Wikipedia

Maghreb

This article is about the North African subregion. For Islamic evening prayer, see Maghrib prayer.
Not to be confused with Mashriq.

The Maghreb (/ˈmɑːɡrəb/;[4] Arabic: ْاَلْمَغْرِب, romanized: al-Maghrib, lit. 'the west' [ælˈmaɣrɪb] ⓘ), also known as the Arab Maghreb (Arabic: اَلْمَغْرِبُ الْعَرَبِيُّ, romanized: al-Maghrib al-ʿArabi, lit. 'the Arab west') and Northwest Africa,[5] is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb also includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara.[note 1] As of 2018, the region had a population of over 100 million people.

Maghreb
المغرب
Countries and territories
Major regional organizationsAfrican Union, Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Community of Sahel–Saharan States, Union for the Mediterranean
Population105,095,436 (2021*)[3]
Population density16.72/km2
Area6,045,741 km2 (2,334,274 sq mi)
GDP PPP$1.299 trillion (2020)
GDP PPP per capita$12,628 (2020)
GDP nominal$382.780 billion (2020)
GDP nominal per capita$3,720 (2020)
Languages
ReligionSunni Islam, Christianity, and Judaism

The Maghreb is usually defined as encompassing much of the northern part of Africa, including a large portion of the Sahara Desert, but excluding Egypt and the Sudan, which are considered to be located in the Mashriq — the eastern part of the Arab world. The traditional definition of the Maghreb — which restricted its scope to the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya — was expanded in modern times to include Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara. During the era of al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula (711–1492), the Maghreb's inhabitants — the Muslim Maghrebis — were known by Europeans as the "Moors".[6] The Greeks referred to the region as the "Land of the Atlas", referring to its Atlas Mountains.[7]

Before the establishment of modern nation states in the region during the 20th century, the Maghreb most commonly referred to a smaller area, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlas Mountains in the south. It often also included the territory of eastern Libya, but not modern Mauritania. As recently as the late 19th century, the term "Maghreb" was used to refer to the western Mediterranean region of coastal North Africa in general, and to Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in particular.[8]

During the rule of the Berber kingdom of Numidia, the region was somewhat unified as an independent political entity. This period was followed by one of the Roman Empire's rule or influence. The Germanic Vandals invaded after that, followed by the equally brief re-establishment of a weak Roman rule by the Byzantine Empire. The Islamic caliphates came to power under the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate and the Fatimid Caliphate. The most enduring rule was that of the local Arab empires of the Aghlabids, Idrisids, Salihids, Sulaymanids, Umayyads of Cordoba, Hammudids, Nasrids, Saadians, Alawites and the Sennusids, as well as the Berber empires of the Ifranids, Almoravids, Almohads, Hammadids, Zirids, Marinids, Zayyanids, Hafsids and Wattasids, extending from the 8th to 13th centuries. The Ottoman Empire also controlled parts of the region for a period.

Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope of the Maghreb in favor of the Arabs. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region was ruled by European powers: France (Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and most of Morocco), Spain (northern Morocco and Western Sahara), and Italy (Libya). Italy was expelled from North Africa by the Allies in World War II. Decolonization of the region continued in the decades thereafter, with violent conflicts such as the Algerian War, the Ifni War and the Western Sahara War.

Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia established the Arab Maghreb Union in 1989 to promote cooperation and economic integration in a common market. The union implicitly included Western Sahara under Morocco's membership.[9] However, this progress was short-lived, and the union is now largely dormant. Tensions between Algeria and Morocco over Western Sahara re-emerged, reinforced by the unresolved border dispute between the two countries. These two conflicts have hindered progress on the union's joint goals.[10]

Terminology

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The toponym maghrib (Arabic: مغرب) is an Arabic term that the first Muslim Arab settlers gave to the recently conquered area situated west of the Umayyad capital of Damascus in the 7th century AD.[11] The term was used to refer to the region extending from Alexandria in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.[12] Etymologically, it means both "the western place/land" and "the place where the sun sets", in contrast to the Mashriq, the Fertile Crescent and eastern part of the Arab world.[13] In Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm fī Ma'rifat al-Aqālīm (c. 985 AD), medieval Arab geographer Al-Maqdisi used the term Arab regions (Arabic: أَقَالِيمُ ٱلْعَرَبِ) to refer to the lands of Arabia, Iraq, Upper Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Maghreb.[14] This constituted the earliest documented differentiation between the terms Maghreb and Gharb (Muslim lands west of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad). The former referred to the present-day Maghreb whereas the latter incorporated the Levant and Egypt in addition to the Maghreb.[11]

Medieval Muslim historians and geographers divided the Maghreb region into three areas: al-Maghrib al-Adna (the near Maghrib; also known as Ifriqiya), which included the lands extending from Alexandria to Tarabulus (modern-day Tripoli) in the west; al-Maghrib al-Awsat (the middle Maghrib), which extended from Tripoli to Bijaya (Béjaïa); and al-Maghrib al-Aqsa (the far Maghrib), which extended from Tahart (Tiaret) to the Atlantic Ocean.[12] Historians and geographers disagreed, however, over the definition of the eastern boundary. Some authors place it at the sea of Kulzum (the Red Sea) and thus include Egypt and Barqa (Cyrenaica) in the Maghreb. Ibn Khaldun does not accept this definition because, he says, the inhabitants of the Maghreb do not consider Egypt and Barqa as forming part of Maghrib. The latter commences only at the province of Tripoli and includes the districts of which the country of the Berbers was composed in former times. Later Maghribi writers repeated the definition of Ibn Khaldun, with a few variations in details.[15]

The term Maghrib is used in opposition to Mashriq in a sense near to that which it had in medieval times, but it also denotes simply Morocco when the full al-Maghrib al-Aqsa is abbreviated. Certain politicians seek a political union of the North African countries, which they call al-Maghrib al-Kabir (the grand Maghrib) or al-Maghrib al-Arabi (the Arab Maghrib).[15][16]

History

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Further information: History of North Africa
 
Maghreb head ornament (Morocco)

Prehistory

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Main article: Prehistoric North Africa

Some 9,000 years ago, Earth's tilt was 24.14 degrees, as compared with the current 23.45 degrees. Around 3,500 BC, these changes in the tilt of the Earth's orbit appear to have caused a rapid desertification of the Sahara region[17] forming a natural barrier that severely limited contact between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. The Berber people have inhabited western North Africa since at least 10,000 BC.[18]

Antiquity

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Main articles: North Africa during classical antiquity and Ancient Carthage
 
Roman trireme on a mosaic in the Bardo Museum, Tunisia

Partially isolated from the rest of the continent by the Atlas Mountains (stretching from present-day Morocco to present-day Tunisia) and by the Sahara desert, inhabitants of the northern parts of the Maghreb have long had commercial and cultural ties across the Mediterranean Sea to the inhabitants of the regions of Southern Europe and Western Asia. These trade relations date back at least to the Phoenicians in the 1st millennium BC. (According to tradition, the Phoenicians founded their colony of Carthage (in present-day Tunisia) c. 800 BC).

Phoenicians and Carthaginians arrived for trade. The main Berber and Phoenician settlements centered in the Gulf of Tunis (Carthage, Utica, Tunisia) along the North African littoral, between the Pillars of Hercules and the Libyan coast east of ancient Cyrenaica. They dominated the trade and intercourse of the Western Mediterranean for centuries. Rome's defeat of Carthage in the Punic Wars (264 to 146 BC) enabled Rome to establish the Province of Africa (146 BC) and to control many of these ports. Rome eventually took control of the entire Maghreb north of the Atlas Mountains. Rome was greatly helped by the defection of Massinissa (later King of Numidia, r. 202 – 148 BC) and of Carthage's eastern Numidian Massylii client-allies. Some of the most mountainous regions, such as the Moroccan Rif, remained outside Roman control. Furthermore, during the rule of the Romans, Byzantines, Vandals and Carthaginians the Kabyle people were the only or one of the few in North Africa who remained independent.[19][20][21][22] The Kabyle people were incredibly resistible so much so that even during the Arab conquest of North Africa they still had control and possession over their mountains.[23][24]

The pressure put on the Western Roman Empire by the Barbarian invasions (notably by the Vandals and Visigoths in Iberia) in the 5th century AD reduced Roman control and led to the establishment of the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in 430 A.D., with its capital at Carthage. A century later, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent (533) a force under General Belisarius that succeeded in destroying the Vandal Kingdom in 534. Byzantine rule lasted for 150 years. The Berbers contested the extent of Byzantine control.[25]

After the advent of Islam in Mediterranean Africa in the period from 639 to 700 AD, Arabs took control of the entire Maghreb region.[26]

Middle Ages

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Main articles: Ifriqiya, Umayyad Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphate, Idrisid dynasty, Almoravid dynasty, Kingdom of Africa, Almohad Caliphate, Hafsid dynasty, Marinid dynasty, Ziyyanid dynasty, and Wattasid dynasty
 
The Great Mosque of Kairouan, founded by the Arab general Uqba Ibn Nafi (in 670), is the oldest mosque in the Maghreb city of Kairouan, Tunisia.[27]

The Arabs reached the Maghreb in early Umayyad times in the 7th century, and from then the Arab migration to the Maghreb began. Islamic Berber kingdoms such as the Almohads expansion and the spread of Islam contributed to the development of trans-Saharan trade. In addition, several Arab dynasties formed in the Maghreb region, such as the Idrisids, Aghlabids, Sulaymanids and more. While restricted due to the cost and dangers, the trade was highly profitable. Commodities traded included such goods as salt, gold, ivory, and slaves. Various Islamic variations, such as the Ibadis and the Shia, were adopted by some Berbers, often leading to scorning of Caliphal control in favour of their own interpretation of Islam.

The invasion of the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym Arabs in the 11th century played a major role in spreading Bedouin Arabic to rural areas such as the countryside and steppes, and as far as the southern areas near the Sahara.[28] It also heavily transformed the culture in the Maghreb into Arab culture, and spread Bedouin nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant.[29] These Bedouin tribes accelerated and deepened the Arabization process, since the Berber population was gradually assimilated by the newcomers and had to share with them pastures and seasonal migration paths. By around the 15th century, the region of modern-day Tunisia had already been almost completely Arabized.[30] As Arab nomads spread, the territories of the local Berber tribes were moved and shrank. The Zenata were pushed to the west and the Kabyles were pushed to the north. The Berbers took refuge in the mountains whereas the plains were Arabized.[31] These Arabs had been set upon the Berbers by the Fatimids in punishment for their Zirid former Berber clients who defected and abandoned Shiism in the 11th century. Throughout this period, the Maghreb most often was divided into three states, roughly corresponding to modern Morocco, western Algeria, and eastern Algeria and Tunisia. The Maghreb region was occasionally briefly unified, as under the Almohad Caliphate, Fatimids and briefly under the Zirids. The Hammadids also managed to conquer land in all countries in the Maghreb region.[32][33][34]

Early modern history

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Main articles: Barbary Coast, Saadi dynasty, Alaouite dynasty, Kingdom of Ait Abbas, Kingdom of Kuku, Ottoman Algeria, Ottoman Tunisia, and Ottoman Tripolitania
 
1707 map of Northwest Africa by Guillaume Delisle, including the Maghreb. After the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Empire loosely controlled the area east of Morocco.

Modern history

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Further information: Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara, French protectorate of Morocco, French Algeria, French Protectorate of Tunisia, and Italian Libya
Further information: Military operations in North Africa during World War I, North African campaign, and Western Desert campaign
Further information: Western Sahara War, Algerian War of Independence, History of Algeria since 1962, History of modern Tunisia, Kingdom of Libya, and Libya under Gaddafi

After the 19th century, areas of the Maghreb were colonized by France, Spain, and later Italy.

Today, more than two and a half million Maghrebi immigrants live in France, many from Algeria and Morocco. In addition, as of 1999 there were 3 million French of Maghrebi origin (defined as having at least one grandparent from Algeria, Morocco, or Tunisia).[35] A 2003 estimate suggests six million French residents were ethnic Maghrebi.[36][37]

Population

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Main article: Maghrebis
 
Algiers, Algeria
 
Casablanca, Morocco
 
People of Maghreb

Ethnic groups

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The Maghreb is primarily inhabited by peoples of Arab and Berber mixed ancestral origin. Arabs inhabit Algeria (70%[38] to 80%[39]), Libya (97%[40]), Morocco (67%[41]), and Tunisia (98%[42]). Berbers inhabit Algeria (20%[39]), Libya (10%[43]), Morocco (35%[44]), and Tunisia (1%[45]). Ethnic French, Spanish, West African, and Sephardic Jewish populations also inhabit the region. Centuries of Arabization and Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope of the Maghreb in favor of the Arabs.

