Western Sahara

Western Sahara (EH in ISO 3166-1) is a territory of northwestern Africa, bordered by the internationally-understood boundaries of Morocco to the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The largest city is El Aaiún (Laayoune), containing the majority of the population of the territory. Western Sahara is arguably the most sparsely populated territory in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Western Sahara

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The indigenous people of Western Sahara are the Sahrawis, a nomadic or Bedouin people who speak the ?ass?n?ya dialect of Arabic, also spoken in northern Mauritania. They are of mixed Arab-Berber descent, but consider themselves Arab. It is theorized that they descend from the Beni Hassan, a Yemeni tribe supposed to have migrated across the desert in the 11th century.

Related Topics:
Sahrawi - Nomad - Bedouin - ?ass?n?ya - Arabic - Mauritania - Berber - Arab - Beni Hassan - Yemeni - 11th century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sahrawis are Muslims of the Sunni sect and the Maliki law school. Their interpretation of Islam has traditionally being quite liberal and adapted to nomad life (i.e. generally functioning without mosques).

Related Topics:
Muslim - Sunni - Maliki - Mosque

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The originally clan- and tribe-based society underwent a massive social upheaval in 1975, when a part of the population was forced into exile and settled in the refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria. Families were broken up by the fight. The organization governing the camps, the Polisario Front, has attempted to modernize the camps society, placing emphasis especially on education, the eradication of tribalism and the emancipation of women. The role of women in camps was enhanced by their shouldering of the main responsibility for the refugee camps and government bureaucracy during the war years, as virtually the entire male population was enrolled in the Polisario army.

Related Topics:
Clan - Tribe - 1975 - Exile - Refugee - Tindouf - Polisario Front - Modernize - Tribalism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Education was also assisted by refugee life. While teaching materials are still scarce, the "urbanization" of the refugee camps and the abundance of free time for camp dwellers (after the situation normalized circa 1977) greatly increased the effectiveness of literacy classes. Today, nearly 90% of refugee Sahrawis are able to read and write, the number having been less than 10% in 1975, and several thousands have reveived university educations in foreign countries as part of aid packages (mainly Algeria, Cuba, and Spain).

Related Topics:
Urbanization - 1977 - Literacy - Cuba - Spain

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Moroccan government considerably invested in the social and economic development of the Moroccan controlled Western Sahara with special emphasis on education, modernisation and infrastructure. El-Aaiun in particular has been the target of heavy government investment, and has grown rapidly. Several thousands Sahrawis study in Moroccan universities. Literacy rates, however, remain incomparably lower than in the refugee camps, appreciated at some 50% of the population; slightly lower than in Morocco proper.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To date, there have been few thorough studies of the culture due in part to the political situation. Some language and culture studies, mainly by French researchers, have been performed on Sahrawi communities in northern Mauritania.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~