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Western Sahara
Western Sahara (
Arabic: الصحراء الغربية
(help·info);
transliterated: as-Ṣaḥrā' al-Gharbīyah;
Spanish: Sahara Occidental) is a
territory of
North
Africa, bordered by
Morocco to
the north,
Algeria to the northeast,
Mauritania
to the east and south, and the
Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to 266,000 square
kilometres (103,000 sq mi). It is one of the
most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly consisting of
desert
flatlands. The largest city is
El Aaiún (Laâyoune),
which is home to over half of the population of the territory, the whole
estimated at just over 500,000.[1]
Western Sahara has been on the
United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since the 1960s when
it was a Spanish colony.[2]
The Kingdom of
Morocco and the
Polisario Front independence movement, with its
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) government, dispute control of the
territory.
Since a
United Nations-sponsored ceasefire agreement in 1991, most of the territory
has been controlled by Morocco, and the remainder by the Polisario/SADR, backed
by Algeria.[3]
Internationally, major powers such as the
United States have taken a generally ambiguous and neutral position on each
side's claims, and have pressed both parties to agree on a peaceful resolution.
Both Morocco and Polisario have sought to boost their claims by accumulating
formal recognition, essentially from African, Asian, and Latin American states
in the developing world. Polisario has won formal recognition for SADR from
46 states, and was extended membership in the
African Union, while Morocco has won recognition for its position from the
Arab
League.[4][5]
In both instances, recognitions have over the past two decades been extended and
withdrawn according to changing international trends.
History
Early
history
The earliest recorded inhabitants of the Western Sahara in historical times
were agriculturalists called the
Bafour.[6]
The Bafour were later replaced or absorbed by
Berber-speaking populations which eventually merged in turn with migrating
Arab tribes, although it is clear from the historical record that the
Arabic-speaking majority in the Western Sahara descend from
Berber tribes that adopted Arabic over time. There may also have been some
Phoenician
contacts in antiquity, but such contacts left few if any long-term traces.
The arrival of
Islam in the 8th century played a major role in the development of
relationships between the Saharan regions that later became the modern
territories of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Algeria, and
neighbouring regions. Trade developed further, and the region became a highway
for
caravans, especially between
Marrakech
and
Tombouctou in Mali.
In the Middle Ages, the
Almohads and
Almoravids movements and dynasties both originated in the Saharan regions
and were able to control the area.
Towards the late Middle Ages, the
Beni Hassan
Arab bedouin tribes invaded the
Maghreb,
reaching the northern border-area of the Sahara in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Over roughly five centuries, through a complex process of acculturation and
mixing seen elsewhere in the Maghreb and North Africa, the indigenous Berber
tribes adopted
Hassaniya Arabic and a mixed Arab-Berber nomadic culture.
Spanish
province
After an agreement among the European colonial powers at the
Berlin Conference in 1884 on the division of
spheres of influence in Africa,
Spain seized
control of the Western Sahara and established it as a Spanish protectorate after
a series of wars against the local tribes reminiscent of similar European
colonial adventures of the period, in the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa, and
elsewhere. After 1939 this area was administered by Spanish Morocco. As a
consequence, Ahmed Belbachir Haskouri, the Chief of Cabinet, General Secretary
of the Government and Head of the palace for the caliph of Spanish Morocco
cooperated with the Spaniards to select governors in that area. The Saharan
Lords who were already in prominent positions such as the members of Maa El
Ainain family provided a list recommending new governors. Together with the
Spanish High Commissioner, Belbachir selected from the list of recommendations.
During the prophet's birthday celebration these Lords paid their due respect to
the caliph to show loyalty to the Moroccan monarchy. As time went by, Spanish
colonial rule began to unravel with the general wave of decolonization after
World
War II, which saw Europeans lose control of North African and sub-Saharan
African possessions and protectorates. Spanish decolonization in particular
began rather late, but internal political and social pressures for it in
mainland Spain built up towards the end of
Francisco Franco's rule, in the context of the global trend towards complete
decolonization. Spain began rapidly and even chaotically divesting itself of
most of its remaining colonial possessions. After initially being violently
opposed to decolonization, Spain began to give in and by 1974–75 issued promises
of a
referendum on
independence. The nascent
Polisario Front, a
nationalist organization that had begun fighting the Spanish in 1973, had
been demanding such a move.