Various other influences are also prominent throughout the Maghreb. In northern coastal towns, in particular, several waves of European immigrants influenced the population in the Medieval era. Most notable were the moriscos and muladies, that is, the indigenous Spaniards (Moors) who were forcibly converted to Catholicism and later expelled, together with ethnic Arab and Berber Muslims, during the Spanish Catholic Reconquista. Other European contributions included French, Italian, and English crews and passengers taken captive by corsairs. In some cases, they were returned to families after being ransomed; in others, they were used as slaves or assimilated and adopted into tribes.[46]

Historically, the Maghreb was home to significant historic Jewish communities called Maghrebim, who predated the 7th-century introduction and conversion of the region to Islam. The earliest recorded Jewish settlement in the region dates back to the third century BCE under Ptolemaic rule in what is now Libya,[47] although Jewish presence may have begun even earlier. Jewish communities continued to develop throughout the Roman period in present-day Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, with evidence of their existence during the early centuries CE.[48] During the early Muslim era, Jews flourished in major urban centers such as Kairouan, Fez, and Tunis, despite facing intermittent persecution, notably under the Almohads.[49] The influx of Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, fleeing pogroms, forced conversions and expulsions in the 14th to 16th centuries, further augmented the Jewish presence in North Africa.[50]

Another significant group is Turks, who migrated with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire.

Africans from south of the Sahara joined the population mix during centuries of trans-Saharan trade. Traders and slaves went to the Maghreb from the Sahel region. On the Saharan southern edge of the Maghreb are small communities of black populations, sometimes called Haratine.

In Algeria especially, a large European minority, known as the "pied noirs", immigrated to the region, settling under French colonial rule in the late 19th century.[51] As of the last census in French-ruled Algeria, taken on 1 June 1960, there were 1,050,000 non-Muslim civilians (mostly Catholic, but including 130,000 Algerian Jews) in Algeria, 10 per cent of the population.[52] They established farms and businesses. The overwhelming majority of these, however, left Algeria during and following the war for independence.[53]

In comparison to the population of France, the Maghrebi population was one-eighth of France's population in 1800, one-quarter in 1900, and equal in 2000. The Maghreb is home to 1% of the global population as of 2010.[54]

Genetics

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Further information: Genetic history of North Africa

The Y-chromosome genetic structure of the Maghreb population seems to be modulated chiefly by geography. The Y-DNA Haplogroups E1b1b and J make up the vast majority of the genetic markers of the populations of the Maghreb. Haplogroup E1b1b is the most frequent among Maghrebi groups, especially the downstream lineage of E1b1b1b1a, which is typical of the indigenous Berbers of North-West Africa. Haplogroup J1 is the second most frequent among Maghrebi groups and is more indicative of Middle East origins, and has its highest distribution among populations in Arabia and the Levant. Due to the distribution of E-M81(E1b1b1b1a), which has reached its highest documented levels in the world at 95–100% in some populations of the Maghreb, it has often been termed the "Berber marker" in the scientific literature.[citation needed] The second most common marker, Haplogroup J, especially J1,[55][56] which is typically Middle Eastern and originates in the Arabian peninsula, can reach frequencies of up to 35% in the region.[57][58] Its highest density is found in the Arabian Peninsula.[58] Haplogroup R1,[59] a Eurasian marker, has also been observed in the Maghreb, though with lower frequency. The Y-DNA haplogroups shown above are observed in both Arabic speakers and Berber-speakers.

Haplogroup E

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Haplogroup E is thought to have emerged in prehistoric North Africa or East Africa,[60] and would have later dispersed into West Asia. The major subclades of haplogroup E found amongst Berbers belong to E-Z827, which is believed to have emerged in North Africa. Common subclades include E1b1b1a, E1b1b1b and E1b1b1*. E1b1b1b is distributed along a west-to-east cline with frequencies that can reach as high as 100 percent in Northwest Africa. E1b1b1a has been observed at low to moderate frequencies among Berber populations with significantly higher frequencies observed in Northeast Africa relative to Northwest Africa.[56][61][62] Loosdrecht et al. 2018 demonstrated that E1b1b is most likely indigenous to North Africa and migrated from North Africa to the Near East during the Paleolithic.[63]

Haplogroup J1

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Distribution of Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)

