Foreign relations of Western Sahara - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Western Sahara
Western 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 . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

, formerly the Spanish colony

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

of Spanish Sahara

Spanish Sahara

Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...

, is a disputed territory claimed by both the Kingdom of Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

and the Polisario Front

Polisario Front

The POLISARIO, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro is a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco...

. Its legal status remains, according to the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

(UN), as a non-decolonized territory included in the United Nations List of Non-Self-Governing Territories

United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories

The United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories is a list of countries that, according to the United Nations, are non-decolonized. The list was initially prepared in 1946 pursuant to Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, and has been updated by the General Assembly on recommendation...

.

Since the Madrid Accords

Madrid Accords

The Madrid Accords, also called Madrid Agreement or Madrid Pact, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania to end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara, which was until the Madrid Accords' inception a Spanish province and former colony. It was signed in Madrid on...

of 1975-76, parts of Western Sahara have been administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces

Southern Provinces

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...

, and others by Mauritania

Mauritania

Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...

. Another section, the Free Zone, is administered by the Polisario Front as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about...

(SADR). A UN-monitored cease-fire has been in effect since September, 1991.

In order to resolve the sovereignty

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

issue, the UN has attempted to hold a referendum

Referendum

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

through the mission United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

MINURSO is the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara. The name is a French acronym for "Mission des Nations Unies pour l'Organisation d'un Référendum au Sahara Occidental" — United Nations Mission for the organization of a Referendum in Western Sahara.-Purpose of the mission:MINURSO...

(MINURSO), and is holding direct talks between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front. The UN recognizes neither Moroccan nor SADR sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Kingdom of Morocco

The official position of the Kingdom of Morocco beginning in 1963 is that all of Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom. The Moroccan government refers to Western Sahara only as the "Sahara", "Moroccan Sahara", "Saharan provinces", or the "Southern Provinces".

According to the Moroccan government, in 1958 the Moroccan Army of Liberation fought Spanish colonizers and almost liberated what was then Spanish Sahara. The fathers of many of the Polisario leaders were among the veterans of the Moroccan Southern Army, for example the father of Polisario leader Mohammed Abdelaziz. Morocco is supported in this view by a number of former Polisario founders and leaders. The Polisario Front is considered by Morocco to be a Moroccan separatist

Separatism

Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...

movement, referring to the Moroccan origins of most of its founding members, and its self-proclaimed SADR to be a puppet state

Puppet state

A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...

used by Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

to fight a proxy war

Proxy war

A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often employed...

against Morocco.

Polisario Front

The Polisario Front

Polisario Front

is a national liberation movement

National Liberation Movement

A national liberation movement is an organization engaged in a war of national liberation.National Liberation Movement may also refer to:* Movement of National Liberation, a leftist party founded by former Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas...

that opposes Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. It began as a movement of disaffected students who felt torn between the divergent Spanish and Moroccan influences on the country. The original goal of the Polisario, which was to end Spanish colonialism in the region, was achieved, but their neighbours, Morocco and Mauritania, invaded the territory after Spain withdrew. The Polisario engaged in guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...

with the occupying forces. It evacuated the Sahrawi population to the Tindouf

Tindouf

Tindouf is the main town in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian and Moroccan borders. The region is considered of strategic significance, and it houses Algerian military bases. Since 1975, it also contains several Sahrawi refugee camps operated by the Polisario Front a guerrilla...

refugee camps due to Royal Moroccan Air Force

Royal Moroccan Air Force

The Royal Moroccan Air Force is the air force branch of the Moroccan Armed Forces.-History:...

bombing of the refugee camps on Sahrawi land with napalm

Napalm

Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...

and white phosphorus.

The Polisario Front has called for the self-determination

Self-determination

Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...

of the people of Western Sahara to be decided through a referendum. Although the SADR is not recognised as a state by the UN, the Polisario is considered a direct participant in the conflict as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, recognized by the United Nations since 1979.

The Polisario Front argues that Morocco's position is due to economical interests (fishing, phosphate mining, and the potential for oil) and political reasons (stability of the king's position and the governing elite in Morocco

Makhzen

Makhzen is the governing elite in Morocco and in pre-1957 Tunisia, centered around the king and consisting of royal notables, businessmen, wealthy landowners, tribal leaders, top-ranking military personnel, security service bosses, and other well-connected members of the...

and the positioning of the Moroccan Army). The Polisario Front proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in Bir Lehlou

Bir Lehlou

Bir Lehlou is a small town in north-eastern Western Sahara, near the Mauritanian border and east of the border wall, in POLISARIO-held territory. It has a dispensary and a school...

(Western Sahara), on February 27, 1976.

Mauritania

Claims on Western Sahara had proliferated since the 1960s, fuelled by Mauritanian President Moktar Ould Daddah

Moktar Ould Daddah

Moktar Ould Daddah was the President of Mauritania from 1960, when his country gained its independence from France, to 1978, when he was deposed in a military coup d'etat.- Background :...