At the same time,
Morocco and
Mauritania
Algeria, viewed these demands with suspicion, influenced also by its
long-running rivalry with Morocco. After arguing for a process of decolonization
guided by the
United Nations, the government of
Houari Boumédiènne committed itself in 1975 to assisting the Polisario
Front, which opposed both Moroccan and Mauritanian claims and demanded full
independence.
The UN attempted to settle these disputes through a
visiting mission in late 1975, as well as a
verdict from the
International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared that Western Sahara
possessed the right of
self-determination. On November 6, 1975 the
Green
March into Western Sahara began when 350,000 unarmed Moroccans converged on
the city of
Tarfaya in southern Morocco and waited for a signal from King
Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara..
Demands
for independence
In the waning days of General
Franco's rule, the Spanish government secretly signed a
tripartite agreement with Morocco and Mauritania as it moved to abandon the
Territory on 14 November 1975, mere days before Franco's death. Although the
accords foresaw a tripartite administration, Morocco and Mauritania each moved
to annex the territory, with Morocco taking control of the northern two-thirds
of Western Sahara as its
Southern Provinces
Tiris al-Gharbiyya. Spain terminated its presence in Spanish Sahara within
three months, even repatriating Spanish corpses from its cemeteries. The
Moroccan and Mauritanian moves, however, met staunch opposition from the
Polisario, which had by now gained backing from
Algeria. In
1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal due to pressure from Polisario, Morocco
extended its control to the rest of the territory, and gradually contained the
guerrillas through setting up
the extensive sand-berm in the desert to exclude guerilla fighters.
Hostilities ceased in a 1991
cease-fire, overseen by the
peacekeeping mission
MINURSO, under the terms of a
UNN
Settlement Plan.
Stalling
of the referendum and Settlement Plan
The referendum, originally scheduled for 1992, foresaw giving the local
population the option between independence or affirming integration with
Morocco, but it quickly stalled. In 1997, the
Houston Agreement attempted to revive the proposal for a referendum, but
likewise has hitherto not had success. As of 2007[update]
Both sides blame each other for the stalling of the referendum. The Polisario
has insisted on only allowing those found on the 1974 Spanish Census lists (see
below) to vote, while Morocco has insisted that the census was flawed by evasion
and sought the inclusion of members of Sahrawi tribes with recent historical
presence in the Spanish Sahara.
Efforts by the UN special envoys to find a common ground for both parties did
not succeed. By 1999 the UN had identified about 85,000 voters, with nearly half
of them in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara or Southern Morocco,
and the others scattered between the Tindouf refugee camps, Mauritania and other
places of exile. Polisario accepted this voter list, as it had done with the
previous list presented by the UN (both of them originally based on the Spanish
census of 1974), but Morocco refused and, as rejected voter candidates began a
mass-appeals procedure, insisted that each application be scrutinized
individually. This again brought the process to a halt.
According to a NATO delegation, MINURSO election observers stated in 1999, as
the deadlock continued, that "if the number of voters does not rise
significantly the odds were slightly on the
RASD side".[7]
By 2001, the process had effectively stalemated and the UN Secretary-General
asked the parties for the first time to explore other, third-way solutions.
Indeed, shortly after the Houston Agreement (1997), Morocco officially declared
that it was "no longer necessary" to include an option of independence on the
ballot, offering instead autonomy.
Erik Jensen, who played an administrative role in MINURSO, wrote that
neither side would agree to a voter registration in which they were destined to
lose (see
Western
Sahara: Anatomy of a Stalematee).
