Morocco (in Arabic, Al Mamlakah al Maghribiyah), hereditary monarchy, bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east and south-east by Algeria, on the south by Western Sahara, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The south-eastern boundary, in the Sahara Desert, is not precisely defined. Within Morocco are the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, on the Mediterranean coast. Several small islands off the northern coast of Morocco are also possessions of Spain. From 1912 to 1956 Morocco itself was separated into French and Spanish protectorates. The area of Morocco is 446,550 sq km (172,414 sq mi). Since 1979, Morocco has also occupied the adjacent nation known as Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara). Rabat is the capital of Morocco.