Context:
Algeria’s Foreign Minister said that his country has severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to “hostile actions”, following months of resurgent tensions between the North African rivals.
Relevance:
Prelims, GS-I: Geography (Maps), GS-II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Algeria
- About Morocco
About Algeria
- Algeria is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.
- It is the largest country by total area in Africa, and by extension, the Arab world.
- It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea.
- The country has a semi-arid geography, with most of the population living in the fertile north and the Sahara dominating the geography of the south.
- The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.
About Morocco
- Morocco is the northwesternmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.
- It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south.
- It has the fifth-largest economy in Africa and wields significant influence in both Africa and the Arab world.
- Morocco claims ownership of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, which it has designated its Southern Provinces.
- In 1975, after Spain agreed to decolonise the territory and cede its control to Morocco and Mauritania.
- Today, Morocco occupies two-thirds of the territory, and efforts to resolve the dispute have thus far failed to break the political deadlock.
-Source: The Hindu