. Before Mauritania

Mauritania

signed the Madrid Accords

Madrid Accords

and after the withdrawal of the last Spanish forces, in late 1975, the Mauritanian Army

Military of Mauritania

The military forces of Mauritania are listed by the IISS Military Balance 2007 as comprising 15,870 personnel with an additional 5,000 paramilitaries....

invaded the southern part of Western Sahara, while the Moroccan Army did the same in the north. In April 1976, Mauritania and Morocco partitioned the country into three parts, Mauritania getting the southern one, which was named Tiris al-Gharbiyya

Tiris al-Gharbiyya

Tiris al-Gharbiyya was the Mauritanian name for the area of Western Sahara under its control between 1975 and 1979.-Background:...

. Mauritania waged four years of war against Polisario guerrillas, conducting raids on Nouakchott

Nouakchott

-Government:The town was first divided into districts in 1973. First it was divided into four. From 1986, the city has been split into nine districts.* Arafat* Dar Naim* El Mina* Ksar* Riad* Sebkha* Tevragh-Zeina* Teyarett* Toujounine...

, attacks on the Zouerate mine train and a coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

that deposed Ould Daddah. Mauritania finally withdrew in the summer of 1979, after signing the Argel Accord with the Polisario Front, recognizing the right of self-determination for the Sahrawi people, and renouncing any claims on Western Sahara. The Moroccan Army immediately occupied the former Mauritanian territory. Mauritania recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on February 27, 1984.

Algeria

has supported the independence of Western Sahara diplomatically since 1975 because of its own national liberation war. In 1976, Algeria got involved directly in the conflict, but after a military confrontation at Amgala

Amgala

Amgala is an oasis in Western Sahara. It is situated between Tifariti, Smara and Meharrize, close to the east of the Moroccan Wall, in the POLISARIO-held part of Western Sahara.Its population was estimated in 2,000 inhabitants in 1975....

against the Moroccan Army, Algeria's role became indirect, through political and military support for the Polisario Front. Morocco argues that the Algerian position is due to the 1963 Sand War

Sand War

The Sand War or Sands War occurred along the Algerian-Moroccan border in October 1963, and was a Moroccan attempt to claim the Tindouf and the Béchar areas that France had annexed to French Algeria a few decades earlier.- Background :...

, in which the two countries clashed. Algeria recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on March 6, 1976.

United Nations

Western Sahara was first placed, by Moroccan demand, on the UN list of territories to be decolonized

Decolonization

Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...

in 1965, when it was still a Spanish colony. It has retained that status due to the persistence of the conflict. The UN has been involved since 1988 in trying to find a solution to the conflict through self-determination. In 1988, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to settle the dispute through a referendum

Referendum

under the auspices of the UN that would allow the people of Western Sahara to choose between independence or integration with Morocco. In 1991, a ceasefire

Ceasefire

A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...

was agreed

Settlement Plan

The Settlement Plan was an agreement between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, leading either to full independence, or integration with the kingdom of Morocco...

upon between the parties, contingent on the referendum being held the following year. Due to disputes over voter qualification, the vote has still not been held, and Morocco has made it clear in 2000 that henceforth it will not consider any option leading to the independence of the territory, and instead, is now proposing autonomy within Morocco. Lately, the UN has argued for negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front to resolve the deadlock, culminating in the Manhasset negotiations

Manhasset negotiations

The Manhasset negotiations were a series of talks that took place in four rounds in 2007-2008 at Manhasset, New York between the Moroccan government and the representatives of the Saharawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front to resolve the Western Sahara conflict...

.

Although Morocco claims that no recognition is required, Moroccan sovereignty over the territory is supported by the Arab League

Arab League

The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...

and by some other states as a policy of deliberate ambiguity

Policy of deliberate ambiguity

A policy of deliberate ambiguity is the practice by a country of being intentionally ambiguous on certain aspects of its foreign policy or whether it possesses certain weapons of mass destruction...

State recognition and diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

84 states either currently recognize SADR or had recognized it in the past:

48 have relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic;
- of these, 33 have ambassadorial level relations with the SADR (of these 17 are home to Sahrawi embassies);
nine have "suspended" or "frozen" relations;
25 have "canceled" relations or "withdrawn" recognition (most recently Zambia and Papua New Guinea);
two have ceased to be sovereign countries.

As of 9 July 2011, South Sudan

South Sudan

South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

is the most recent nation to formally recognise the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Unified list

The following lists all the states that have ever recognized the SADR at some point. This table gives the long form name of each state at the time it recognized the SADR.

= Countries that have either "suspended", "frozen", "canceled" relations or "withdrawn" recognition.

