KHOURIBGA

city, provincial capital, and province, Centre region, northwestern Morocco. The city is situated on an infertile, upland plateau (unofficially called the Plateau des Phosphates) west of the Moyen (Middle) Atlas mountains. It owes its growth to the nearby phosphate deposits, first exploited in 1921. The city is connected by road and railway with Casablanca (about 68 mi to the northwest). Khouribga province is bounded by the provinces of Khemisset (north), Khenifra (east), Beni Mellal (south), and Settat (west). It embraces an area of 1,641 sq mi (4,250 sq km) and contains one of the world's largest phosphate reserves. The town of Oued Zem, east of Khourigba city, is also a phosphate mining centre; some iron-ore is mined at Al Ammar in the northern part of the province. Subsistence agriculture produces cereals (wheat and barley) and sheep and goats are grazed. Jorf Lasfar, an Atlantic port (opened 1982) about 60 mi southwest of Casablanca and specifically designed to handle phosphate exports, receives rail shipments from Khourigba province. Pop. (1982) city, 127,181; (1988 est.) province, 513,000.