Description

GEO2ALT_MA identifies the household's province within Morocco from 1982 to 2004. Provinces are the second level administrative units of the country, after regions. GEO2ALT_MA is spatially harmonized to account for political boundary changes across census years. Some detail is lost in harmonization; see the comparability discussion. A GIS map (in shapefile format), corresponding to GEO2ALT_MA can be downloaded from the GIS Boundary files page in the IPUMS International web site.

The full set of geography variables for Morocco can be found in the IPUMS International Geography variables list. For cross-national geographic analysis on the first and second major administrative level refer to GEOLEV1, and GEOLEV2. More information on IPUMS-International geography can be found here.

Comparability — General

Where boundaries changed over time, units were harmonized to create units with boundaries that remain stable over time. Where officially-defined provinces have populations less than 20,000, they have been regionalized (combined) with neighboring provinces.

A reorganization of geography in Morocco occurred in 2014. GEO2_MA reflects provinces in Morocco in 2014.

Boundary changes for GEO2ALT_MA are too numerous to list here, but users should be aware that there were changes over time.

The entirety of Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira, the vast majority of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra, and part of Guelmim-Es Semara were situated within the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Universe

Availability

• Morocco: 1982, 1994, 2004