Talk:Western Sahara

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Codes and "minor" state

Please stop Since there is no definition of a "minor" state, there is no need to put it there. Is Algeria "minor?" Iran? It's a nonsense phrase, so it should be deleted. As for making "MA" a country code for Western Sahara, it's not. MA is a code for Morocco, and so it is in Morocco's infobox. EH was created for Western Sahara, so that is its country code. As far as the territory being occupied, this is a clear fact and the position of the United Nations; it is also mentioned in the article in other places. -Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:16, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

It does not need a definition to be in the article. A minor state is used as opposed to super-power states, permanent members of the security council, ... etc. As to the EH domain, it clearly states the .eh tld is intended for WS but it is not assigned, ".MA" being the one used in the territory. The same thing applies for the currency, the MAD is the currency of Morocco, but that is also the currency you will find in use in the territory. The same thing goes for the IAC 212, the Time zone +0 UTC, etc. They are the ones used in the territory. These things have been a matter of hotted debate before and they settled on the way they have been before you started tempering with them. As to your ridiculous claim of the UN considering the territory as occupied, I already explained to you the difference between a UN position through the security council that is reiterated again and again, and a voting poll in 1979 of the Algerian-Cuban drafted document, that has no obligation on the UN. The "Zionism=Racism" example is the brightest one for you to understand it. I will revert to the version that was in use before the anon IP started this mess.--A Jalil (talk) 14:59, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

It does Since "minor states" doesn't mean anything, you can't use it in this article; it's nonsense. What states that ".ma" is being used in the territory? Do you have any evidence of this at all? The same thing does not apply to currency, since there is no administrative body that assigns currencies to regions. To ask which currency is used in a region is different than to ask which top-level domain name has been assigned to the region; the former is defined entirely by usage, the latter is defined entirely by standards. Western Sahara is clearly occupied, as the article itself still states; I'm not going through this with you again. -Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:56, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah we're back to having fun again arguing about trivialities. Minor states is indeed a value judgement - although arguably the states recognizing are largely minor on the global arena (Algeria is not a big newsmaker per se). But in the interest of neutrality, merely noting "African, Asian, and Latin American" states seems reasonable. At the same time, if Koavf gets to bleat on about minor, it seems reasonable that controlled be used rather than occupied. Same standards on language. (collounsbury (talk) 16:47, 6 May 2008 (UTC))

Evidence on .ma usage would be found with sites for entities ostensibly domiciled in Western Sahara provinces using .ma. It is trivially easy to find that. Koavf's immature partisanship notwithstanding. (collounsbury (talk) 16:49, 6 May 2008 (UTC))

What is an example of a website with an .ma domain name which has the server in Western Sahara? « D. Trebbien (talk) 23:40 2008 May 5 (UTC)

Good question. Since effectively all internet service to the Western Sahara is via Maroc Telecom or other Moroccan operators, one would expect that most servers would be located in Moroccan territory (ex-WS provinces), largely in the Casa-Rabat area. Technically I am unaware of any way to determine where the physical server is actually located (versus the service). Presumably the Regional Investment Office of Laayoune (http://www.laayouneinvest.ma/fr/index.asp) may have its server physically in Laayoune. Other similar offices may also. It strikes me as useful for the article to indicate like country code, most sites use the Moroccan address (.ma). Polisario partisans may not like that, but its effective reality. (collounsbury (talk) 16:47, 6 May 2008 (UTC))

Country codes I find it reasonable that there are .ma sites hosted in Western Sahara, but I also do not know of any. That having been said, it is still the case that the country code for Western Sahara is .eh, and not .ma. Cf. East Timor for instance; where a code has been assigned, but another is used (in addition to the new one.) -Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:17, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Poor Citation

I would like to see a more credible citation than what is used as a justification for listing Spanish as one of Western Sahara's "Recognised regional languages". By the way, you have a typo; it should be "Recognized". The citation is "Instituto Cervantes" http://hispanismo.cervantes.es/faq.asp#105 which is a somewhat sketchy web page with several grammatical errors itself and barely mentions Western Sahara as a Spanish speaking country. The CIA World Factbook on the other hand doesn't mention Spanish as a language in Western Sahara (even though the Spanish did attempt a colony), so I have to think that the Spanish speaking population is quite minimal. The Factbook lists Hassaniya Arabic and Moroccan Arabic as the countries two languages https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wi.html. Please find a more suitable reference that gives an idea about the size of the Spanish speaking population or consider removing it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.181.250.7 (talk) 16:12, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Just a note that recognised is an acceptable spelling, it's the non-American spelling (ie British and elsewhere in the world influenced by British English) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.189.194.185 (talk) 03:25, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Spanish should be deleted. Morocco doesn't assign any specific legislation to Western Sahara, so the only officially recognized language there is the one recognized in Morocco, and that is Arabic (note that although French is treated as a co-official language in every way, it does not have legal status as such, and Spanish, however respected and sometimes considered the fourth language of the country, after Arabic, French and Berber, hasn't either). The Polisario may or may not consider Spanish as a co-official language, but that would only refer to the Polisario-controlled zones and has no effect on the territory depicted on the map. Unless, of course, you consider that, since the political status is not resolved, Spanish colonial law still applies legally, but that has no practical effect. So much for the official status; for the language in use, wether recognized or not, I can tell that many older sahrawis still speak fluently Spanish, but of course they have no opportunity to use it anywhere unless they meet a Spanish tourist. We should put better "Arabic and Hassaniya", the latter is an Arabic dialect/language which is the mother tongue of all Sahrawis and is recognized more or less in the same way as the Maghrebi Arabic in (the rest of) Morocco, i.e. it can be used in oral official instances, however it is almost never written. --Ilyacadiz (talk) 20:42, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Severely misplaced icon in google earth

The icon for this article is way out of place in Google Earth. It is in the middle of a zoo in Madrid, Spain.