13.1.76 to 13.1.79

In 1956, when French Morocco became independent, Spain surrendered his Spanish Morocco to the newly independent Morocco, but retained control of Sidi Ifni, Tarfaya region and Western Sahara. Moroccan Sultan (then King) Mohammed V was interesting in these Northern African Spanish territories and there was a Invasion of Spanish Sahara by Moroccan army, also known as the Ifni War and, in Spain, the Forgotten War (la Guerra Ignorada). In 1958, Spain ceded Tarfaya to Mohammed V and joined the previously separate districts of Saguia el-Hamra (in the north) and Río de Oro (in the south) to form the province of Spanish Sahara. In 1959, the Spanish territory of the Gulf of Guinea was established with status similar to the provinces of metropolitan Spain. As the Spanish Equatorial Region, it was ruled by a governor general exercising military and civilian powers. The first local elections were held in 1959, and the first Equatoguinean representatives were seated in the Spanish parliament. Under the Basic Law of December 1963, limited autonomy was authorized under a joint legislative body for the territory's two provinces. The name of the country was changed to Equatorial Guinea. In March 1968, under pressure from Equatoguinean nationalists and the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence to Equatorial Guinea. At independence in 1968, Equatorial Guinea had one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa. In 1969, under international pressure, Spain returned Sidi Ifni to Morocco. Spanish control of Western Sahara endured until the 1975 Green March prompted a withdrawal. The future of this former Spanish colony remains uncertain. Morocco still claims Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and Plazas de Soberanía to be part of Morocco. Isla Perejil (Arabic: Leila ("night")) was occupied on July 11, 2002 by Moroccan police and troops, who were evicted without bloodshed by Spanish naval forces. (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )