If you accept the claims of a few, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a vast arid chunk of the Sahara bordered by Mauritania to the south and east, Morocco to the north and the Atlantic to the west.

From 1886 when Spain claimed the area as theirs until Franco's death in 1975, the territory was known as the Spanish Sahara. Since the early 1960’s Morocco had claimed sovereignty over the area and pushed the United Nations to recognize its claim. However Mauritania also claimed sovereignty and when the Spanish pulled out in 1975, the territory now called "Western Sahara" fell under the joint administration of both Morocco and Mauritania. In fact, the UN had passed a resolution requesting Spain to hold a referendum in the territory on self-determination.

The small population of the territory (this is one of the least densely populated countries on the planet) are predominantly people of Berber origin who describe themselves as "Sahrawis". The Sahrawis' military wing became known as the Polisario Front and when the Spanish pulled out, a war broke out between the three parties claiming the area as their own - Morocco, Mauritania and the Polisario Front. By 1979, Mauritania had thrown in the towel and in reality, Morocco now controlled most of the country.

A guerrilla war dragged on until a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991 left Morocco in charge of two thirds of the country bounded by the Atlantic to the west and a 2700 km long, Moroccan-built (big, beautiful???) sand wall in the east running. The remaining third of the country, a narrow strip of desert along the border with Mauritania is controlled by the SADR and administered from their HQ in a refugee camp in Algeria! Morocco insists that the territory is a province of their country and inevitably is somewhat touchy about the matter. We're told that on an earlier visit, a Silversea vessel arrived in the port of Dakhla flying the SADR flag. The ship was held up for hours by the Moroccan authorities until this diplomatic faux pas was settled!

So despite the best efforts of the UN, NATO and even a UN Special Envoy, the former US Secretary of State James Baker this is now one of the world's several (and likely least high profile) frozen conflicts. Western Sahara now has around half a million inhabitants, native Berbers and Arabs who have moved in from Morocco and who all now largely depend on fishing and phosphate mining. With little else (water included), Western Sahara is reportedly a big drain on the Moroccan economy, but with the prospect of oil and gas reserves just off-shore, they're not likely to be going anywhere soon!

We spend a few hours in the desert outside the port town of Dakhla, a remote and somewhat surreal place in the southern part of the country hundreds of miles from the capital, Laayoune. Other than fishing and a military base, Dakhla is trying to promote itself as the "kite-surfing capital of the world".

The wind blows steadily at 40 km/25 mph for more than 300 days a year along this stretch of coast; the sun shines most of the time and rain is rare. The "beach", if you can describe where the Sahara Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean as such, stretches in both directions for as far as the eye can see. The Moroccan authorities are busy developing the area as a tourist destination. We see numerous resorts, hotels and restaurants under construction and a few already open catering to the few enthusiastic kit surfers.

Perhaps the oddest sight of all though is "Royal Golf" - the world's biggest sand-trap....??