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Spain agreed to help prepare the region for self-government, but
then, in 1975, signed an agreement with Morocco and Mauritania, both
of which bordered on Western Sahara.The Madrid Agreement stated that
Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania would jointly administer Western Sahara
until its people chose to become self-governing. Although Spain soon
left the area, Moroccan forces controlled the north part of the territory
and Mauritanian forces controlled the south. Many of the native people,
known as Sahrawis, left the area during this time and fled to Algeria. In
Algeria,the independence party,called the Polisario,set up a government-
in-exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, claiming control over
Western Sahara.
The major environmental
feature of Western Sahara,
the largest remaining NSGT,
are the sand dunes of North
Africa’s Sahara Desert.
Chapter Five