- Abbreviation of:
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro
- Spanish:
- Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el-Hamra y Río de Oro
- Date:
- c. 1976 - present
- Areas Of Involvement:
- national liberation movement
Polisario Front
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What is the Polisario Front?
The Polisario Front is a political and military organization seeking to end Moroccan control in Western Sahara and achieve independence for the region. It consists largely of the Sahrawis, the indigenous nomadic people of Western Sahara.
The group began as an insurgency against Spanish control in May 1973. After Spain withdrew in 1976, Morocco and Mauritania divided Western Sahara, leading the Polisario Front to relocate to Algeria, which offered bases and military aid. Mauritania made peace with the Polisario Front in 1979, but Morocco then annexed Mauritania’s portion of Western Sahara.
In 1991, the Polisario Front accepted a UN peace plan for a self-determination referendum, which was ultimately postponed due to disputes over voter eligibility. Tensions escalated in 2020, as the Polisario Front obstructed a key trade route, leading to renewed conflict with Morocco.
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Where does the Polisario Front operate?
The Polisario Front is a politico-military organization seeking independence for Western Sahara from Moroccan control. It consists largely of Sahrawis, the nomadic inhabitants of the Western Sahara. The Polisario Front began its operations in May 1973 as an insurgency against Spanish control of Western Sahara. After Spain withdrew in 1976, the organization relocated to Algeria, which provided bases and military aid. During the 1980s, Polisario Front guerrillas raided Moroccan outposts in Western Sahara. In 1991, the Polisario Front accepted a UN peace plan for a self-determination referendum. Tensions with Morocco escalated in 2020, as the Polisario Front obstructed a key trade route between Morocco and Mauritania.
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Why was the Polisario Front created?
The Polisario Front is a political and military organization that strives for the independence of Western Sahara from Moroccan control. It was formed in May 1973 as an insurgency against Spanish control. After Spain withdrew in 1976, Morocco and Mauritania divided Western Sahara, prompting the Polisario Front to relocate to Algeria, which provided bases and military aid. The organization is largely composed of Sahrawis, the indigenous nomadic people of Western Sahara. In 1991, the Polisario Front accepted a UN peace plan for a self-determination referendum, which was later postponed due to disputes over voter eligibility. In November 2020, tensions with Morocco escalated after the Polisario Front obstructed a key trade route, leading to renewed conflict.
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What are the main goals of the Polisario Front?
The Polisario Front is a political and military organization seeking to end Moroccan control in Western Sahara and achieve independence for the region. It consists largely of Sahrawis, the nomadic inhabitants of Western Sahara.
The group began as an insurgency against Spanish control in 1973. After Spain withdrew in 1976, Morocco and Mauritania divided Western Sahara, leading the Polisario Front to relocate to Algeria, from where they received military aid. In 1991, the Polisario Front accepted a UN peace plan that proposed a referendum for self-determination.
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How does the Polisario Front relate to Western Sahara?
The Polisario Front is a political and military organization seeking to end Moroccan control of Western Sahara and achieve independence for the region. It consists largely of Sahrawis, the indigenous nomadic inhabitants.
In the early 1970s, the Polisario Front initiated a guerrilla insurgency against Spanish rule, leading to Spain's withdrawal in 1975 and a subsequent partition of Western Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania. The organization then relocated to Algeria, which provided bases and military aid. The Polisario Front declared a government-in-exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, in 1976 and continued to raid Moroccan and Mauritanian outposts.
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What impact has the Polisario Front had on the region's politics and people?
The Polisario Front has significantly impacted the politics and people of the Western Sahara region. Since 1973, the organization has strived to end Moroccan control over the territory and achieve independence for the Sahrawi people, the region's indigenous nomadic population.
The Polisario Front's efforts to establish the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and its guerrilla warfare against Moroccan forces led to prolonged conflict and instability in the region. While a UN peace plan in 1991 offered a referendum for self-determination, disputes over voter eligibility stalled progress. Despite challenges, the Polisario Front maintains legitimacy among the Sahrawis and within the global political community.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Polisario Front, politico-military organization striving to end Moroccan control of the former Spanish territory of Western Sahara, in northwestern Africa, and win independence for that region. The Polisario Front is composed largely of the indigenous nomadic inhabitants of the Western Sahara region, the Sahrawis. The Polisario Front began in May 1973 as an insurgency (based in neighbouring Mauritania) against Spanish control of Western Sahara. After Spain withdrew and Morocco and Mauritania partitioned Western Sahara between themselves in 1976, the Polisario Front relocated to Algeria, which henceforth provided the organization with bases and military aid. Mauritania made peace with the Polisario Front in 1979, but Morocco then unilaterally annexed Mauritania’s portion of Western Sahara. During the 1980s Polisario Front guerrillas, numbering some 15,000 motorized and well-armed troops, harassed and raided Moroccan outposts and defenses in Western Sahara. Morocco responded by constructing a berm, or earthen barrier, some 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long, which was completed by 1987. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, the Polisario Front suffered a series of high-level defections and internal problems in its refugee camps. In addition, although Algerian diplomatic support continued, military support was reduced during the 1990s. Despite these challenges, the Polisario Front’s overall level of legitimacy with the Sahrawis and in the global political community appeared largely undiminished.
In 1991 the Polisario Front inaugurated a new, more democratic constitution for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR; declared by the Polisario Front one day after Spanish withdrawal in 1976). In the same year, it accepted a United Nations (UN) peace plan for Western Sahara that provided for a referendum of self-determination. Owing to disputes over voter eligibility, the referendum scheduled for early 1992 was postponed, and a series of UN-sponsored talks between Morocco and the Polisario Front were conducted. Attempts to determine the parameters of the referendum were largely unsuccessful, however, and in 2000 the UN Security Council requested that alternatives to the referendum be considered, a process that remained at an impasse in the early 21st century. UN-sponsored talks between the Polisario Front and the Moroccan government took place in 2007 and 2008 amid warnings by the Polisario Front of a return to armed hostilities. Talks were renewed once more in late 2018 after the United States pushed to make the continued presence of UN peacekeeping forces in the region contingent on progress toward settling the dispute. Two rounds of talks concluded without significant progress, and the UN peacekeeping mission was renewed.
Tensions with Morocco escalated in the latter half of 2020 after the Polisario Front began obstructing a key trade route between Morocco and Mauritania. In November, after Morocco launched a military operation to confront the blockade, the Polisario Front announced that it would no longer abide by the 1991 peace plan.
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