Afourar
| Afourar افورار ⴰⴼⵓⵔⴰⵔ |
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| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Morocco
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| Region : | Béni Mellal-Khénifra | ||||
| Province : | Azilal | ||||
| Coordinates | 32 ° 12 ′ N , 6 ° 32 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 13,185 (2014) | ||||
| Height : | 500 m | ||||
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Afourar (also Afourer ; Arabic افورار, Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⴼⵓⵔⴰⵔ ) is the third largest town in the province of Azilal in the Béni Mellal-Khénifra region , Morocco , with around 15,000 inhabitants .
location
Afourar lies at the transition from the northern foothills of the Middle Atlas to the Tadla plain at an altitude of almost 500 m . The small town is about 60 km (driving distance) to the north from the provincial capital Azilal . The capital of the neighboring province of Beni Mellal is about 30 km to the northeast. The climate is temperate; the annual precipitation (approx. 445 mm / year) falls almost exclusively in the winter half-year.
population
| year | 1994 | 2004 | 2014 |
| Residents | k. A. | 11,898 | 13,185 |
More than 90% of the population consists of members of various Berber tribes from the mountains of the Middle and High Atlas. It has more than doubled since the 1960s due to the climatic and socio-cultural migration from the countryside.
economy
While agriculture used to be the focus of economic activity, handicrafts, retail trade and transport have played central roles in the city's economic life in the last few decades. Many men also work in the cities of the north or in Europe and contribute to the survival of their families with their money transfer payments.
- pumped storage power plant
In the mountains south of Afourar, with financial help from the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development, Morocco's first pumped storage power plant was completed between 2001 and 2004, the water of which is taken from the Aït Ouarda reservoir. The upper reservoir is 1280 m above sea level and has a capacity of 1.26 million cubic meters; the lower reservoir is only 480 m high and can hold the same amount of water. Two turbines generate a maximum of 465 MW of electricity.
history
Information on the history of the small town is not available.
Attractions
The city has no major attractions.