	Country	Notes
1	Democratic Republic of Madagascar	Froze relations 4 July 2005.
2	Republic of Burundi	Froze relations 5 May 2006; reinstated them 16 June 2008 but canceled 25 October 2010.
3	Democratic Republic of Vietnam
4	People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
5	People's Republic of Benin People's Republic of Benin The People's Republic of Benin was a socialist state located in the Gulf of Guinea on the African continent, which would become present-day Benin. The People's Republic was established on November 30, 1975, shortly after the 1972 coup d'état in the Republic of Dahomey...	Relations canceled March 21, 1997.
6	People's Republic of Angola People's Republic of Angola The People's Republic of Angola was a self-declared socialist state that was established in 1975 after it was granted independence from Portugal, akin to the situation in Mozambique. The newly-founded nation enjoyed friendly relations with the Soviet Union, Cuba, and the People's Republic of...
7	People's Republic of Mozambique People's Republic of Mozambique The People's Republic of Mozambique , was a self-declared socialist state that lasted from June 25, 1975 through December 1, 1990, becoming the present day Republic of Mozambique.After gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the People's Republic of Mozambique was established shortly...
8	Republic of Guinea-Bissau	Withdraw recognition March 1997, relations resumed 26 May 2009, but withdrawn again 30 March 2010.
9	Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
10	Togolese Republic	Relations canceled 18 June 1997.
11	Republic of Rwanda
–	People's Democratic Republic of Yemen People's Democratic Republic of Yemen The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen — also referred to as South Yemen, Democratic Yemen or Yemen — was a socialist republic in the present-day southern and eastern Provinces of Yemen...
12	Republic of Seychelles	Relations canceled 17 March 2008.
13	People's Republic of Congo	Relations canceled 13 September 1996.
14	Republic of Sao Tome and Principe	Relations canceled 23 October 1996.
15	Republic of Panama
16	United Republic of Tanzania
17	Republic of Equatorial Guinea	Relations canceled in May 1980.
18	Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia
19	People's Republic of Kampuchea People's Republic of Kampuchea The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
20	Lao People's Democratic Republic
21	Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...	Relations canceled 11 July 2002.
22	Republic of Cape Verde	Froze relations 27 July 2007.
23	Grenada Grenada Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...	Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
24	Republic of Ghana
25	Cooperative Republic of Guyana
26	Commonwealth of Dominica	Relations canceled 22 July 2010.
27	Saint Lucia Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...	Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
28	Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
29	Republic of Nicaragua	Relations suspended 21 July 2000, but re-established 12 January 2007
30	Republic of Uganda	Relations suspended July 2000, but re-established 12 January 2007.
31	United Mexican States
32	Kingdom of Lesotho
33	Republic of Zambia	Relations canceled 29 March 2011.
34	Republic of Cuba
35	Islamic Republic of Iran
36	Republic of Sierra Leone	Froze relations 16 July 2003, but reinstated them in 20 June 2011
37	Syrian Arab Republic
38	Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
39	Kingdom of Swaziland	Relations suspended 4 August 1997.
40	Republic of Botswana
41	Republic of Zimbabwe
42	Republic of Chad	Relations suspended 9 May 1997. Relations resumed 17 July 2007.
43	Republic of Mali
44	Republic of Costa Rica	Froze relations 22 April 2000.
45	Republic of Vanuatu	Relations canceled November 2000 when Vanuatu established ambassadorial level relations with Morocco. Vanuatu reversed its cancellation decision in 2008 and established ambassadorial level relations also with SADR.
46	Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...	Relations canceled 2 April 2011.
47	Tuvalu Tuvalu Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...	Relations canceled 15 September 2000.
48	Republic of Kiribati	Relations canceled 15 September 2000.
49	Republic of Nauru	Relations canceled 15 September 2000.
50	Solomon Islands Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...	Relations canceled January 1987.
51	Republic of Mauritius
52	Republic of Venezuela
53	Republic of Suriname
54	Republic of Bolivia
55	Republic of Ecuador	Withdrawn 14 June 2004; Relations resumed 8 February 2006.
56	Islamic Republic of Mauritania
57	Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...	Relations canceled 5 June 1996.
58	Republic of Peru	Froze relations 9 October 1996.
59	Federal Republic of Nigeria
–	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
60	Republic of Colombia	Froze relations December 2000.
61	Republic of Liberia	Relations canceled 5 September 1997.
62	Republic of India	Relations canceled 26 June 2000.
63	Republic of Guatemala
64	Dominican Republic Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...	Froze relations May 2002.
65	Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
66	Belize Belize Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
67	St. Kitts and Nevis	Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
68	Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...	Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
69	Socialist People's Republic of Albania	Relations canceled 11 November 2004.
70	Barbados Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
71	Republic of El Salvador	Relations canceled April 1997, then resumed 6 June 2009.
72	Republic of Honduras
73	Republic of Namibia
74	Republic of Malawi	Relations canceled 16 September 2008.
75	Republic of Paraguay	Froze relations 25 July 2000, but reinstated them 11 August 2008.
76	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
77	Democratic Republic of East Timor
78	Republic of South Africa
79	Republic of Kenya	Froze relations 22 October 2006.
80	Oriental Republic of Uruguay
81	Republic of Haiti
82	Republic of South Sudan

States with relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

The following is a list of national governments that have diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a sovereign nation and, as its legitimate representatives, the government and institutions established in exile by the Polisario Front and currently based in Tindouf, Algeria

Refugee camps in Tindouf Province, Algeria

The Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, are a collection of refugee camps, set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975-76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Western Sahara during the Western Sahara War...

. The vast majority of recognitions took place during the Western Sahara War

Western Sahara War

The Western Sahara War was an armed conflict primarily between the Polisario Front and Morocco, the conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords by which it gave administrative control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania...

period, between the 1970s and 1980s. Since the 1990s and the 1991 cease-fire agreement, some states have suspended or frozen diplomatic relations with the SADR, some stating they are awaiting the outcome of the referendum on self-determination.

