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The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a government in exile, meaning it does not effectively control its claimed territory, the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. The Polisario front, the military wing that controls the SADR, currently claims to administer the area that it calls the Free Zone, the eastern strip of Western Sahara. It conducts diplomatic relations with a number of other states from its headquarters at refugee camps at Tindouf in Algeria.

Recognition

The SADR is recognized by 49 states. Several states that do not recognize the Sahrawi Republic, however, recognize the Polisario movement as a legitimate representative of the population of the Western Sahara, but not its government-in-exile as a state.

The republic has been a full member of the African Union (AU, formerly the Organization of African Unity, OAU) since 1984. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in protest and remains the only African nation not within the AU since South Africa's admittance in 1994. The SADR is also a member of the Asian-African Strategic Partnership formed at the 2005 Asian-African Conference^[1], over Moroccan objections to SADR participation.^[2]

Moroccan "territorial integrity" is favored by the Arab League.^[3][4]

Besides Mexico and South Africa, India was the only major power to have ever recognized SADR when it allowed the Sahrawi Republic to open a consulate in New Delhi in 1985. However, India withdrew its recognition in 2000.

As with any fluid political situation, diplomatic recognitions of either party's rights are subject to frequent and sometimes unannounced change.

States recognizing the SADR

The following is a list of governments of the world that have formally recognized Western Sahara as a sovereign nation, with the exiled Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its legitimate government.

After recognizing an independent Western Sahara, some states have since retracted their recognitions. Others have chosen a milder option, to "freeze" recognition pending the outcome of the referendum on self-determination or for other reasons.

This list is based on several sources, and it may be incomplete. Currently, it contains 83 countries, and of these

Diplomatic relations of the SADR

• 49 recognize the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
• 13 of these 49 are home to Sahrawi embassies.
• 13 have "frozen" relations.
• 22 have cancelled relations.
• 1 have ceased to exist.

• See also tables at this page, this, and that.

Note: The tables can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.

Number	State	Date of recognition	AU	OIC	AL & AMU	Embassy	Relations
1	Algeria	1976-03-06	AU	OIC	AL AMU	Embassy[5]
2	Angola	1976-03-11	AU			Embassy
3	Antigua and Barbuda	1987-02-27
4	Barbados	1988-02-27
5	Belize	1986-11-18[6]
6	Bolivia	1982-12-14
7	Botswana	1980-05-14	AU
8	Cambodia	1979-04-10
9	Costa Rica	1980-10-30				Embassy
10	Cuba	1980-01-20				Embassy[7]
11	Dominica	1979-09-01
12	Dominican Republic	1986-06-24
13	Ecuador	1983-11-14				Embassy[8][9][10]	Withdrawn 19 June 2004[11]; Relations resumed 8 February 2006.
14	Ethiopia	1979-02-24	AU			Embassy[12]
15	Ghana	1979-08-24	AU
16	Grenada	1979-08-20
17	Guatemala	1986-04-10
18	Guinea-Bissau	1976-03-15	AU	OIC		Embassy re-opened 26 September 2000	Relations suspended 2 April 1997; Relations resumed.
19	Guyana	1979-09-01
20	Haiti	2006-11-23				Embassy[13][14]
21	Honduras	1989-11-11
22	Iran	1980-02-27[15][16]		OIC		Embassy
23	Jamaica	1979-09-04
24	Laos	1979-05-07
25	Lesotho	1979-10-09[17][18]	AU
26	Libya	1980-04-15[19]	AU	OIC	AL AMU	Embassy
27	Madagascar	1976-02-28	AU				Madagascar was the first country on recognizing the SADR, hours before the proclamation.
28	Mali	1980-07-04	AU	OIC
29	Mauritania	1984-02-27[20]	AU	OIC	AL AMU
30	Mauritius	1982-07-01	AU
31	Mexico	1979-09-08[21]				Embassy
32	Mozambique	1976-03-13	AU	OIC		Embassy
33	Namibia	1990-06-02[22]	AU			Embassy
34	Nicaragua	1979-09-06				Embassy established January, 2010[23]	Suspended 21 July 2000,[14] but re-established 12 January 2007[15].
35	Nigeria	1984-11-12	AU	OIC		Embassy[24][25][26]
36	North Korea	1976-03-16
37	Panama	1978-06-23				Embassy[27]
38	Papua New Guinea	1981-08-12
39	Paraguay	2000-02-09
40	Rwanda	1976-04-01	AU
41	Saint Lucia	1979-09-01
42	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1987-02-25
43	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2002-02-14[28]
44	Sierra Leone	1980-03-27	AU	OIC
45	South Africa	2004-09-15	AU			Embassy[29][30]
46	Suriname	1982-08-11
47	Tanzania	1978-11-09	AU			Embassy established June, 2005.[31]
48	Timor-Leste	2002-05-20[32]					The Sahrawi Republic was the first country to establish relations with Timor-Leste or East Timor.
49	Trinidad and Tobago	1986-11-01
50	Uganda	1979-09-06	AU	OIC
51	Uruguay	2005-12-28[33][34]
52	Vanuatu[35]	1980-11-27					Vanuatu later recognized the SADR.[36]
53	Venezuela	1982-08-03				Embassy[37]
54	Vietnam	1979-03-02
55	Zambia	1979-10-12	AU
56	Zimbabwe	1980-07-03[38]	AU			Embassy

States suspending relations with the SADR

The recognitions of the SADR are subject to continuous fluctuation, depending on different factors and the diplomatic activity of Morocco, Algeria and Polisario.

