Marrakech, also Marrakesh, city, western Morocco, capital of Marrakech Province, on the fertile Haouz Plain, at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains. The traditional southern capital of the sultans and a major trade center, Marrakech is a rail terminus and a road and caravan center, connected with the Atlantic port of Safi. Industries include the processing of fruit, vegetables, and palms; tanning; and the manufacture of wool, flour, building materials, and handicrafts, notably leather goods and carpets. Lead, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and graphite mines are nearby, and the area is studded with date-palm oases. Of interest in the city are the ruined walls, twisting streets, and markets; the casino; the sultan's palace and gardens; the 12th-century Koutoubia mosque; the royal tombs; and Aguedal Park. Founded in 1062, Marrakech was capital of the Almoravides and, in the 12th century, capital of the Almohades. The city prospered under the later Saadis and was an important Saharan trade center. After the French occupation, the modern part of the city was built in 1913. The city was also called Morocco. Population (1994) 745,541.

City of Rabat                                         مدينة الرّباط

 Rabat, Morocco, capital city of Morocco, located on the Atlantic coast in the northwestern part of the country.

Near Rabat, in the contemporary town of Salé, are the ruins of a Roman settlement said to have originated as a small community of traders. Under Islamic influence after the 10th century, Salé was home to a group of Berbers from an heretical sect. In 1150 c.e., an Almohad sultan established a rabat, or citadel, for his army near Salé. The position of the fort along the Atlantic ocean and the banks of the Sebou River offered a prime location from which to launch his holy war against Spain. By the turn of the century, his son had finished the construction of the city, which came to be known as Rabat al-Fath (autonomous or victorious citadel). Although Rabat flourished first as an imperial city and then as an important military center under the Almohads, only the citadel was left inhabited after that Dynasty fell. In the 16th century, the historian Leo Africanus described the city as overgrown with vines.

During the early 17th century, Rabat's economy benefited from the increased trade, exploration, and piracy in the Atlantic. In the same period Rabat also became home to a large number of Muslim and Jewish refugees from Southern Spain following the Christian reconquest. These refugees were a heterogeneous population from different parts of Spain, and they brought the intellectual and cultural influences of Andalusia (Southern Spain) and built a new quarter near the citadel. Over the years, these soldiers, merchants, artisans, and seamen transformed the town from a military base into a prosperous port that exported skins, leather, wool, wax, and copper. The city drew a great deal of income from corsair activities, as pirates based out of Rabat plundered ships on the Atlantic and evaded their pursuers in the tricky river channel. In the late 17th century, after the sultan successfully suppressed hostile corsairs, the city became a secondary capital for the Alawite Dynasty.

During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Rabat lost much of its significance as a port of trade, as first the sultan shifted the kingdom's commercial trade to Essaouira and then Casablanca outstripped the port in the increasingly European-controlled trade. Conditions further deteriorated as the city faced an earthquake in 1755 followed by a series of plagues, the first of which killed some two-thirds of the population in Rabat and Salé.

Despite its economic decline, Rabat became an important seat of government — the Sultan assembled his government there as early as 1768. In 1912 the French made Rabat the administrative capital for the protectorate, and built a modern city for the French expatriate community outside the wall of the medina, or old city, where the Muslims lived. Following independence in 1956, the city became the capital of Morocco. The royal residence is located in Rabat as are the government's ministries and embassies. In 1957 the Université Muhammad V was founded as a center for modern education.

The population of Rabat and Salé has grown to approximately two million. The city's main industries include textiles, fruit and fish processing, and building materials. Artisans continue to produce traditional handicrafts such as worked leather and copper, as well as the famed Rabat carpets.

Contributed By:
Marian Aguiar

City of Casablanca                             المدينه البيضاء

Casablanca, city, western Morocco, largest city and chief seaport of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, near Rabat. It is one of the leading commercial cities of North Africa. It has railroads, highways, and an international airport and has one of the largest artificial harbors in the world; most of the foreign trade of Morocco passes through the city. Cereals, leather, wool, and phosphates are the chief exports. Casablanca also is the country's chief industrial center. The leading industries are fishing, fish canning, sawmilling, and the manufacture of furniture, construction materials, glass, and tobacco products. Hassan II University (1976) and the Great Mosque Hassan II are here.

In medieval times Casablanca was a prosperous town known as Anfa. It was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1468 and rebuilt by them in 1515. Following a severe earthquake in 1755, the city was again rebuilt. In 1907 Casablanca was occupied by the French. Under French administration it grew rapidly, and the modern city was built around the old Moorish city.

During World War II, Casablanca was one of the three major landing places in the invasion of North Africa by Allied forces. The city was the site of the Casablanca Conference (January 1943) between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, at which both leaders pledged that their countries would fight until the Axis powers surrendered unconditionally.

The withdrawal of the French in 1956, after Morocco became independent, caused Casablanca severe economic hardship. A thriving tourist trade and increased industry have restored prosperity. Population (1994 estimate) 2,940,623.

The City of Fès                مدينة فاس

Fès, Morocco or Fes, Morocco, city in northern Morocco.

 According to legend, Fès was founded in the early 800s c.e. by the great sultan Mawlay Idris II as two cities, one Berber and one Arab, on opposite sides of the river Fâs. This legend draws upon the renown of Idris II as a Berber ruler who brought together the imperial Arab and indigenous Berber cultures and made Fès the capital of the first Moroccan empire. Other accounts hold that Idris I built one city in 789, carving its boundaries into the earth with a silver and gold pickax, and his son founded the twin city across the river nearly 20 years later. Regardless of which account is true, the fact remains that the ruling family located their capital on a commercial crossroads of a main route to the eastern Maghreb and a route to the savanna kingdoms south of the Sahara. Enriched by trade, early Fès also became a center of Islamic scholarship, especially after the opening of Al Qarawiyin University in 859, the oldest university in North Africa.

When Fès came under the rule of the Umayyads dynasty (980-1012), an Islamic Spanish population settled the city on the right bank, and a Tunisian population settled on the left. The Almoravid sultan united these cities in 1069, turning Fès into a major Islamic metropolis. Under the reign of the Marinids (1258-1549) the city flourished, attracting scholars from throughout the Islamic world. The Marinids built the royal palace adjacent to the mosque, importing elements of both the culture of Andalusia (southern Spain) and North African architecture. They also built mellahs, walled compounds, around the city's Jewish quarter, ostensibly to “protect” the Jews but in effect creating a ghetto.

After Fès fell to the Sa'dians in 1549, Marrakech and Meknès became the chief imperial cities, and the political significance of Fès declined. But the city maintained its status as an important center for religious scholarship as well as for the production of handicrafts such as the fez, a brimless hat worn by many Muslims. By the 19th century, many of the citizens of Fès were doing business with European traders and investors. A treaty establishing a French protectorate in Morocco was signed at Fès in 1912.

Shortly afterward, the French built a modern district, including an industrial quarter, but left the old city essentially intact. Today, traditional guilds based in the medina, or old city, continue to oversee the production of traditional handicrafts, including pottery, leatherwork, carpets, and richly embroidered cotton and silk textiles.

The medina's workshops, bazaars, and mazelike alleys have become popular tourist attractions, and many locals work full-time as guides. Others work in the industrial quarters in oil-processing plants, tanneries, soap factories, and textile and flour mills. Fès is also a marketplace for produce from the surrounding fertile countryside, including beans, olives, grapes, and livestock.

City of Tangier                                     مدينة طنجه