#	State	Date of diplomatic relations	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC	AL Arab League The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a... & AMU Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...	Embassy	Relations
1	Algeria	March 1976	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC	AL Arab League The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a... AMU Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...	Embassy
2	Angola	March 1976	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy	Recognized by the People's Republic of Angola People's Republic of Angola The People's Republic of Angola was a self-declared socialist state that was established in 1975 after it was granted independence from Portugal, akin to the situation in Mozambique. The newly-founded nation enjoyed friendly relations with the Soviet Union, Cuba, and the People's Republic of... .
3	Barbados
4	Belize					Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Managua, Nicaragua.
5	Bolivia					Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Caracas, Venezuela.
6	Botswana		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
7	Cambodia						Recognized by the People's Republic of Kampuchea People's Republic of Kampuchea The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government... .
8	Chad		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC		Embassy (Non-resident)	relations resumed 17 July 2007.
9	Cuba					Embassy
10	Ecuador					Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Caracas, Venezuela. Withdrawn 14 June 2004; Relations resumed 8 February 2006.
11	El Salvador	1989				Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Panama City, Panama. Relations canceled April 1997, then resumed 6 June 2009.
12	Ethiopia		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy
13	Ghana		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy established September 2011.
14	Guatemala
15	Guyana
16	Haiti					Embassy
17	Honduras
18	Iran			OIC
19	Jamaica
20	Laos					Embassy (Non-resident)
21	Lesotho		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Pretoria, South Africa.
22	Libya		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC	AL Arab League The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a... AMU Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...		Recognized by the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
23	Mali		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC
24	Mauritania		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC	AL Arab League The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a... AMU Arab Maghreb Union The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...
25	Mauritius		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
26	Mexico					Embassy
27	Mozambique		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC		Embassy	Recognized by the People's Republic of Mozambique People's Republic of Mozambique The People's Republic of Mozambique , was a self-declared socialist state that lasted from June 25, 1975 through December 1, 1990, becoming the present day Republic of Mozambique.After gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the People's Republic of Mozambique was established shortly... .
28	Namibia		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Luanda, Angola
29	Nicaragua					Embassy	Relations suspended 21 July 2000, but re-established 12 January 2007
30	Nigeria		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC		Embassy
31	North Korea
32	Panama					Embassy	Panama was the first American country to recognise the SADR, and has the oldest Sahrawi embassy on that continent.
33	Paraguay						Froze relations 25 July 2000, but reinstated them 11 August 2008.
34	Rwanda		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
35	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
36	Sierra Leone		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC			Froze relations 16 July 2003, but reinstated them in 20 June 2011
37	South Africa		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy
38			AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
39	Suriname
40	Syria			OIC	AL Arab League The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
41	Tanzania		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy
42	East Timor					Embassy	The Sahrawi Republic was the first country to establish relations with Timor-Leste or East Timor.
43	Trinidad and Tobago
44	Uganda		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	OIC		Embassy
45	Uruguay					Embassy established February 2011.
46	Vanuatu					Embassy (Non-resident)	Embassy based in Dili, Timor-Leste. Relations canceled 2000 when Vanuatu established ambassadorial level relations with Morocco. Vanuatu reversed its cancellation decision in 2008 and established ambassadorial level relations also with the SADR.
47	Venezuela					Embassy
48	Vietnam						Recognized by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, before its merger into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
49	Zimbabwe		AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...			Embassy established September 2011.

States which have suspended relations

The relations of the SADR are subject to continuous fluctuation, depending on different factors and the diplomatic activity of Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

After recognising an independent Western Sahara, some states have since suspended their relations. Others have chosen a milder option, to "freeze" relations pending the outcome of the referendum on self-determination or for other reasons.

The following is a list of governments that have, at one point, formally recognized Western Sahara as a sovereign nation and established diplomatic relations with it, but afterwards, for various reasons, either suspended or "froze" their relations.

#	State	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	Date of suspension of relations
1	Cape Verde	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	Froze relations 27 July 2007.
2	Colombia		Froze relations December 2000.
3	Costa Rica		Froze relations 22 April 2000.
4	Dominican Republic		Froze relations 23 May 2002.
5	Kenya	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	Froze relations 20 July 2006.
6	Madagascar	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	Froze relations 4 July 2005. Madagascar was the first country on recognising the SADR, hours before the proclamation.
7	Peru		Froze relations 9 September 1996.
8	Swaziland	AU African Union The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...	Relations suspended 4 August 1997.

States which have withdrawn or canceled recognition or relations

A number of states that once recognized the SADR have canceled relations and recognition or withdrawn their recognition. Several states have done this mostly because of Moroccan political pressure and economic assistance or investments.

According to international law regarding recognition of states, contained in article 6 of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States:
Therefore, once one state recognizes another as a fellow sovereign state, this recognition cannot be revoked, except when one or the other ceases to exist. One can only revoke the recognition of a government (for example by breaking off diplomatic relations), not of the state itself.

{|
{| class="sortable" border="2" style="font-size:97%; border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|#
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|State
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Date of recognition
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|AU

African Union

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|OIC
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|AL

Arab League

&
AMU

Arab Maghreb Union

The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...

