At the beginning of the 20th century AD, Morocco was still largely independent. Spain held the northern ports of Ceuta and Melilla and the west-coast colony of Rio de Oro. However, a German attempt to seize Agadir in 1911 led to the partition of Morocco into French and Spanish zones; the latter including ‘Spanish Sahara’ in the south.

The Western Sahara had belonged to Morocco since the 19th century and always been an area of contact and exchange, crossed by trade routes to West Africa and the Atlantic, and thinly populated by nomadic Berber tribes. In the 1960s, valuable phosphate deposits were found there and exploited by Spanish companies. In the 1970s, Morocco laid claim to the region. Both Spain and Mauritania (to the south) opposed Morocco.

In 1975, after a long dispute, Spain withdrew and allowed Morocco and Mauritania to divide the territory. However, the inhabitants of the region had begun to demand independence. A movement called the Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saharan Territories), supported by neighbouring Algeria, began a long struggle against Morocco – Mauritania having withdrawn its claim. A United Nations ceasefire was arranged in 1999, but the Western Sahara is still waiting for a referendum to decide its future.