Haplogroup J-M267 is another very common haplogroup in the Maghreb, being the second most-frequent haplogroup in the Maghreb.[64] It originated in the Middle East, and its highest frequency of 30%–62.5% has been observed in Muslim Arab populations in the Middle East.[64] A study found out that the majority of J1 (Eu10) chromosomes in the Maghreb are due to the recent gene flow caused by the Arab migrations to the Maghreb in the first millennium CE. The J-M267 chromosome pool in the Maghreb is derived not only from early Neolithic dispersions but to a much greater extent from recent expansions of Arab tribes from the Arabian Peninsula, during which both southern Qahtanite and northern Adnanite Arabs added to the heterogenous Maghrebi ethnic melting pot.[64] A study from 2017 suggested that these Arab migrations were a demographic process that heavily implied gene flow and remodeled the genetic structure of the Maghreb, rather than a mere cultural replacement as claimed by older studies.[65]

Recent genome-wide analysis of North Africans found substantial shared ancestry with the Middle East, and to a lesser extent sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. The recent gene flow caused by the Arab migrations to the Maghreb increased genetic similarities between Maghrebis and Middle Easterners.[66] Haplogroup J1-M267 accounts for around 30% of Maghrebis and has spread from the Arabian Peninsula, second after E1b1b1b which accounts for 45% of Maghrebis. A study from 2021 has shown that the highest frequency of the Middle Eastern component ever observed in North Africa so far was observed in the Arabs of Wesletia in Tunisia, who had a Middle Eastern component frequency of 71.8%.[67] According to a study from 2004, Haplogroup J1 had a frequency of 35% in Algerians and 34.2% in Tunisians.[56]

Table

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The Maghreb Y chromosome pool (including both Arab and Berber populations) may be summarized for most of the populations as follows, where only two haplogroups E1b1b and J comprise generally more than 80% of the total chromosomes:[68][64][56][69][60][59][70][71]

Haplogroup Marker Sahara/Mauritania Morocco Algeria Tunisia Libya
n 189 760 156 601 –
A – 0.26 – – –
B 0.53 0.66 – 0.17 –
C – – – – –
DE – – – – –
E1a M33 5.29 2.76 0.64 0.5 –
E1b1a M2 6.88 3.29 5.13 0.67 –
E1b1b1 M35 – 4.21 0.64 1.66 –
E1b1b1a M78 – 0.79 1.92 – –
E1b1b1a1 V12 – 0.26 0.64 – –
E1b1b1a1b V32 – – – – –
E1b1b1a2 V13 – 0.26 0.64 – –
E1b1b1a3 V22 – 1.84 1.28 3 –
E1b1b1a4 V65 – 3.68 1.92 3.16 –
E1b1b1b M81 65.56 67.37 64.23 72.73 –
E1b1b1c M34 11.11 0.66 1.28 1.16 –
F M89 – 0.26 3.85 2.66 –
G M201 – 0.66 – 0.17 –
H M69 – – – – –
I – 0.13 – 0.17 –
J1 3.23 6.32 1.79 6.64 –
J2 – 1.32 4.49 2.83 –
K – 0.53 0.64 0.33 –
L – – – – –
N – – – – –
O – – – – –
P, R – 0.26 – 0.33 –
Q – – 0.64 – –
R1a1 – – 0.64 0.5 –
R1b M343 – – – – –
R1b1a V88 6.88 0.92 2.56 1.83 –
R1b1b M269 0.53 3.55 7.04 0.33 –
R2 – – – – –
T M70 – – – 1.16 –

Religion

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The mausoleum of Madghacen

The original religions of the peoples of the Maghreb seem[72] to have been based in and related to fertility cults of a strong matriarchal pantheon. This theory is based on the social and linguistic structures of the Amazigh cultures that antedated all Egyptian and eastern Asian, northern Mediterranean, and European influences.

Historic records of religion in the Maghreb region show its gradual inclusion in the Classical World, with coastal colonies established first by Phoenicians, some Greeks, and later extensive conquest and colonization by the Romans. By the 2nd century of the common era, the area had become a center of Phoenician-speaking Christianity. Its bishops spoke and wrote in Punic, and Emperor Septimius Severus was noted by his local accent. Roman settlers and Romanized populations converted to Christianity. Carthage subsequently exercised informal primacy as an archdiocese, being the most important center of Christianity in the whole of Roman Africa, corresponding to most of today's Mediterranean coast and inland of Northern Africa.[73] The region produced figures such as Christian church writer Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 202); and Christian martyrs or leading figures such as Perpetua, and Felicity (martyrs, c. 200 CE); St. Cyprian of Carthage (+ 258); St. Monica; her son the philosopher St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo I (+ 430) (1); and St. Julia of Carthage (5th century). Donatist Christianity mainly spread among the indigenous Berber population,[74] and from the late fifth and early sixth century, the region included several Christian Berber kingdoms.[75]

