Western Sahara

Coordinates: 25°N 13°W / 25°N 13°W / 25; -13

Western Sahara (ⁱ/ˌwɛstərn səˈhɑːrə, -ˈhɛərə, -ˈhærə/;Arabic: الصحراء الغربية‎ aṣ-Ṣaḥrā’ al-Gharbīyah; Spanish: Sahara Occidental; Berber: Taneẓroft Tutrimt) 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 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, 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. 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. One year later, a new resolution was passed by the General Assembly requesting that a referendum be held by Spain on self-determination.

International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara

One of the main functions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is to provide Advisory Opinions - non-binding legal interpretations admitted by United Nations organs. In the summer of 1975, the court considered two questions regarding the disputed territory of Western Sahara (then Spanish Sahara). In 1969, Spain returned the region of Ifni to Morocco.

Background

Since its access to independence in 1956, Morocco has considered Spanish Sahara to be part of its pre-colonial territory, and Spain had largely decolonized its foreign holdings, including much of Spanish Morocco, but had retained the Spanish Sahara. In 1958, the Moroccan Army of Liberation fought the Spanish forces in the Ifni War. After support from France, Spain regained control of the region but returned the region of Cape Juby to Morocco. Morocco however continued to claim Ifni, Saguia el-Hamra and Rio De Oro and several other regions (Mauritania, western parts of Algeria and northern part of Mali) colonized by France. During the 1960s, Morocco succeeded in getting Spanish Sahara to be listed on the list of territories to be decolonized, and on December 20, 1966, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2229 called on Spain to hold a referendum on self-determination in the region.

Zug, Western Sahara

Zug (also transliterated "Zoug", "Sug"; Arabic: زوك) is located in the far south-east of Western Sahara, 170 km. from Atar, Mauritania. The only erg or sand sea in Western Sahara (known as "Galb Azefal") is located nearby, where it runs from south-west to north-east from Mauritania into Western Sahara and back into Mauritania, where the border forms a right angle. Zug is located in the part of Western Sahara controlled by the Polisario Front and often referred to as the Liberated Territories. It is the head of the 1st military region of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and holds a SPLA military outpost and a small hospital.

Infrastructure

On June 2009, three friendship associations from Alicante (Spain) had a meeting with Sahrawi ministers, with the intention of building up a hospital in the town. On September, a solidarity concert with Chambao, Oléfunk & Mario Díaz was held in Altea, with the aim to collect money to finance the project. On November, an agreement between POLISARIO representatives and members of the friendship associations to build up the building was signed. On 2011, the construction works had been finished, only lasting the equipment and the medical supplies to open it.

Sahara with Michael Palin

Sahara with Michael Palin is a four-part BBC television series presented by British comedian and travel presenter Michael Palin, and first broadcast in 2002. In it, Palin travelled around the Sahara in Northern - and Western Africa, meeting people and visiting places. The journey route included the following countries and territories: Gibraltar, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria.

These countries and the entire Sahara area are vast. For example, Algeria is four times the size of France or three times the size of Texas. The Sahara is roughly the same size as the United States, and the trip covered 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometres) and lasted three months.

A book by the same name written by Palin was published to accompany the series. This book contained both Palin's text and many pictures by Basil Pao, the stills photographer on the team. Basil Pao also produced a separate book of the photographs he took during the journey, Inside Sahara, a large coffee-table style book printed on glossy paper.

Sahara (1943 Hindi film)

Sahara is a Bollywood film. It was released in 1943. The film is directed by Jagatrai Pesumal Advani for Vaswani Art productions. It had music composed by Gobind Ram. The film starred Renuka Devi, Narang, Pran, Meena Shorey and Sharda

References

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Sahara (1983 film)

Sahara is a 1983 British-American adventure drama film directed by Andrew McLaglen and starring Brooke Shields, Lambert Wilson, Horst Buchholz, John Rhys-Davies, and John Mills. The original music score was composed by Ennio Morricone.

The film's tagline is "She challenged the desert, its men, their passions and ignited a bold adventure."

Plot

The setting is in the year 1927. After her father dies, a young American heiress, Dale disguises herself as a man and takes the place of her father in an international car race through the Sahara. Dale is taken prisoner by Rasoul, but is rescued by Jaffar. However, more trouble awaits her before she can finish the race. Dale falls in love with Jaffar and marries him. Rasoul ends up dying in the end. She wins the race, becoming the first woman to win this international car race.

Cast