Cape Juby
Encyclopedia
Headlands and bays
Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...
on the coast of southern Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, near the border with Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
, directly east of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
Its surrounding area, called Cape Juby strip or Tarfaya
Tarfaya
- References :CitationsBibliography* Didier Daurat, , France: Édition Dynamo, 1954....
strip, while making up presently the far South of Morocco, is in a way a semi-desertic buffer zone
Buffer zone
A buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
between Morocco proper and the Western Sahara, and was a Spanish protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
in the first half of the 20th century.
Modern history
On May 28, 1767, Mohammed ben Abdallah (Sultan of Morocco) signed a peace and commerce treaty with the Spanish King Carlos IIICarlos III
Carlos III may refer to:*Charles III of Spain, King of Spain from 1759 to 1788.*Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, a Spanish university bearing his name....
, in which he does not guarantee the security of Spanish fishermen in the coasts south of the river Nun, as he recognized he does not have control over the Tekna
Tekna
The Tekna is a Sahrawi tribal confederation of Lamta Sanhaja Berber origins who live in southern Morocco and parts of northern Western Sahara, but traditionally with wider migration routes....
tribes of that lands (Art. 18)
On March 1, 1799, Slimane of Morocco
Slimane of Morocco
Mulay Slimane or Suleiman was the Sultan of Morocco from 1792 to 1822. Slimane was one of five sons of Mohammed III who fought a civil war for control of the kingdom. Slimane emerged victorious in 1795, and the country remained largely passive for the subsequent decades of his rule...
signed an accord with Carlos IV, in which he recognized that the Saguia el Hamra and Cape Juby regions were not part of his dominions (Art. 22).
In 1879, the British North West Africa Company established a trading post named Port Victoria. On March 26, 1888, Moroccan soldiers attacked the post, killing the director of the factory and leaving two badly injured. In 1895, the company sold it to the sultan of Morocco.
Spanish protectorate
In 1912, Spain negotiated with FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(who controlled the affairs of Morocco at the time) for concessions on the southern edge of Morocco, and on July 29, 1916, Francisco Bens officially occupied for Spain the Cape Juby region, that became the South Zone of the Spanish protectorate of Morocco
Spanish Morocco
The Spanish protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...
, separated from the main North Zone by the French protectorate of Morocco. As a matter of fact, however, it was administered by Spain together with Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
as a single entity.
The Spanish area 12700 sq mi (32,892.8 km²), and had a population of 9,836. Its main town was founded by the Spanish as Villa Bens, now called Tarfaya
Tarfaya
- References :CitationsBibliography* Didier Daurat, , France: Édition Dynamo, 1954....
. Villa Bens was used as a staging post for airmail
Airmail
Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
flights.
When Morocco became independent in 1956, it asked for the cession of Moroccan areas controlled by Spain. After some resistance and some fighting during 1957 (the Ifni War
Ifni War
The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain , was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents and Sahrawi rebels that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.The war, which may be seen as part of the general movement...
), the Cape Juby strip was ceded by the Spanish government to Morocco in 1958.
See also
- TeknaTeknaThe Tekna is a Sahrawi tribal confederation of Lamta Sanhaja Berber origins who live in southern Morocco and parts of northern Western Sahara, but traditionally with wider migration routes....
- Ifni WarIfni WarThe Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain , was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents and Sahrawi rebels that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.The war, which may be seen as part of the general movement...
- Sahrawi
- ReguibatReguibatThe Reguibat is a Sahrawi tribe of mainly Hassani Arab origins, although a number of Arab tribes have merged with the Reguibat during the last two centuries. They speak Hassaniya Arabic, and are Arabicised in culture...
- Western SaharaWestern SaharaWestern Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
- MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...