|
}} | image = | label1 = Countries and territories | data1 = Southern Provinces | label2 = Capital | data2 = Laayoune | label3 = Population | data3 = 548,000 | label4 = Area | data4 = 266,000 sq.km. (103,000 sq.mi.) | label5 = Languages | data5 = Arabic Spanish Berber Hassaniya Arabic | label6 = Religion | data6 = Islam | label7 = Time Zones | data7 = UTC+00:00 (Morocco time) | label8 = Currencies | data8 = MAD }} The Western Sahara (; (アラビア語:الصحراء الغربية) '; (スペイン語:Sahara Occidental); ) is a disputed territory in the Maghreb region of 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 . 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, of which nearly 40% live in El Aaiún (also spelled Laâyoune), the largest city in Western Sahara. Occupied by Spain in the late 19th century, the Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since 1963 after a Moroccan demand.〔Mariano Aguirre, (''Vers la fin du conflit au Sahara occidental, Espoirs de paix en Afrique du Nord Latine'' ) in: ''Le Monde diplomatique, Novembre 1997''〕 It is the most populous territory on that list, and by far the largest in area. In 1965, the UN General Assembly adopted its first resolution on Western Sahara, asking Spain to decolonise the territory.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=United Nations General Assembly )〕 One year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain 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, the Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government-in-exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured de facto control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. Since a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991, two thirds of the territory (including most of the Atlantic coastline)〔The only part of the coast outside the berm is the extreme south, including the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula.〕 has been under de facto control by Morocco and the remainder by the SADR, strongly backed by Algeria.〔Baehr, Peter R. ''The United Nations at the End of the 1990s''. 1999, page 129.〕 Internationally, countries such as the United States and Russia have taken a generally ambiguous and neutral position on each side's claims, and have pressed both parties to agree on a peaceful resolution. Both Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating formal recognition, essentially from African, Asian, and Latin American states in the developing world. The Polisario Front has won formal recognition for SADR from 37 states, and was extended membership in the African Union. Morocco has won recognition or support for its position from several African governments and from most of the Arab League.〔("Arab League supports Morocco's Territorial Integrity" ), ''Arabic News,'' Morocco-Regional, Politics, 8 January 1999. Retrieved 24 August 2006.〕〔("Arab League Withdraws Inaccurate Moroccan maps" ), Arabic News, Regional-Morocco, Politics, 17 December 1998. Retrieved 24 August 2006.〕 In both instances, recognitions have, over the past two decades, been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends. , no other member state of the United Nations has recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. == History == (詳細はウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Western Sahara」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|