Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara (; "As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah"), officially the Spanish Possesions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain between 1884 and 1976. It had been one of the most recent acquisitions of, as well as one of the last remaining holdings of the Spanish Empire, which had once extended from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies.

Between 1946 and 1958, the Spanish Sahara was amalgamated with the nearby Spanish-protected Cape Juby and Spanish Ifni to form a new colony, Spanish West Africa. This was reversed during the Ifni War when Ifni and the Sahara became provinces of Spain separately, two days apart, while Cape Juby was ceded to Morocco in the peace deal.

Spain gave up its Saharan possession following Moroccan demands and international pressure, mainly from United Nations resolutions regarding decolonisation. There was internal pressure from the native Sahrawi population, through the Polisario Front, and the claims of Morocco and Mauritania. After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim to the territory as part of its historic pre-colonial territory. Mauritania claimed the territory for a number of years on a historical basis, but dropped all claims in 1979.

In 1975, Morocco occupied much of the territory, now known as Western Sahara, but the Polisario Front, promoting the sovereignty of an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), fought a guerrilla war for 16 years against Morocco. In 1991, the UN negotiated a ceasefire and has tried to arrange negotiations and a referendum to let the population vote on its future. Morocco controls the entire Atlantic coast and most of the landmass, population and natural resources of Western Sahara.
Q6250
Western Sahara
LOC
Q29
Spain
LOC
Q80702
Spanish Empire
LOC
Q1047607
the Americas
LOC
Q910648
Spanish East Indies
LOC
Q1538846
Spanish-protected Cape Juby
LOC
Q763141
Spanish Ifni
LOC
Q1191986
Spanish West Africa
LOC
Q1640107
Ifni War
EVE
Q1028
Moroccan
LOC
Q1065
United Nations
Concept
Q1146918
decolonisation
EVE
Q577055
Sahrawi
ORG
Q240425
Polisario Front
ORG
Q1025
Mauritania
LOC
Q6250
Western Sahara
LOC
Q40362
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
LOC
Q1093550
a guerrilla war
EVE
Q689837
Spanish Sahara
LOC
Q689837
Spanish Sahara
LOC
1884-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1884
DATE
1958-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1958
DATE
1958-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1958
DATE
1976-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1976
DATE
1884-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1884
DATE
1976-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1976
DATE
1946-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1946
DATE
1958-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1958
DATE
1956-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1956
DATE
1979-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1979
DATE
1975-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1975
DATE
1991-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1991
DATE
+16^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
16
NUMBER
located in the administrative territorial entity
country
replaces
territory claimed by
located on terrain feature
location