Baker
Plan
As personal envoy of the Secretary-General,
James
Baker (who also had
John R. Bolton in his delegation) visited all sides and produced the
document known as the "Baker
Plan".[8]
This was discussed by the
United Nations Security Council in 2000, and envisioned an autonomous
Western Sahara Authority (WSA), which would be followed after five years
by the referendum. Every person present in the territory would be allowed to
vote, regardless of birthplace and with no regard to the Spanish census. It was
rejected by both sides, although it was initially derived from a Moroccan
proposal. According to Baker's draft, tens of thousands of post-annexation
immigrants from Morocco proper (viewed by Polisario as settlers, but by Morocco
as legitimate inhabitants of the area) would be granted the vote in the Sahrawi
independence referendum, and the ballot would be split three-ways by the
inclusion of an unspecified "autonomy",
further undermining the independence camp. Also, Morocco was allowed to keep its
army in the area and to retain the control over all security issues during both
the autonomy years and the election. In 2002, the Moroccan king stated that the
referendum idea was "out of date" since it "can not be implemented";[9]
Polisario retorted that that was only because of the King's refusal to allow it
to take place.
In 2003, a new version of the plan was made official, with some additions
spelling out the powers of the WSA, making it less reliant on Moroccan
devolution.
It also provided further detail on the referendum process in order to make it
harder to stall or subvert. This second draft, commonly known as Baker II, was
accepted by the Polisario as a "basis of negotiations" to the surprise of many.[10]
This appeared to abandon Polisario's previous position of only negotiating based
on the standards of voter identification from 1991 (i.e. the Spanish census).
After that, the draft quickly garnered widespread international support,
culminating in the UN Security Council's unanimous endorsement of the plan in
the summer of 2003.
Today
Currently, the Baker II document appears to be a dead letter, and Baker
resigned his post at the United Nations in 2004. His resignation followed
several months of failed attempts to get Morocco to enter into formal
negotiations on the plan, but he met with rejection. The new king,
Mohammed VI of Morocco, opposes any referendum on independence, and has said
Morocco will never agree to one: "We shall not give up one inch of our beloved
Sahara, not a grain of its sand".[11]
Instead, he proposes, through an appointed advisory body
Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), a
self-governing Western Sahara as an
autonomous community within Morocco. His father,
Hassan II of Morocco, initially supported the referendum idea in principle
in 1982, and in signed contracts with Polisario and the UN in 1991 and 1997;
thus engaging to a referendum. However, no major powers have expressed interest
in forcing the issue, and Morocco has historically showed little real interest
in an actual referendum.
The UN has put forth no replacement strategy after the breakdown of Baker II,
and renewed fighting has been raised as a possibility. In 2005, former
United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
reported increased military activity on both sides of the front and breaches of
several cease-fire provisions against strengthening military fortifications.
Morocco has repeatedly tried to get
Algeria into
bilateral negotiations, based on its view of Polisario as the
cat's paw
of the Algerian military. It has received vocal support from
France and
occasionally (and currently) from the
United States. These negotiations would define the exact limits of a Western
Sahara autonomy under Moroccan rule, but only after Morocco's "inalienable
right" to the territory was recognized as a precondition to the talks. The
Algerian government has consistently refused, claiming it has neither the will
nor the right to negotiate on the behalf of the Polisario Front.
Demonstrations and riots by supporters of independence and/or a referendum
broke out in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara in May 2005, and in
parts of southern Morocco (notably the town of
Assa). They were
met by police. Several international
human
rights organizations expressed concern at what they termed abuse by Moroccan
security forces, and a number of Sahrawi activists have been jailed.
Pro-independence Sahrawi sources, including the Polisario, have given these
demonstrations the name "Independence
Intifada", while most sources have tended to see the events as being of
limited importance. International press and other media coverage has been
sparse, and reporting is complicated by the Moroccan government's policy of
strictly controlling independent media coverage within the territory.
Demonstrations and protests still occur, after Morocco declared in February
2006 that it was contemplating a plan for devolving a limited variant of
autonomy to the territory, but still explicitly refused any referendum on
independence. As of January 2007, the plan has not been made public, even if the
Moroccan government claims that it has been more or less completed.[12][13]
Polisario has intermittently threatened to resume fighting, referring to the
Moroccan refusal of a referendum as a breach of the
cease-fire terms, but most observers seem to consider armed conflict
unlikely without the green light from
Algeria,
which houses the Sahrawis' refugee camps and has been the main military sponsor
of the movement.