Afghanistan
|
|
|

OIC
|
|
| Relations canceled 11 July 2002.
|-
|2
|

Albania
| http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/sahara.htm
|
|

OIC
|
|
| Relations canceled 11 November 2004. Last European country to recognize the SADR
|-
|3
|

Antigua and Barbuda
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
|-
|4
|

Benin
|
| AU

African Union

OIC
|
|
| Relations canceled 21 March 1997.
|-
|5
|

Burkina Faso
|
| AU

African Union

OIC
|
|
| Relations canceled 5 June 1996.
|-
|6
|

Burundi
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Froze relations 5 May 2006; reinstated 16 June 2008. but canceled October 25, 2010
|-
|7
|

Republic of the Congo
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Relations canceled 13 September 1996.
|-
|8
|

Dominica
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 22 July 2010.
|-
|9
|

Equatorial Guinea
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Relations canceled May 1980
|-
|10
|

Guinea-Bissau
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
|Withdrew recognition March 1997, relations resumed 26 May 2009, but withdrawn again 30 March 2010.
|-
|11
|

Grenada
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
|-
|12
|

India
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 26 June 2000.
|-
|13
|

Malawi
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Relations canceled 16 September 2008.
|-
|14
|

Nauru
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 15 September 2000.
|-
|15
|

Kiribati
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 15 September 2000.
|-
|16
|

Liberia
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Relations canceled 5 September 1997.
|-
|17
|

Papua New Guinea
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 2 April 2011.
|-
|18
|

Saint Lucia
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
|-
|19
|

Saint Kitts and Nevis
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 16 August 2010.
|-
|20
|

São Tomé and Príncipe
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Relations canceled 23 October 1996.
|-
|21
|

Seychelles
|
| AU

African Union

|
|
|
| Relations canceled 17 March 2008.
|-
|22
|

Solomon Islands
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled January 1989.
|-
|23
|

Togo
|
| AU

African Union

OIC
|
|
|Relations canceled 18 June 1997.
|-
|24
|

Tuvalu
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 15 September 2000.
|-
|25
|

Zambia
|
|
|
|
|
| Relations canceled 29 March 2011.
|}

States that have disappeared after recognizing the SADR

Two states have ceased to exist after recognizing the SADR as a sovereign country.
Although the UN does not recognize the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) as the successor of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), the FRY claims to be such, and pledges to adhere to all ratifications, signatures and recognitions conducted by the SFRY.

{|
{| class="sortable" border="2" style="font-size:97%; border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|#
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|State
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Date of recognition
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|AU

African Union

! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|OIC
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|AL

Arab League

&
AMU

Arab Maghreb Union

The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
|
|
|
|
|
| Recognition canceled 28 October 2004 by Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...

.
|-
|2
|

South Yemen
|
|
|

OIC
|

Arab League

|
|
|}

Positions on Western Sahara conflict

The following lists contain the following states and entities:

82 states, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

, the Non-Aligned Movement
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...

, the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

(EU) support "the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people" (for example the conduction of referendum for status determination
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
MINURSO is the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara. The name is a French acronym for "Mission des Nations Unies pour l'Organisation d'un Référendum au Sahara Occidental" — United Nations Mission for the organization of a Referendum in Western Sahara.-Purpose of the mission:MINURSO...

),
- of these, 29 states do not recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic;
- of these, 73 states recognize the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people;
- of these, one state and the EU do not recognize the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people;
45 states support Moroccan claims on Western Sahara, but do not recognize its sovereignty over it

Some states are on both lists; for example, when a state is supportive of the "right of self-determination", including the option of autonomy under Morocco sovereignty. Some states have changed their opinion frequently or have given separate announcements of support for both Morocco and the Polisario Front/SADR (Paraguay, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Chile, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Peru, Russia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland).

Some of the states announcing support of the "right of self-determination" already recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Not all of the states that have canceled relations with or withdrawn recognition of SADR have announced their support for the Moroccan claims.

The following states and entities have not announced any position:

Americas: Bahamas
Africa: Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

, Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, Comoros
Comoros
The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...
Europe: Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...

, Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

, San Marino
San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino , is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino...

, Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...

, Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
Asia: Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...

, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....

, Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...

, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
Oceania: Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

, Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

, Niue
Niue
Niue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to...

, Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

, Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....

, Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
Others: Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

, Republic of China (Taiwan), Kosovo
Republic of Kosovo
Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic , or Artsakh Republic is a de facto independent republic located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus or North Cyprus , officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus , is a self-declared state that comprises the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus...

, Somaliland
Somaliland
Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...

, Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
Sovereign Military Order of Malta

States supporting Sahrawi claims on Western Sahara

Apart from the states that fully recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the sovereign state of Western Sahara, some other states, although not recognizing the SADR for various reasons, have expressed explicit support for the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people, which is the principal position of the Polisario Front. Some states that do not recognize the Sahrawi Republic (neither as a state, nor as a government-in-exile) may, however, recognize the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; width:100%;"
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|State
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Notes
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|International membership
|-
|

Algeria
|
|African Union

African Union

member

Arab League member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Angola
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Australia
| In November 2004, the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

called on the Australian government to recognize the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.
|
|-
|

Austria
| Austria supports "the Saharawi people's right to self-determination."
|
|-
|

Belgium
|
|
|-
|

Belize
|
|
|-
|

Benin
|
| African Union

African Union

member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Bolivia
|
|
|-
|

Botswana
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Brazil
|
|
|-
|

Myanmar
|
|
|-
|

Burundi
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Chad
|
| African Union

African Union

member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Chile
|
|
|-
|

People's Republic of China
|
|

United Nations permanent member of the UNSC
|-
|

Colombia
|
|
|-
|

Costa Rica
|
|
|-
|

Cubapast tense then
| Cuba supports the independence of Western Sahara, and has supported in the past the Polisario Front with economic, military and health aid.
|
|-
|

