About Morocco

[Redalinho]

Most Moroccans are Sunni Muslims of Arab, Berber, or mixed Arab-Berber stock. The Arabs came to Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries and established their culture there. There is also a small population of Gnawa, black Moroccans who are the descendants of ancestors from the Sahel region around what is present-day Mali. They are renowned for their music, which is believed to possess healing properties.Morocco's Jewish minority has decreased significantly and numbers about 7,000 (See History of the Jews in Morocco). Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French or Spanish; many are teachers, technicians and businessmen.

There is no significant genetic differences between Moroccan Arabs and Moroccan non-Arabs (ie Berbers and Saharawis). Thus, it is likely that Arabization was mainly a cultural process without genetic replacement. However, and according to the European Journal of Human Genetics, North-Western Africans were genetically closer to Iberians and to other Europeans than to African Americans.

Population

29.9 millions inhabitants (2004)

Ethnic groups

- Arab-Andalusians 15%: Spanish Muslims and Jews who moved to Morocco rather than submit to forced conversion.
- Berbers 30% : Amazigh people are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family
- Gnawa 8%: The Gnawas' population are generally believed to originate from the Sahelian region of West and Central Africa, which had long and extensive trading and political ties with Morocco , including gold and slave trades.
- Arab-Berbers 34%
- Jews 1% : Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community. Before the founding of Israel in 1948, there were about 300,000
- Harratins 10%: the word Haratin tends to be applied to the dark-skinned agriculturalists of the southern oases
- Sahrawis 2% : The term Sahrawi refers to a collection of Hassaniya Arabic speaking nomadic tribes, of Arab-Berber heritage, mainly descended from Western Moroccan Sahara

Languages

- Arabic (official)
- Moroccan Arabic (Darija)82% : The language spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco, as opposed to the official communications of governmental and other public bodies which use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries, while a mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in Business
- Judæo-Moroccan Arabic 1%: Arabic dialects of Jewish communities
- Tashelhiyt 33% : Tashelhiyt is spoken in Southern Morocco an area ranging from the northern slopes of the High-Atlas to the southern slopes of the Anti-Atlas, bounded to the west by the Atlantic Ocean
- Tarifit 6% : Tarifit is a Berber language, belonging to the Zenati subgroup of Northern Berber, and possibly the Rif subgroup of Zenati
- Middle Atlas Tamazight 10% : Bordered by the rich Plaine du Saïs and the cities of Fes, Meknes and Beni Mellal, the mountainous reaches of the Middle Atlas are the stronghold of Berber tribes, speaking Tamazight and living at very low population densities
- Judeo-Berber 0.5% : Hebrew-influenced Berber varieties spoken by some Berbers Jews specially in Southern Morocco.
- Ghomari 0.1%: Northern Berber language of the Zenati subgroup, spoken on the eastern edge of the Rif
- Haketia 0.2% : Jewish-Moroccan Spanish , also known as Djudeo Spañol or Ladino Occidental (western Ladino), spoken on the Northeast coast of Morocco
- Senhaja 0,5%: Contrary to the Ethnologue, it is not extinct; Harry Stroomer reports that "Senhaja de Srair is alive" It is apparently not immediately mutually intelligible with Tarifit, and is spoken only by a small minority among the Senhaja, in the area known as the "Little Senhaja"
- Zenati 1%: The Zenata are one of the main divisions of the medieval Berbers, along with Senhaja and Masmuda
Hassānīya 1% Though clearly a western dialect, Hassānīya is relatively distant from other North African variants of Arabic. Its geographical location exposed it to influence from Zenaga and Wolof. The phonological system of Hassānīya is both very innovative and very conservative. All phonemes of Classical Arabic are represented in the dialect, but new phonemes are numerous, too
- French 35%: French is an administrative language and is commonly understood (though not official)
- Spanish 15%: Specially in Western Sahara, Sidi Ifni, Northern Morocco (both standard Spanish and Ladino), and the Spanish colonies of Sebta and Melillia
- English: Widely used in business activities


Religions

- Muslim 97.7% : From the Sunni Maliki School
- Christian 1.1%: 60% are Roman Catholics and the country is divided into two archdioceses; Rabat and Tangier
- Jewish 0.2%: 7.000 (2000) ; 500.000 (1940)
- Bahai: 500 to 1.500

Source: wikipedia

[Redalinho]

Jews of Fez



Jewish Wedding in Morocco



Berber Jews



Moroccan Jewish women

[Redalinho]

Tifinagh alphabet



Moroccan Hebraic Kabbalah



Arabic alphabet

[eklips]

Is the number of jews increasing or decreasing today?