Islam

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al-Qarawiyyin Mosque

Islam arrived in 647 and challenged the domination of Christianity. The first permanent foothold of Islam was the founding in 667 of the city of Kairouan, in present-day Tunisia. Carthage fell to Muslims in 698 and the remainder of the region fell by 709. Islamization proceeded slowly.

From the end of the 7th century, over a period of more than 400 years, the region's peoples converted to Islam. Many left during this time for Italy, although surviving letters showed correspondence from regional Christians to Rome up until the 12th century. Christianity was still a living faith. Although there were numerous conversions after the conquest, Muslims did not become a majority until some time late in the 9th century. During the 10th century, Islam became by far the dominant religion in the region.[76] Christian bishoprics and dioceses continued to be active and continued their relations with the Christian Church of Rome. As late as the reign of Pope Benedict VII (974–983), a new Archbishop of Carthage was consecrated. From the 10th century, Christianity declined in the region.[77] By the end of the 11th century, only two bishops were left in Carthage and Hippo Regius. Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) consecrated a new bishop for Hippo. Christianity seems to have suffered several shocks that led to its demise. First, many upper-class, urban-dwelling, Latin-speaking Christians left for Europe after the Muslim conquest. The second major influence was the large-scale conversions to Islam from the end of the 9th century. Many Christians of a much reduced community departed in the mid-11th century, and remnants were evacuated in the 12th by the Norman rulers of Sicily. The Latin-African language lingered a while longer.

There was a small but thriving Jewish community, as well as a small Christian community. Most Muslims follow the Sunni Maliki school. Small Ibadi communities remain in some areas. A strong tradition of venerating marabouts and saints' tombs is found throughout regions inhabited by Berbers. This practice was also common among the Jews of the region. Any map of the region demonstrates the tradition by the proliferation of "Sidi"s, showing places named after the marabouts. This tradition has declined through the 20th century. A network of zaouias traditionally helped teach basic literacy and knowledge of Islam in rural regions.

Christianity

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See also: Christianity in the Roman Africa province
 
Christian Berber family from Kabylia

Communities of Christians, mostly Catholics and Protestant, persist in Algeria (100,000–380,000),[78] Mauritania (10,000),[79][80] Morocco (~380,000),[81] Libya (170,000), and Tunisia (100,750).[82] Most of the Roman Catholics in Greater Maghreb are of French, Spanish, and Italian descent, with ancestors who immigrated during the colonial era. Some are foreign missionaries or immigrant workers. There are also Christian communities of Berber or Arab descent in Greater Maghreb,[83] made up of persons who converted mostly during the modern era, or under and after French colonialism.[84][85]

Prior to independence, Algeria was home to 1.4 million pieds-noirs (ethnic French who were mostly Catholic),[52][83] and Morocco was home to half a million Europeans,[83][86] Tunisia was home to 255,000 Europeans,[83][87] and Libya was home to 145,000 Europeans.[83] In religion, most of the pieds-noirs in Maghreb are Catholic. Due to the exodus of the pieds-noirs in the 1960s, more North African Christians of Berber or Arab descent now live in France than in Greater Maghreb. Prior to independence, the European Catholic settlers had historic legacy and powerful presence in Maghreb countries.[83]

Recently, the Protestant community of Berber or Arab descent has grown significantly as additional individuals convert to Christianity, especially to Evangelicalism. This has occurred in Algeria,[88] especially in the Kabylie,[89] Morocco,[90][91] and in Tunisia.[92] The Catholic population in Libya is estimated to number 100,000, The Catholics are the largest Christian denomination, followed by c. 60,000 Copts and a small number of Anglicans.[93]

A 2015 study estimates 380,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Algeria.[94] The number of Moroccans who converted to Christianity (most of them secret worshipers) are estimated between 40,000[95]-150,000.[96][97] The International Religious Freedom Report for 2007 estimates thousands of Tunisian Muslims have converted to Christianity.[92] A 2015 study estimate some 1,500 believers in Christ from a Muslim background living in Libya.[94]

In 2019, the proportion of Melillans that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 65.0%,[98] the Roman Catholic churches in Melilla belong to the Diocese of Málaga.[99] Roman Catholicism is the largest religion in Ceuta, in 2019, the proportion of Ceutans that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 60.0%.[100] The Roman Catholic churches in Ceuta belong to the Diocese of Cádiz y Ceuta.