A number of states that once recognized the SADR have either suspended or definitely cancelled their recognition. For example, the government of the Seychelles withdrew its diplomatic recognition of the SADR on 17 March 2008.^[39] The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which recognized SADR on 28 November 1984, ceased to exist in April 1992. "Cancellation" of recognition by Serbia and Montenegro on October 28, 2004, is due to international law inadmissible.^[40] For an overview on the list of these states click here: Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

The following is a list of state governments that have, at one point, formally recognized Western Sahara as a sovereign nation. For various reasons the relations with the SADR were either suspended, frozen or permanently canceled.

• 25 nations have recognized the SADR, then suspended relations or withdrew recognition.

Number	State	Date of recognition	AU	OIC	AL & AMU	Embassy	Date of suspension of relations
1	Albania[41]	1987-12-29		OIC			Relations suspended November 11 2004; Last European country to recognize the SADR
2	Afghanistan	1979-05-26		OIC			Relations suspended 12 July 2002
3	Benin	1976-03-11	AU	OIC			Relations suspended 21 March 1997
4	Burkina Faso	1984-03-04	AU	OIC			Relations suspended 5 June 1996
5	Burundi	1976-03-01	AU				Froze recognition 5 May 2006 33 and reinstated them 2008-06-17 [42]
6	Cape Verde	1979-07-04	AU				Froze recognition 30 July 2007 [16]
7	Chad	1980-07-04	AU	OIC			Relations suspended 9 May 1997; Relations resumed 17 July 2007 [17].
8	Colombia[43]	1985-02-27
9	El Salvador	1989-07-31					Relations suspended April 1997
10	Equatorial Guinea	1978-11-03	AU				Relations suspended May 1980
11	India	1985-10-01					Relations canceled 26 June 2000.
12	Kenya	1985-10-01	AU				Relations suspended 22 October 2006
13	Kiribati	1981-08-12					Relations suspended 15 September 2000
14	Liberia	1985-07-31	AU				Relations suspended 5 September 1997
15	Malawi	1994-11-16	AU				Relations suspended 16 September 2008
16	Nauru	1981-08-12					Relations suspended 15 September 2000
17	Peru	1984-08-16					Relations canceled October 1996
18	Republic of the Congo	1978-06-03	AU				Relations suspended 13 September 1996
19	São Tomé and Príncipe	1978-06-22	AU				Relations suspended 23 October 1996
20	Seychelles	1977-10-25	AU				Relations suspended 17 April 2008
21	Solomon Islands	1981-08-12					Relations suspended January 1989
22	Swaziland	1980-04-28	AU				Relations suspended 4 August 1997
23	Syria[44]	1980-04-15		OIC	AL
24	Togo	1976-03-17	AU	OIC			Relations suspended 18 June 1997
25	Tuvalu	1981-08-12					Relations suspended 15 September 2000

States supporting Morocco's control over the Western Sahara

No state has recognized the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara, which the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan also stressed in his last report on Western Sahara to the Security Council:

"The Security Council would not be able to invite parties to negotiate about Western Saharan autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, for such wording would imply recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which was out of the question as long as no States Member of the United Nations had recognized that sovereignty".^[45] Spain is still considered as the administrative power, but Morocco however is the de facto administrating power since it controls most of the territory"^[46].

Some UN member states have expressed explicit support of "Morocco's territorial integrity", in reference to Western Sahara as Moroccan provinces, but only Morocco has made a public declaration of sovereignty over the region.

State	Date of support	African Union	Arab League	Islamic Conf.	Notes
Gambia[47]		AU
Cameroon[48]		AU
Central African Republic[49][50]		AU
Côte d'Ivoire[51]		AU
Egypt[52]		AU	AL	OIC
Equatorial Guinea[53][54]		AU
Gabon[55]		AU
Guinea[56]		AU
Senegal[57]		AU
Serbia[58]
Swaziland[18]		AU
Sudan[59]		AU	AL	OIC
Argentina[60]
PRC[61]					permanent member of UNSC
Indonesia[62]
Pakistan[63]				OIC
Poland[64]
Iraq[65]			AL	OIC
Kuwait	25 May 2002[66]		AL	OIC
Yemen	11 July 2000 [67]		AL	OIC

Status of SADR according to various international organizations

Organization	Membership	Notes
Arab League	Not a member.	Currently considered a part of Morocco.[68]
Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA)	Not a member.	Morocco is a founding member of GAFTA.
AU (Formerly OAU)	22 February 1982	SADR is a fully recognised AU founding member.[69]
OIC	Not a member.	Currently considered as part of Morocco. Mohammed VI of Morocco is currently chairman of the OIC's Al-Qods committee.
UN	Not a member.	The UN does not recognize Moroccan claims. Has argued for negotiations between Morocco and SADR.

References

General

• "States recognizing the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" (in Arabic). Official Website of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. http://www.rasd-state.ws/reconocimientos_rasd.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-21. 

Specific

See also

• Legal status of Western Sahara