In April 2007, the government of Morocco suggested that a self-governing
entity, through the
Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS), should govern the
territory with some degree of autonomy for Western Sahara. The project was
presented to the UN Security Council in mid-April 2007. The stalemating of the
Moroccan proposal options has led the UN in the recent "Report of the UN
Secretary-General" to ask the parties to enter into direct and unconditional
negotiations to reach a mutually accepted political solution.[14]
Politics
Police checkpoint at suburbs of Laayoune.
The legal status of the territory and the question of its
sovereignty remains unresolved; the territory is contested between
Morocco and
Polisario Front. It is considered a non self-governed territory by the
United Nations.
The government of
Morocco is a
formally constitutional
monarchy
under Mohammed VI with a bicameral
parliament. The last elections to the lower house were deemed reasonably
free and fair by international observers. Certain powers such as the capacity to
appoint the government and to dissolve parliament remain in the hands of the
monarch. The Morocco-controlled parts of Western Sahara are divided into several
provinces treated as integral parts of the kingdom. The Moroccan government
heavily subsidizes the Saharan provinces under its control with cut-rate fuel
and related subsidies, to appease nationalist dissent and attract immigrants –
or settlers – from loyalist Sahrawi and other communities in Morocco proper.[15]
The
exiled government of the self-proclaimed
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a form of single-party
parliamentary and
presidential
system, but according to its constitution, this will be changed into a
multi-party system at the achievement of independence. It is presently based at
the
Tindouf
refugee
camps in
Algeria, which it controls. It also claims to control the part of Western
Sahara to the east of the
Moroccan Wall, known as the
Free Zone. This area has a very small population, estimated to be
approximately 30,000 nomads.[16]
The Moroccan government views it as a
no-man's land patrolled by
UN
troops. The SADR government whose troops also patrol the area regard it as the
liberated territories and have proclaimed a village in the area,
Bir Lehlou
as SADR's provisional capital.
Human
rights
The Western Sahara conflict has resulted in severe
human
rights abuses, most notably the
displacement
of tens of thousands of Sahrawi civilians from the country, the expulsion of
tens of thousands of Moroccan civilians by the Algerian government from Algeria,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
and numerous casualties of war and repression.
During the war years (1975–91), both sides accused each other of targeting
civilians.
Moroccan claims of Polisario
terrorism
has generally little to no support abroad, with the
USA,
EU
and UN
all refusing to include the group on their
lists of terrorist organizations. Polisario leaders maintain that they are
ideologically opposed to terrorism, and insist that collective punishment and
forced disappearances among Sahrawi civilians
[2] should be considered
state terrorism on the part of Morocco
[3]. Both Morocco and the Polisario additionally accuse each other of
violating the human rights of the populations under their control, in the
Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara and the
Tindouf
refugee camps in
Algeria, respectively. Morocco and organizations such as
France Libertés consider Algeria to be directly responsible for any crimes
committed on its territory, and accuse the country of having been directly
involved in such violations.[25]
Regions
Three Moroccan regions overlap the territory of Western Sahara:
Dispute
The Western Sahara was partitioned between
Morocco and
Mauritania
in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring the northern two-thirds of the territory.[49]
When Mauritania, under pressure from
Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979,
Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted
administrative control over the whole territory.[49]
The official Moroccan government name for Western Sahara is the "Southern
Provinces," which indicates
Río de Oro
and
Saguia el-Hamra.
