The Free Zone is in yellow on the map.

The Free Zone is the area in Western Sahara controlled by the authority of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). It makes up approximately 30% of the territory east and south of the Moroccan Wall (or berm). Bir Lehlou is the temporary capital of the area and of the SADR, as a substitute for El-Aaiun, which has been under Moroccan occupation since 1975 Image File history File links Download high resolution version (904x727, 37 KB) Summary Map of the w:Moroccan Wall in w:Western Sahara - built over several stages, shows the six walls built, & when the territory was behind Moroccan wall. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (904x727, 37 KB) Summary Map of the w:Moroccan Wall in w:Western Sahara - built over several stages, shows the six walls built, & when the territory was behind Moroccan wall. ... The Saharawi (or Sahrawi) Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is the long-form English translation of the government of Western Sahara (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الدمقرطية, Spanish: República Arabe Saharaui Democrática). ... The Moroccan Wall, dubbed by the Sahrawis The Wall of Shame, is a 2,500km-long system of defensive walls, known as berms: sand and stone walls about three meters in height with bunkers, fences and landmines, running mainly through the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. ... City or village in north-eastern Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan wall, in Polisario-held territory. ... Laâyoune Laâyoune, also El Aaiún, is the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, a former Spanish country now mostly controlled and occupied by Morocco. ...

The area is patrolled by Polisario forces, and access is restricted, even among Sahrawis, due to the harsh climate of the Sahara, the military conflict and the abundance of land mines. Still, the area is traveled and inhabited by many Sahrawi nomads from the Tindouf refugee camps of Algeria and the Sahrawi communities in Mauritania. United Nations MINURSO forces are also present in the area, to oversee the cease-fire between Polisario and Morocco agreed upon in the 1991 Settlement Plan. The Polisario, Polisario Front, or Frente Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of Frente Popular de Liberación de Saguía el Hamra y Río de Oro (Peoples Liberation Front of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro) is an army and political movement in the Western Sahara, comprising... Sahrawi (also Saharawi, Arabic SaHrāwÄ«) is a term used for the indigenous people of Western Sahara, but there are also Sahrawi communities in other countries. ... A landmine is a type of mine which is placed onto or into the ground and explodes when triggered by a vehicle or person. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... Tindouf, also written Tinduf, (Arabic: تندوف) is a city and wilaya in the west of Algeria, population 30,000. ... Refugee camp for Rwandans located in what is now the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo following the Rwandan Genocide A refugee camp is a camp built up by governments or NGOs (such as the ICRC) to receive refugees. ... Main articles: League of Nations & History of the United Nations The term United Nations was coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, to refer to the Allies. ... MINURSO is a UN peacekeeping mission, established in 1991 to monitor the ceasefire and to organize and conduct a referendum which would enable the people of Western Sahara to choose between integration with Morocco and independence. ... An armistice is the effective end of a war, when the warring parties agree to stop fighting. ... The Settlement Plan was an agreement between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum, which would constitute an expression of self-determination for the Sahrawi people of the non-decolonized territory of Western Sahara, possibly leading to full independence. ...

Major Sahrawi political events, such as Polisario congresses and sessions of the National Council (the SADR parliament in exile) are held in the Free Zone (especially in Tifariti and Bir Lehlou), since it is considered politically and symbolically important to conduct political affairs on Sahrawi territory. Annual demonstrations against the Moroccan Wall (dubbed the "Wall of Shame") are staged in the Free Zone by Sahrawis and international activists from Spain, Italy and other mainly European countries. Tifariti is a small town or village in the Polisario-held parts of Western Sahara. ... A satellite composite image of Europe // Etymology Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus. ...