Issues

Issues اساكن ⵉⵙⴰⴳⵏ
Help on coat of arms Issues
Basic data
State :	Morocco
Region :	Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma
Province :	Al Hoceïma
Coordinates	34 ° 55 ′  N , 4 ° 34 ′  W Coordinates: 34 ° 55 ′  N , 4 ° 34 ′  W
Residents :	17,095 (2014)
Height :	1490  m
Postal code :	32300

Issaguen ( Arabic اساكن, Zentralatlas-Tamazight ⵉⵙⴰⴳⵏ Isagen ) or Ketama , formerly also known as Achaken , is a small town with around 1,600 inhabitants and the capital of a rural community ( commune rurale ) with around 17,000 inhabitants in the province of Al Hoceïma in the Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma region in Morocco . The double name Issaguen or Ketama comes from the fact that the city is also the main center for the regions of Ketama and Issaguen. The people of the eastern Issaguen region call their county seat Issaguen and for the people of the western Ketama region the same city is called Ketama. From 1912 to 1956 Issaguen was part of Spanish Morocco .

Location and climate

Market in the center of Issaguen

Issaguen is located at an altitude of almost 1500  m in the geographic center of the Rif Mountains, close to its highest point, the 2448 m high Jbel Tidirhine . The distance to the northeastern provincial capital Al Hoceïma is about 115 km (driving distance); to Fès it is about 156 km in a south-westerly direction. The large access roads are winding and mostly well developed. The local climate for Morocco is rather cool and rainy, snow is possible until late spring.

population

The inhabitants are almost exclusively of Berber descent; The common language is Tarifit , but Moroccan Arabic is also spoken.

Because of the economic problems (see Economy ) and the associated increasing poverty , there is a relatively high crime rate in the city . Guidebooks warn against tourist trips to Issaguen / Ketama and especially against overnight stays there.

The population development in the city is currently falling.

economy

The small town of Issaguen is the craft, service and trade center of numerous villages in the mountainous area, which has long been a center of cannabis cultivation . Around 90,000 farmers in the region make a living from growing or trading cannabis, which is often processed into hashish here for logistical reasons for transport to Europe .

Although the cultivation of hemp is officially prohibited under pressure from the EU , Morocco's cultivated area is still estimated at a total of 72,500 hectares (as of 2005, and the trend is falling). The hemp is often grown by the farmers on numerous small and very small areas, which are often close to their own homes and are tilled manually by the entire family. According to rough surveys, a single smallholder can produce around five to ten kilograms of hashish of various qualities a year. The formerly magnificent city center has now fallen into disrepair. In places there are retail stores, often on carts and free-standing tables, less often in shops. The most essential groceries, fruits and various cheap goods are offered at the two open-air markets in the city center.

Attractions

• Issaguen is a suitable starting point for climbing the approx. 2450 m high Jbel Tidirhine.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Population statistics Morocco ( Memento from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Climate diagrams Issaguen
3. ↑ Lonely Planet: Issaguen & Ketama, Morocco - Lonely Planet. (No longer available online.) In: Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016 ; accessed on August 12, 2016 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} United Nations: UNODC Morocco Cannabis Survey 2005. United Nations, January 15, 2007, accessed on August 13, 2016 (English).