WESTERN SAHARA WAR
YEARS: 1975-1991 | DEATHS: 10000
THE CONFLICT DATABASE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UPPSALA
Information about this conflict can be found in the conflict database made and maintained by the The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at University of Uppsala in Sweden.
DATABASE DETAILS
Quote: "The territory known as Western Sahara was annexed by Spain in 1884 and the province of Spanish Sahara was created in 1958 by the merger of the southern Rio de Oro and the northern Saguia el Hamra colonies. The settled population was referred to as Saharawis. In two UN resolutions in the early 1970s, UN called for Spain (in cooperation with Morocco and Mauritania) to set a date for a referendum to decide the future status of the territory. First reluctant to specify this date, Spain in 1974 finally indicated that the referendum was to be held the following year. However, Morocco and Mauritania both rejected the proposal and presented claims of historical ties and former sovereignty of the territory; Morocco concerning the whole territory and Mauritania regarding the southern part Rio de Oro".