International recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara.

[5] In 2020, the United States under Donald Trump was the first country to recognize Morocco's unilateral annexation of Western Sahara.

[8] Besides Mexico, Algeria, Iran, Venezuela, Vietnam, Nigeria and South Africa, India was the largest middle power to have ever recognized SADR, having allowed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic to open an embassy in New Delhi in 1985.

In 1979, Mauritania gave up its claim to Western Sahara, which led to Morocco taking over the Mauritanian-controlled portion of the territory.

[11] Seeking to change the status quo, the Polisario Front blocked the Western Saharan city of Guerguerat, a key trade route between Morocco and Mauritania in 2020.

Several African countries and Caribbean or Pacific island-states have taken such actions subsequent to Moroccan lobbying and offers of economic and other exchanges, although the association of such decisions and these efforts is disputable.

The parliament of Sweden was the first in the EU voted to recognize Western Sahara in December 2012, but this has not been enacted by the Swedish government.