Southern Provinces

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The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the Moroccan names for Western Sahara. The provinces in question are Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra. Following the Madrid Accords with Spain in 1975, Morocco took control of Saguia el-Hamra, and the northern part of Rio de Oro, while Mauritania took control of the remaining part of Rio de Oro as Tiris al-Gharbiyya. An indigenous Sahrawi organization, the Algerian backed Polisario Front, waged a guerrilla war for the independence of the territory, which caused Mauritania to pull out in 1979. Morocco then proceeded to take control of the remaining parts of Saguia el-Hamra as well.

Since a United Nations-sponsored cease-fire agreement in 1991, most of the territory is at present administered by Morocco. The Polisario Front claims to control most of the remainder, which is almost unpopulated. The cease-fire line corresponds to the route of the Moroccan Wall. Both sides claim the territory in its entirety. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is recognized by 44 nations, and is a full member of the African Union. Moroccan sovereignty over the territory is explicitly recognized by the Arab League ^[1],^[2] and supported by many other states.

Administratively, Morocco divided the territory under its control into administrative units (wilayas). Flags and coats of arms were created for the three wilayas of Boujdour ^[3], Smara and Laayoune.^[4] There was further changes in the territories in 1983, with the area becoming four wilayas through the addition of Dakhla.^[5] In 1990 Wadi al-Dhahab (Rio de Oro) was added.