Cyprus
|
|
|-
|

Denmark
| In June 2004, the Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller

Per Stig Møller

Per Stig Møller was Culture Minister of Denmark. He has been a member of Folketinget for the Conservative People's Party since 1984, and was Minister for the Environment from December 18, 1990 to January 24, 1993 as part of the Cabinet of Poul Schlüter IV and Foreign Minister from November 27,...

said that they do not "recognise Moroccan sovereignty on Western Sahara", and considered the Morrocan presence in Western Sahara as "illegal" and "unacceptable". In May 2010, Foreign Minister of Denmark Lene Espersen

Lene Espersen

Lene Espersen is a Danish politician and member of parliament who has been Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs since 23 February 2010 and was leader of the Conservative People's Party and Deputy Prime Minister from 9 September 2008 to 13 January 2011...

stated that Denmark supports the self-determination of the Sahrawi people. In 2011, Denmark has repeatedly voted "no" against EU fisheries in Western Sahara, saying that Denmark will vote "no" as long as the Moroccan government fails to give more information to Western Sahara. In April 2011, Lene Espersen said that Denmark doesn't consider recognizing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, because it won't solve the conflict.
|
|-
|

Dominica
|
|
|-
|

Dominican Republic
|
|
|-
|

East Timor
|
|
|-
|

Ecuador
|
|
|-
|

Egypt
|
|African Union

African Union

member

Arab League member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

El Salvador
|
|
|-
|

Ethiopia
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Fiji
|
|
|-
|

Finland
|
|
|-
|

Germany
|
|
|-
|

Ghana
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Greece
|
|
|-
|

Guatemala
|
|
|-
|

Guinea-Bissau
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Haiti
|
|
|-
|

Hungary
|
|
|-
|

Iceland
|
|
|-
|

Iran
|
|

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Republic of Ireland
|
|
|-
|

Italy
|
|
|-
|

Jamaica
|
|
|-
|

Jordan
|
|

Arab League member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Lesotho
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-http://www.spsrasd.info/es/content/reino-de-lesotho-la-cuesti%C3%B3n-del-sahara-occidental-es-indudablemente-la-cuesti%C3%B3n-colonial-m%C3%A1
|

Libya
|
|African Union

African Union

member

Arab League member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Malaysia
|
|
|-
|

Mali
|
| African Union

African Union

member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Mauritius
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Mexico
|
|
|-
|

Mozambique
|
| African Union

African Union

member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Namibia
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

New Zealand
|
|
|-
|

Nicaragua
|
|
|-
|

Nigeria
|
| African Union

African Union

member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Norway
| some political parties in Norway, demands the Norwegian government to recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as an independent country.
|
|-
|

Panama
|
|
|-
|

Paraguay
|
|
|-
|

Peru
|
|
|-
|

Portugal
|
|
|-
|

Republic of the Congo
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Russia
|
|

permanent member of the UNSC
|-
|

Rwanda
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Saint Kitts and Nevis
|
|
|-
|

São Tomé and Príncipe
|
|African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Seychelles
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Slovakia
|
|
|-
|

Slovenia
|
|
|-
|

South Africa
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Spain
|
|
|-
|

Suriname
|
|

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

Sweden
| The Swedish Social Democratic Party

Swedish Social Democratic Party

The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...

demanded the government to recognize the SADR in November 2009. The government of Sweden supports the right to self-determination of Western Sahara. "Western Sahara is not a part of Morocco and Morocco has no legal title or claim to Western Sahara. The people of Western Sahara have a right to self-determination"
|
|-
|

Switzerland
|
|
|-
|

Tanzania
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Uganda
|
| African Union

African Union

member

Organization of the Islamic Conference member
|-
|

United Kingdom
|
|

permanent member of the UNSC
|-
|

United States
|
|

permanent member of the UNSC
|-
|

Uruguay
|
|
|-
|

Venezuela
|Venezuela supports the independence of SADR from Morocco.
|
|-
|

Vietnam
|
|
|-
|

Zambia
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|-
|

Zimbabwe
|
| African Union

African Union

member
|}

States with limited recognition supporting Sahrawi claims on Western Sahara

{| class="sortable" border="2" style="border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|State
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Notes
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|International membership
|-
|

South Ossetia
| The government of South Ossetia condemned Morocco for using force to stamp out Sahrawi claims to independence. SADR and South Ossetia do not have diplomatic relations, but recognized either as the "de facto" governments of their respective territories.
|
|}

States supporting Moroccan claims on Western Sahara

No state recognizes the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara, although many states have expressed support for Moroccan claims, or endorsed the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the territory. Several states have withdrawn their recognition of the SADR or canceled their relations with the SADR (close to 20 countries), mostly because of Moroccan pressure and negotiations.

However, some international organizations, such as the Arab League

Arab League

and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, have recognized the sovereignty of Morocco over what it calls its Southern Provinces

Southern Provinces

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...

