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The inner few hundred parsecs of the Galactic Center contains ∼10% of the molecular ISM in the Galaxy. The conditions in this gas are significantly different from those in molecular clouds elsewhere in the Galaxy. Typical temperatures, densities, and internal velocity dispersions are higher (Güesten 1989). There is also evidence for a large amount of molecular gas which is not bound to distinct clouds (Stark et al. 1989). High velocity bulk gas motions and velocity discontinuities open up the possibility of a role for powerful large-scale shocks in ISM excitation. The very different nature of the dense ISM in the inner Galaxy make it useful as a laboratory for physical effects in the interstellar medium and a proving ground for ideas about the interaction of gas and stars in the nuclei of other galaxies.