Western Sahara is one of the world's last unresolved colonial territories — a vast, sparsely populated desert region on Africa's Atlantic coast. Spain withdrew in 1975–76, triggering a conflict between Morocco (which annexed the territory) and the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence movement backed by Algeria. A UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991 froze the conflict, but a promised independence referendum has never been held. Morocco controls roughly 80% of the territory behind a 2,700 km sand wall — the largest military barrier in the world. The indigenous Sahrawi people speak Hassaniya Arabic, the same dialect spoken across Mauritania, and maintain a strong cultural identity despite decades of displacement. Over 100,000 Sahrawi refugees live in camps near Tindouf, Algeria.