Not under control of the Moroccan government is the area that lies between
the
border wall and the actual border with
Algeria. (for
map
[4] see external links) The Polisario Front claims to run this as the Free
Zone on behalf of the
SADR. The area is patrolled by
Polisario forces,[50]
and access is restricted, even among Sahrawis, due to the harsh climate of the
Sahara, the
military conflict and the abundance of
land mines.[51]
Still, the area is traveled and inhabited by many Sahrawi
nomads from the
Tindouf
refugee
camps of
Algeria and the Sahrawi communities in
Mauritania.[citation
needed] Both Moroccan and
United Nations
MINURSO forces are also present in the area. The UN forces oversee the
cease-fire between Polisario and Morocco agreed upon in the 1991
Settlement Plan.[52]
The Polisario forces (of the
Sahrawi People's Liberation Army, SPLA) in the area are divided into seven
"military regions", each controlled by a top commander reporting to the
President of the Polisario proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.[53][not
in citation given] The total size of the Polisario's
guerrilla army present in this area is unknown, but it is believed to number
a few thousand men, despite many combantants being demobilized due to the
cease-fire.[54]
These forces are dug into permanent positions, such as gun emplacements,
defensive trenches and underground military bases, as well as conducting mobile
patrols of the territory.[55][not
in citation given]
Major Sahrawi political events, such as
Polisario congresses and sessions of the
Sahrawi National Council (the SADR parliament in exile) are held in the Free
Zone (especially in
Tifariti
and Bir Lehlou), since it is considered politically and symbolically important
to conduct political affairs on Sahrawi territory. A concentration of forces for
the commemoration of the Saharawi Republic’s 30th anniversary[56]
were however subject to condemnation by the
United Nations,[57]
as it was considered an example of a cease-fire violation to bring such a large
force concentration into the area. Both parties have been accused of such
violations by the UN, but to date there has been no serious hostile action from
either side since 1991.
Annual demonstrations against the Moroccan Wall are staged in the region by
Sahrawis and international activists from
Spain,
Italy and other
mainly European
countries. These actions are closely monitored by the UN.[58][not
in citation given]
During the joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control of the area, the
Mauritanian-controlled part, roughly corresponding to Saquia el-Hamra, was known
as
Tiris al-Gharbiyya.
Geography
Typical landscape of Western Sahara, located in
Tifariti.
Western Sahara is located in Northern
Africa,
bordering the North
Atlantic Ocean, between
Mauritania
and Morocco.
It also borders
Algeria to the northeast. The land is some of the most arid and inhospitable
on the planet, but is rich in
phosphates
in Bou Craa.
Economy
Aside from its rich
phosphate
deposits and
fishing waters, Western Sahara has few natural resources and lacks
sufficient rainfall for most agricultural activities. There is speculation that
there may be rich off-shore
oil and
natural
gas fields, but the debate persists as to whether these resources can be
profitably exploited, and if this would be legally permitted due to the non-decolonized
status of Western Sahara (see below).
Western Sahara's economy is centred around
nomadic
herding,
fishing, and phosphate mining. Most food for the urban population is imported.
All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan
government. The government has encouraged citizens to relocate to the territory
by giving
subsidies and
price controls on basic goods. These heavy subsidies have created a
state-dominated economy in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara, with
the Moroccan government as the single biggest employer.
Exploitation
debate
After reasonably exploitable oil fields were located in neighbouring
Mauritania, speculation intensified on the possibility of major oil resources
being located off the coast of Western Sahara. Despite the fact that findings
remain inconclusive, both Morocco and the Polisario have made deals with oil and
gas exploration companies. US and French companies (notably
Total
and
Kerr-McGee) began prospecting on behalf of Morocco.
In 2002,
Hans
Corell, Under-Secretary General of the
United Nations and head of its
Office of Legal Affairs issued a legal opinion on the matter.[59]
This opinion stated that while exploration of the area was permitted,
exploitation was not, on the basis that Morocco is not a recognized
administrative power of the territory, and thus lacks the capacity to issue such
licenses. After pressures from corporate ethics-groups, Total S.A. pulled out.
In May 2006 the remaining company Kerr-McGee also left following sales of
numerous share holders like the National Norwegian Oil Fund, due to continued
pressure from NGOs and corporate groups.
Despite the UN report and the development regarding the exploration of oil,
the
European Union wants to exploit fishing resources in waters outside Western
Sahara and has signed a fishing treaty with Morocco.
Demographics
The indigenous population of Western Sahara is known as
Sahrawis. These are
Hassaniya-speaking tribes of mixed
Arab–Berber
heritage, effectively continuations of the
tribal groupings
of Hassaniya speaking
Moorish tribes extending south into
Mauritania
and north into
Morocco as well as east into
Algeria. The
Sahrawis are traditionally
nomadic
bedouins, and
can be found in all surrounding countries. War and conflict has led to major
displacements of the population.