[Redalinho]

Despite their current small numbers, Jews continue to play a notable role in Morocco; the King retains a Jewish senior adviser, André Azoulay, and Jewish schools and synagogues receive government subsidies.
However, their numberis still decreasign because most of them are over the age of 60

[Redalinho]

The Sherifian Kingdom:It is the second name of Morocco because the royal dynasty descended from the prophet Muhammad.

In arabic :The full Arabic name of the country (Al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya) translates to The Western Kingdom. Al Maghrib (meaning The West) is commonly used. For historical references, historians used to refer to Morocco as Al Maghrib al Aqşá (The Furthest West), disambiguating it from the historical region called the Maghreb. The name Morocco in many other languages originates from the name of the former capital, Marrakech, deriving from a Berber expression meaning "Land of God".

Spanish: the Spanish pronunciation of the name of the city of "Marrakesh", believed to derive from the Berber roots tamart "land" + akush "God"

Turkish: The full turkish name of Morocco is Fas ( Morocco was calledthe Kingdom of Fez during the Middle ages)

Persian: The full persian name of Morocco is Murrakech(


Fas (Turkish), Al-Maghrib - المغرب (Standard Arabic), Maracó (Irish), Maroc (French, Romanian), Marocco (Italian), Marochium (Latin variant), Marocko (Swedish), Marocum (Latin), Marokas (Lithuanian), Marokk (Maltese), Marokko (Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Norwegian), Marokko - Марокко (Russian), Marokkó (Hungarian), Maroko (Bahasa Indonesia, Czech, Esperanto, Estonian, Polish, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene), Maroko - Мароко (Bulgarian), Maroko - מאַראָקאָ (Yiddish), Maroko - מרוקו (Hebrew), Maróko - Μαρόκο (Greek), Maroku (Albanian), el Marroc (Catalan), Marrocos (Portuguese), Marruecos (Spanish), Moroco (Welsh), Morògo (Scots Gaelic), Móluògē - 摩洛哥 (Chinese), Morokko - モロッコ (Japanese), Moroko - 모로코 (Korean)

[AntonAmeneiro]

Interesting thread In Spain we call "El Magreb" to all the north African countries.

[Redalinho]

We call it also Al Maghreb in arabic but to steer clearof any confusion we callit "Al Maghreb El Arabi"

The berbers call it Tamazgha and some Canarians call it Mazigia

[Redalinho]

Interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_David

[Redalinho]

788-904: The Idrissids
816-1078: Berghouata Kingdom
710-1015: Nekor Kingdom
758-977: Sijilmassa Kingdom



1073-1147: The Almoravids



1147-1269: The Almohads



1258-1420: Marinid Dynasty



1500: Before the Saadians



1554-1659: Saadi Dynasty






15th-16th c : Portuguese and Spanish Colonies



1666 Alaouite Dynasty




1884-1975 :Spanish Colonisation







1900: French Colonisation in the South



1912: French-Spanish Protectorate



1975: Green March



1979: Rio de Oro recovery

[Redalinho]

Tetuani is a dialect of Judaeo-Spanish, a Romance language that was spoken in the city of Oran in Algeria. The name Tetauni is derived from the city of Tetouan in Morocco, whence some of the Jewish residents of Oran came.

Classification

Tetauni is a dialect of the Romance language of Judaeo-Spanish. According to the Ethnologue, the classification of Judaeo-Spanish belongs to the Ibero-Romance branch of the Gallo-Iberian branch of the Western branch of the Italo-Western branch of the Romance branch of the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family.

[empersouf]

Reda, I think Canarians call us just tweet tweet.

[empersouf]

Interesting.
Why are only those 4 places marked on the map above?
Are those Unesco World Heritage?

[Redalinho]

It's an old list
Now there are 9 places classfied by the UNESCO

[Marquês de Caravelas]

Very nice !

The almoravids and almohades were extremely important in our history. They were fierce fighters and were in some part responsible for the autonomy and creation of Portugal as a Crusader and Templar State.

[Sanlucar-Playa]

Note: Before 20th century european states had well-traced borders, while african had not.

Obsérvese: Antes del siglo XX los estados europeos tenían fronteras bien trazadas, mientras que los africanos no.

[Redalinho]

Originally Posted by Sanlucar-Playa

Note: Before 20th century european states had well-traced borders, while african had not.

Obsérvese: Antes del siglo XX los estados europeos tenían fronteras bien trazadas, mientras que los africanos no.

Except The Kingdom o Morocco because it's the one of the oldest nation states in the world

[Halawala]

Nice thread. Are you a jew by any chance--if you don't mind me asking..

[Redalinho]

Spanish Penetration





Annual Battle

[Redalinho]

Spanish and French occupation



Spanish Civil War