrawi Democratic Republic led by the Polisario Front as an independent Arab country. The main residents are the Sahrawi people, Berbers, and Arabs.

In 2020, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Western Sahara informed the United Nations that Morocco had been secretly expanding its territory, aiming to exceed three-quarters of the territory under the ceasefire agreement, intending to occupy one-quarter of the Polisario Front's territory behind the sand wall.

As of January 2025, the United States has once again been led by Donald Trump as president, seeking to recognize all the land of Western Sahara as belonging to Morocco.

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1839951102444553/

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