Morocco ceded Western Sahara to Spain in 1860. In 1884 a representative of the Sociedad Espa?ola de Africanistas y Colonistas (Spanish Society of Africanists and Colonists) went to Río de Oro Bay and signed treaties with the coastal tribes, renaming the territory Spanish West Africa. Spanish Sahara came into existence in 1924 when the territories of Rio de Oro, Cape Juby and La Aguera were conjoined. In 1946, Spanish Sahara and Ifni were also conjoined to form Spanish West Africa, and became the overseas province of Spanish Sahara on January 12, 1958.
In 1975 Spain declared its intention to withdraw; the same year, the World Court ruled that Morocco and Mauritania's legal claims were irrelevant. From November 1975 the area was administered jointly by Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania. It was partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania on February 26, 1976, and the Mauritanian part of the territory was annexed by Morocco on August 11, 1979. The Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 29, 1976, and though it is currently recognized by 65 countries, Morocco maintains de facto control over the territory. Cape Juby, a Spanish enclave, was conjoined to Western Sahara in 1924 and returned to Morocco in 1958.
Spanish Pesetas (ESP), divisible into 100 Centesimos, were used in Spanish Sahara while it was a Spanish overseas province. Mauritanian Ouguiya (MRO) were used in the parts of Western Sahara that were briefly under Mauritius' control. The Moroccan Dirham (MAD), divisible into 100 Centimes, is the primary medium of exchange in Western Sahara, but the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic has issued Saharawi Peseta (EHP) coins for collectors. The Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic has not issued any banknotes.
