Oued Zem

Oued Zem is a city in Khouribga Province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Morocco. According to the 2014 Moroccan census Oued Zem had a population of 95,267.[1]

Oued Zem وادي زم City of Martyrs
City, Town
Oued Zem
Coordinates: 32°52′N 6°34′W
Country	Morocco
Region	Béni Mellal-Khénifra
Province	Khouribga
Population  (2014)[1]
• Total	95,267
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+212 (WEST)

Oued Zem was a French settlement during the 20th century. On 20 August 1955, during the testimony period of Sultan Mohammed Ben Youssef an uprising of the local tribes took place in Oued Zem which led to a massacre of French and Moroccan civilians. After Moroccan independence, it is the memory of the extent of the repression that gave Oued Zem martyr city status.

Unemployment rates in Oued Zem are higher than elsewhere in Morocco. Many people in Oued Zem have relied upon remittances from relatives working in Europe, which became scarcer after the 2008 economic crash. The city has subsequently become called 'the capital of the "sextortion" industry': after victims are lured to participate in online sexual encounters, they are blackmailed by the threat of YouTube and Facebook exposure.[2]

References

1. "POPULATION LÉGALE DES RÉGIONS, PROVINCES, PRÉFECTURES, MUNICIPALITÉS, ARRONDISSEMENTS ET COMMUNES DU ROYAUME D'APRÈS LES RÉSULTATS DU RGPH 2014" (in Arabic and French). High Commission for Planning, Morocco. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
2. The Skype sex scam - a fortune built on shame, BBC News, 27 October 2016.