As of July 2004, an estimated 267,405 people (excluding the Moroccan army of
some 160,000) live in the
Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara. Morocco has engaged in
"Moroccanization" of the area, bringing in large numbers of settlers in
anticipation of a UN-administered referendum on independence[citation
needed]. While many of them are from
Sahrawi tribal groups extending up into southern Morocco, some are also
non-Sahrawi Moroccans from other regions[citation
needed]. The settler population is today thought to outnumber the
indigenous Western Sahara Sahrawis. The precise size and composition of the
population is subject to political controversy.
The Polisario-controlled parts of Western Sahara are barren. This area has a
very small population, estimated to be approximately 30,000.[60]
The population is primarily made up of nomads who engage in herding
camels back and
forth between the
Tindouf area and
Mauritania.
However, the presence of mines scattered throughout the territory by both the
Polisario and the Moroccan army makes it a dangerous way of life.
The
Spanish census and MINURSO
A 1974 Spanish census claimed there were some 74,000 Sahrawis in the area at
the time (in addition to approximately 20,000 Spanish residents), but this
number is likely to be on the low side, due to the difficulty in counting a
nomad people, even if Sahrawis were by the mid-1970s mostly urbanized. Despite
these possible inaccuracies, Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed on using the
Spanish census as the basis for voter registration when striking a
cease-fire agreement in the late 1980s, contingent on the holding of a
referendum on independence or integration into Morocco.
In December 1999 the United Nations'
MINURSO mission announced that it had identified 86,425 eligible voters for
the referendum that was supposed to be held under the 1991
Settlement plan and the 1997
Houston accords. By "eligible voter" the UN referred to any Sahrawi over 18
years of age that was part of the Spanish census or could prove his/her descent
from someone who was. These 86,425 Sahrawis were dispersed between
Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara and the refugee camps in Algeria, with
smaller numbers in Mauritania and other places of exile. These numbers cover
only Sahrawis 'indigenous' to the Western Sahara during the Spanish colonial
period, not the total number of "ethnic" Sahrawis (i.e, members of Sahrawi
tribal groupings), who also extend into Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria. The
number was highly politically significant due to the expected organization of a
referendum on self-determination.
The Polisario has its home base in the
Tindouf refugee
camps in Algeria, and declares the number of Sahrawi population in the camps
to be approximately 155,000. Morocco disputes this number, saying it is
exaggerated for political reasons and for attracting more foreign aid. The UN
uses a number of 90,000 "most vulnerable" refugees as basis for its food aid
program.
Culture
The major ethnic group of the Western Sahara are the
Sahrawis, a
nomadic or
Bedouin tribal or ethnic group speaking the
Hassānīya dialect of
Arabic, also spoken in much of
Mauritania.
They are of mixed Arab-Berber descent, but claim descent from the
Beni Hassan, a
Yemeni tribe supposed to have migrated across the desert in the 11th
century.
Physically indistinguishable from the Hassaniya speaking
Moors of
Mauritania, the Sahrawi people differ from their neighbors partly due to
different tribal affiliations (as tribal confederations cut across present
modern boundaries) and partly as a consequence of their exposure to
Spanish
colonial
domination. Surrounding territories were generally under French colonial rule.
Like other neighboring Saharan Bedouin and Hassaniya groups, the Sahrawis are
Muslims of the
Sunni sect and the
Maliki
fiqh. Local
religious custom ('urf)
is, like other Saharan groups, heavily influenced by pre-Islamic Berber and
African
practices, and differs substantially from urban practices. For example, Sahrawi
Islam has
traditionally functioned without
mosques in the
normal sense of the word, in an adaptation to nomadic life.
The originally clan-
and tribe-based
society underwent a massive social upheaval in 1975, when a part of the
population was forced into
exile and settled
in the refugee
camps of Tindouf,
Algeria. Families were broken up by the fight. For developments among this
population, see
Sahrawi and
Tindouf Province.
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