Region, southwestern Morocco .
Located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, it has an area of some 580 sq mi (1500 sq km). It was settled in 1476 by Diego García de Herrera, lord of the Canaries, as a Spanish fishing, slaving, and trading locality. Abandoned in 1524 because of disease and the hostility of the local population, Spain reclaimed it following a treaty with Morocco in 1860. Effective Spanish reoccupation began in 1934, and it became part of Spanish West Africa in 1946. Ifni was ceded to Morocco in 1969.