The
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (
SADR; , ) is a
partially recognized state that controls a thin strip of area in the
Western Sahara region and claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former
Spanish colony. SADR was proclaimed by the
Polisario Front on February 27, 1976, in
Bir Lehlou, Western Sahara. The SADR government controls about 20–25% of the
territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the
Free Zone.
Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its
Southern Provinces. The SADR government considers the Moroccan-held territory to be occupied territory, while Morocco considers the much smaller SADR-held territory to be a
buffer zone. The claimed
capital of the SADR is
Laayoune, while the
temporary capital (due to the placing of its government) is
Tifariti (previously
Bir Lehlou).