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El Aaiún

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Geography

   El-Aaiún or Laâyoune (Arabic: العيون, transliterated al-`ayūn), is the
   main city of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony now mostly
   administred by Morocco. It is the capital of the
   Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra region. El-Aaiún is located at
   27°9′13″N, 13°12′12″W (27.153611, -13.203333).

   The city has a population of 188,084 and is the largest city in Western
   Sahara. It is a growing economical 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.

   "El Aaiún" is the transliteration of the Arabic name used as the
   Spanish name for the city. "Laâyoune" is a French transliteration used
   in Moroccan literature. The Arabic name means "the springs" (or "the
   eyes").

   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.

   In the spring of 2005 Sahrawi demonstrations and riots demanding the
   release of common law and political prisoners 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.

   In the area south of Tindouf, Algeria, there is a Sahrawi refugee camp
   named El-Aaiun, after this city.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Aai%C3%BAn"
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