El Aaiún
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| El Aaiún العيون al-ʾAyūn |
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  El Aaiún
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| Coordinates: 27°9′13″N 13°12′12″W / 27.15361°N 13.20333°W | |
| Country | Morocco |
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| Claimed by | Western Sahara and Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic |
| Region | Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra |
| Population (2009) | |
| - Total | 194,668 |
El-Aaiún (also transliterated "Laâyoune" or "El Ayun"; Arabic: العيون, transliterated al-ʾAyūn), is a city in Western Sahara founded by the Spanish in 1928. Occupied by Morocco since 1976[1], El-Aaiún is the capital of the Moroccan region of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra. It is also claimed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as their de jure capital. The city is located at 27°9′13″N 13°12′12″W / 27.15361°N 13.20333°W (27.153611, -13.203333).[2]
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[edit] Demographics
The city has a population of 194,668[3] and is the largest city in Western Sahara. It is a growing economic pole in what Morocco sees as its Southern Provinces. Its population is a mixture of Moroccans from the North as well as Sahrawis from Southern Saharan Morocco and natives of Western Sahara.
[edit] Etymology
"El Aaiún" is the transliteration of the Arabic name used as the Spanish name for the city. "Laâyoune" is a French transliteration even used in Moroccan literature. The Arabic name means "the springs".
In the area south of Tindouf, Algeria, there is a Sahrawi refugee camp named El-Aaiun, after this city.
[edit] Status
The United Nations mission for the referendum, MINURSO, which administers the ceasefire settlement of 1991 between Morocco and the Polisario Front, has its headquarters in the city.
Beginning in the spring of 2005, the Independence Intifada began demanding the release of political prisoners and demonstrations in favor of independence took part in some parts of the city, and a trend towards opening up the closed territory seems to have been broken off, with several expulsions of foreign journalists and human rights delegations, accused by the Moroccan authorities of serving as a pretext for the pro-independence activists to step up riots.
[edit] Climate
 Weather averages for Laâyoune" also "El Ayun"  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 20 (68) |
20 (68) |
22 (72) |
22 (72) |
22 (72) |
24 (75) |
26 (79) |
28 (82) |
27 (81) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
20 (68) |
23 (73) |
| Daily Mean °C (°F) | 16 (61) |
17 (63) |
19 (66) |
18 (64) |
20 (68) |
21 (70) |
23 (73) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
22 (72) |
20 (68) |
17 (63) |
20 (68) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 12 (54) |
13 (55) |
16 (61) |
15 (59) |
16 (61) |
18 (64) |
20 (68) |
21 (70) |
20 (68) |
18 (64) |
16 (61) |
13 (55) |
17 (63) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 17.97 (0.71) |
18.51 (0.73) |
6.74 (0.27) |
2.54 (0.1) |
3.21 (0.13) |
0.31 (0.01) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
1.21 (0.05) |
7.47 (0.29) |
16.90 (0.67) |
18.60 (0.73) |
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| Avg. precipitation days | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 |
| Source: Weatherbase[4] | |||||||||||||
[edit] Sport
A football club in El Aaiun is Jeunesse Massira. The club played in the Botola/GNF 1. A dispute between the Municipality of the city and the head of the Sports league over the administration of Mohamed Laghdaf stadium has resulted in moving Jeunesse Massira training and games to Agadir.
[edit] References
- ^ UN General Assembly Resolution 34/37 and UN General Assembly Resolution 35/19.
- ^ "Country files". NGA. http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html.
- ^ Stefan Helders (2009). "Morocco - largest cities (per geographical entity)" (in English). World Gazetteer. http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&lng=de&dat=32&geo=-70&srt=npan&col=aohdq&men=gcis&lng=en. Retrieved on 2009-03-25.
- ^ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for El Aaiún". http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=33006&refer=&units=metric.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: El Aaiún |
(French) Investir dans la région de Laâyoune "Invest in the region of Laâyoune"
