France quietly redraws Maghreb to reflect Moroccan Sahara
The French Republic updated its official online data on 31 May to reaffirm its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.
According to Yabiladi, new updates on the official French diplomatic webpage reflect Morocco to possess a geographical area of 710,850 km², up from the significantly smaller land area of 446,550 km².
France has repeatedly signalled its explicit support of Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as the only viable option for ending the longstanding armed conflict and competing territorial claims between the Kingdom and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)- a self proclaimed entity representing the indigenous Sahrawi people.
The issue of territorial integrity has persisted for approximately five decades after colonial Spain’s withdrawal from the ‘Spanish Sahara’ territory in 1976. This geographical area spans an estimated 252, 120 km².
After French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the Moroccan kingdom at the invitation of King Mohammed VI on 29 October 2024, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs updated a map of Morocco on its website to now include the disputed Sahrawi territory.
It is worth noting that the United States has similarly signalled support for Moroccan sovereignty over the region in 2020- a diplomatic stance that has not been adopted across the globe.
In an attempt to double down on the French support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan, the French Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier had announced just last month on 16 April that French visa application services had been expanded to Laayoune- the largest city in Morocco’s southern provinces. These southern provinces incorporate disputed Sahrawi territories.
French reaffirmation of the Moroccan character of the Sahara in the first half of 2025, vis-à-vis concrete announcements and now visa policies has supercharged already-favourable Franco-Moroccan relations.
On its official website, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs has characterised bilateral relations as being marked by “intense and regular dialogue”. Equally glowing superlatives exist on the ‘Economic relations’ webpage, with France asserting itself as Morocco’s number one foreign investor and largest trading partner.
With an estimated 33 to 38 of the 40 companies listed on France’s CAC 40 index conducting operations in Morocco, the depth of France’s economic stake in the increasingly assertive North African nation is clear.
Yabiladi/ Maghrebi
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