.
Some UN member states have expressed explicit support of Morocco's territorial integrity

Territorial integrity

Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that nation-states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states...

in reference to Western Sahara as Moroccan provinces, while others have endorsed or complemented the Moroccan proposal of autonomy for the territory

Moroccan Initiative for Western Sahara

Autonomy for Western Sahara is proposed in a plan by Morocco as a solution to the Western Sahara conflict.In 2006 the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs has proposed a plan for the autonomy of Western Sahara and made visits to a number of countries to explain the proposal...

as being credible and serious. Morocco and Sudan are the only countries to make a public declaration of Moroccan sovereignty over the region, but Sudan has since withdrawn its declaration. Morocco's old allies, France

France

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, have provided the kingdom with economic, diplomatic, and military aid, throughout the conflict. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

provided much economic aid as well.

China (PRC)
Morocco and the PRC maintain close relations, that have been improving steadily in the past decades. China has shown strong support for Morocco's territorial integrity on numerous occasions, and has welcomed the proposals put forth by Morocco in the peace negotiations.
France
France enjoys close relations with Morocco. It is the kingdom's leading trade partner and the leading source of public development aid and private investments. The country claims neutrality on the Western Sahara issue, despite its military involvement in the Western Sahara War

Western Sahara War

on the side of Morocco and Mauritania (see Operation Lamantin

Opération Lamantin

Opération Lamatin was a December 1977 – July 1978 military intervention by France on the behalf of the Mauritanian government, in its war against Sahrawi guerrilla fighters of the Polisario Front, seeking independence for Western Sahara.-Background:...

). In 2009 and 2010, France used the threat of its veto power to block the establishment of Human Rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

monitoring by the MINURSO in Western Sahara. France has been a major backer of the Moroccan autonomy plan

Moroccan Initiative for Western Sahara

and in the EU negotiated the concession of the advanced status to Morocco.

United States

While President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

has yet to announce publicly his stance on the conflict over Western Sahara, former President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

set a precedent which his successor, George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, followed. Both Presidents Clinton and Bush sided with Morocco and maintained the position that "Genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty [is] the only feasible solution."

The Obama administration disassociated itself from Moroccan autonomy in 2009, reversing the Bush-backed support of the Moroccan plan, and returning to a pre-Bush position, wherein the option of an independent Western Sahara is on the table again.

In April 2009, 229 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, a clear majority and more than 50 more than the number who signed the letter in 2007, called on President Obama to support Morocco’s peace plan and to assist in drawing the conflict to a close. The signers included Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer

Steny Hoyer

Steny Hamilton Hoyer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

and Republican Minority Leader John Boehner

John Boehner

John Andrew Boehner is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. Representative from , serving since 1991...

. In addition to noting that Western Sahara has become a recruiting post for radical Islamists, the letter affirmed that the conflict is “the single greatest obstacle impending the security and cooperation necessary to combat” terrorism in the Maghreb. The letter referenced UN Security Council Resolution 1813 (2008), and encouraged President Obama to follow the policy set by President Clinton and followed by President Bush. The congressmen expressed concerns about Western Sahara's viability. They referenced a UN fact-finding mission to Western Sahara which confirmed the State Department’s view that the Polisario proposal, which ultimately stands for independence, would lead to a non-viable state

Failed state

The term failed state is often used by political commentators and journalists to describe a state perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government...

. In closing, the letter stated, "We remain convinced that the U.S. position, favoring autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution. We urge you to both sustain this longstanding policy, and to make clear, in both words and actions, that the United States will work to ensure that the UN process continues to support this framework as the only realistic compromise that can bring this unfortunate and longstanding conflict to an end."
Commenting on a 2004 free trade agreement with Morocco, US Trade Representative

Office of the United States Trade Representative

The Office of the United States Trade Representative is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States trade policy to the president of the United States, conducting trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels, and coordinating trade...

Robert Zoellick

Robert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...

stated in a letter to Congressman Joe Pitts in response to his questioning, "the United States and many other countries do not recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and have consistently urged the parties to work with the United Nations to resolve the conflict by peaceful means. The Free Trade Agreement will not include Western Sahara."
{| class="sortable" border="2" style="border-collapse:collapse" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|#
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|State
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Notes
! bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|References
|-
|1
|

