The Polisario Front, originally called POLISARIO (the Spanish abbreviation of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro) is a social democratic political party and national liberation movement in Western Sahara that was founded in 1973. The movement was founded in 1971 by young Moroccan university students who opposed the Moroccan presence in the Spanish Rio de Oro region, and the party was formally founded in 1973 by Spanish Army veterans, university students, and massacre survivors. From 1975 to 1991, the Polisario Front - backed by Algeria - waged an armed struggle against the Moroccan government in the Western Sahara War. In 1991, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire, with the Polisario Front being left in control of 25% of the Western Sahara. The Polisario Front set up the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" in Western Sahara, governing the country.
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