Assa (Morocco)
| Assa آسا ⴰⵙⵙⴰ |
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| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Morocco
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| Region : | Guelmim-Oued Noun | ||||
| Province : | Assa-zag | ||||
| Coordinates | 28 ° 37 ′ N , 9 ° 26 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 14,570 (2014) | ||||
| Area : | 46.7 km² | ||||
| Population density : | 312 inhabitants per km² | ||||
| Height : | 315 m | ||||
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Assa ( Arabic آسا, DMG Āsā ; Shilha language ⴰⵙⵙⴰ ) is a 15,000 inhabitants town in the province of Assa-Zag in the region Guelmim-Oued Noun in the southeast of Morocco .
Location and climate
The small town of Assa is located in the extreme south-east of Morocco at the intersection of the national roads RN17 and RN21 at an altitude of approx. 315 m . The neighboring town of Zag, which is only slightly smaller, is located about 80 km (by car) south. The climate is desert-like; the extremely sparse rain (approx. 80 mm / year) falls almost exclusively in the winter months.
population
| year | 1994 | 2004 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 8,323 | 12,905 | 14,570 |
The population consists mainly of Berbers who immigrated in the last decades of the 20th century . They speak the regional Berber dialect , Moroccan Arabic , French and some English.
economy
The small town primarily serves as a rest stop for people and heavy goods vehicles on the country road. Because of the close border to the controversial Western Sahara regions and Algeria , a certain military importance was added in the last decades of the 20th century.
history
Assa was a small oasis in the otherwise almost deserted south of Morocco, which only gained importance after the country gained independence (1956).