Argentina
|
|
|-
|2
|

Bahrain
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|-
|3
|

Benin
|
|
|-
|4
|

Kingdom of Bulgaria
|

EU member
|
|-
|5
|

Cameroon
|
|
|-
|6
|

Central African Republic
|
|
|-
|7
|

Chile
|
|
|-
|8
|

Colombia
|
|
|-
|9
|
|
|
|-
|10
|

Dominican Republic
|
|
|-
|11
|

Egypt
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|-
|12
|

Equatorial Guinea
|
|
|-
|13
|

Early Modern France
|

permanent member of UNSC

EU member
|

|-
|14
|

Gabon
|
|
|-
|15
|

The Gambia
|
|
|-
|16
|

Germany
|

EU member
|
|-
|17
|

Guinea
|
|
|-
|18
|

Guinea-Bissau
|
|
|-
|19
|

Indonesia
|
|
|-
|20
|

Kuwait
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|-
|21
|

Republic of Macedonia
|
|
|-
|22
|

Madagascar
|
|
|-
|23
|

Malawi
|
|
|-
|24
|

Maldives
|
|
|-
|25
|

Netherlands
|

EU member
|
|-
|26
|

Niger
|
|
|-
|27
|

Paraguay
|
|
|-
|28
|

People's Republic of China
|

permanent member of UNSC
|
|-
|29
|

Peru
|
|
|-
|30
|

Poland
|

EU member
|
|-
|31
|

Portugal
|

EU member
|
|-
|32
|

Kingdom of Romania
|

EU member
|
|-
|33
|

Russia
|

permanent member of UNSC
|
|-
|34
|

Saudi Arabia
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|-
|35
|

Senegal
|
|
|-
|36
|

Serbia
|
|
|-
|37
|

Sierra Leone
|
|
|-
|38
|

Sudan
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|-
|39
|

Swaziland
|
|
|-
|40
|

Tunisia
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|-
|41
|

Turkey
|
|
|-
|42
|

United States
|

permanent member of UNSC
|

|-
|43
|

Yemen
|

Arab league

Arab League

member
|
|}

Status of Western Sahara according to various international organizations

{| class="wikitable"
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Organization
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Membership
! bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Position
|-
| African Union

African Union

(Formerly OAU)
| 22 February 1982
| The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a fully recognised AU founding member.
|-
|

Arab League

| Not a member.
| Considered as part of Morocco.
|-
| Arab Maghreb Union

Arab Maghreb Union

The Arab Maghreb Union is a trade agreement aiming for economic and some sort of future political unity in North Africa between the countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania...

| Not a member.
|
|-
|

Caribbean Community

The Caribbean Community is an organisation of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy...

(CARICOM)
| Not a member.
| The CARICOM supports the right of the Western Sahara people's to self-determination, consistent with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations.
|-
| Non-Aligned Movement

Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...

| Not a member.
| The NAM supports the right of the Western Sahara people's to self-determination, consistent with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960.
|-
|
| Not a member.
| Considered as part of Morocco.
|-
| Rio Group

Rio Group

- List of Summit meetings :- See also :* Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, possible successor of the Rio Group* Union of South American Nations...

| Not a member.
| The Rio Group supports the resolutions adopted by the UN to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution that leads to the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, in the context of compatible accords with the principles of the UN charter and the Resolution 1514 (XV) of the General Assembly and other pertinent resolutions.
|-
|

United Nations
| Not a member.
| The UN does not recognize Moroccan claims, as the Western Sahara remains in its List of Non-Self-Governing Territories

United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories

since 1963. The Security Council had argued for direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front

Polisario Front

. It had approved more than 100 resolutions supporting the right of Self-determination of the Sahrawi people.
|}

The SADR is also a member of the Asian-African Strategic Partnership, formed at the 2005 Asian-African Conference

Asian-African Conference

The first large-scale Asian–African or Afro–Asian Conference—also known as the Bandung Conference—was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on April 18–24, 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia...

, over Moroccan objections to SADR participation.
In 2006, the SADR participated in a conference of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of the Latin American and the Caribbean.

In 2010, the SADR ambassador to Nicaragua participated in the opening conference of the Central American Parliament

Central American Parliament

The Central American Parliament , also known as PARLACEN is a political institution devoted to the integration of the Central American countries. Its headquarters are in Guatemala City....

African Union
In February 22, 1982, the SADR secured membership in the Organisation of African Unity.

The African Union

African Union

(formerly the OAU) has given the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic full recognition, and accepted it as a member state (which has led Morocco to leave the union.). Mohamed Abdelaziz

Mohamed Abdelaziz

Mohamed Abdelaziz is the 3rd and current Secretary General of the Polisario Front and President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic since 1976...

, president of the SADR, has been vicepresident of the OUA in 1985, and of the AU in 2002.

European Union
The European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

supports the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people (the MINURSO UN-sponsored referendum), but does not recognize the Polisario Front. Over practical issues such as fishing in the EEZ

Exclusive Economic Zone

Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...

the EU deals with Morocco as the country currently exercising "jurisdiction, but not sovereignty" over the Western Sahara territory. In addition, members of the EFTA

EFTA

EFTA may refer to:* European Family Therapy Association, an NGO.* European Fair Trade Association, an association of eleven Fair Trade importers in nine European countries....

trade bloc have made statements excluding the Western Sahara from the Moroccan-EFTA free trade agreement.

United Nations
Since 1966, the United Nations request for the celebration of a referendum for enabling the "indigenous population" to exercise freely their right to self-determination. Since 1979, the United Nations has recognized the Polisario Front as the representative of the people of Western Sahara, and considered Morocco as an occupying force.

Former United Nations Secretary-General

United Nations Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

stressed, in his last report on Western Sahara, to the Security Council

United Nations Security Council

The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...

"The Security Council would not be able to invite parties to negotiate about Western Saharan autonomy

Autonomy

Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...

under Moroccan sovereignty, for such wording would imply recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which was out of the question as long as no States Member of the United Nations had recognized that sovereignty". Spain is still considered as the administrative power, but Morocco however is the de facto administrating power since it controls most of the territory."

Kingdom of Morocco

Polisario Front

Mauritania

Algeria

United Nations

State recognition and diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Unified list

States with relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

States which have suspended relations

States which have withdrawn or canceled recognition or relations

States that have disappeared after recognizing the SADR

Positions on Western Sahara conflict

States supporting Sahrawi claims on Western Sahara

States with limited recognition supporting Sahrawi claims on Western Sahara

States supporting Moroccan claims on Western Sahara

Status of Western Sahara according to various international organizations

See also

Tables of states recognizing the SADR

Others