Jewish presence

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See also: Maghrebi Jews

The earliest documented Jewish presence in the Maghreb dates to the third century BCE, with Jews being settled in eastern Libya by the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt.[47] During the Roman Empire, Jewish communities expanded across the Maghreb, with archaeological evidence, including synagogues and inscriptions, indicating their presence in what are now Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco from the early centuries CE.[48] Under early Muslim rule, Jews flourished in major urban centers such as Kairouan, Fez, and Tunis, with the Jewish community in Kairouan particularly noted for its significant intellectual and cultural contributions. However, Jews also encountered periods of persecution, particularly under the Almohad Caliphate (12th–13th centuries), which imposed severe restrictions on non-Muslims.[49] In the 14th to 16th centuries, the Maghreb experienced an influx of Jews fleeing from Spain and Portugal due to growing persecution and the Spanish Inquisition. Following the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and the forced mass conversions in Portugal in 1497, many Sephardic Jews settled in North Africa, establishing new communities and integrating with the existing Jewish populations.[50]

In the 10th century, as the social and political environment in Baghdad became increasingly hostile to Jews, some Jewish traders emigrated to the Maghreb, especially Kairouan, Tunisia. Over the following two or three centuries, such Jewish traders became known as the Maghribi, a distinctive social group who traveled throughout the Mediterranean world. They passed this identification on from father to son. Their tight-knit pan-Maghreb community had the ability to use social sanctions as a credible alternative to legal recourse, which was weak at the time anyway. This unique institutional alternative permitted the Maghribis to very successfully participate in the Mediterranean trade.[101] This facilitated contacts between the Maghrebi and European Jewish communities, particularly in trade in the pre-colonial period. The most important points of contact were Livorno in Italy with its harbour frequented by Tunisian merchants and Marseille in France with its counterpart, the harbour for Algeria and Morocco. The Maghreb region produced spices and leather, from shoes to handbags. As many of the Maghrebi Jews were craftsmen and merchants, they had contact with their European customers.[102] Today, among Arab countries, the largest Jewish community now exists in Morocco with about 2,000 Jews and in Tunisia with about 1,000.[103][104]

Geography

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Ecoregions

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The Maghreb is divided into a Mediterranean climate region in the north, and the arid Sahara in the south. The Maghreb's variations in elevation, rainfall, temperature, and soils give rise to distinct communities of plants and animals. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) identifies several distinct ecoregions in the Maghreb.

Mediterranean Maghreb

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Dwarf fan palm, grown in Maghrebi countries

The portions of the Maghreb between the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, along with coastal Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in Libya, are home to Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. These ecoregions share many species of plants and animals with other portions of Mediterranean Basin. The southern extent of the Mediterranean Maghreb corresponds with the 100 mm (3.9 in) isohyet, or the southern range of the European Olive (Olea europea)[105] and Esparto Grass (Stipa tenacissima).[106]

Saharan Maghreb

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The Sahara extends across northern Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Its central part is hyper-arid and supports little plant or animal life, but the northern portion of the desert receives occasional winter rains, while the strip along the Atlantic coast receives moisture from marine fog, which nourishes a greater variety of plants and animals. The northern edge of the Sahara corresponds to the 100 mm isohyet, which is also the northern range of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera).[106]

Culture

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Further information: Culture of Morocco, Culture of Algeria, Culture of Tunisia, and Culture of Libya
 
Cuscus

The countries of the Maghreb share many cultural similarities and traditions. Among these is a culinary tradition that Habib Bourguiba defined as Western Arab, where bread or couscous are the staple foods, as opposed to Eastern Arab, where bread, crushed wheat or white rice are the staple foods.[citation needed] In terms of food, some similarities beyond the starches are found throughout the Arab world.

Among other cultural and artistic traditions, jewellery of the Berber cultures worn by Amazigh women and made of silver,[111] beads and other applications was a common trait of Berber identities in large areas of the Maghreb up to the second half of the 20th century.[112]

In 2020, couscous was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.[113]

Economy

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Maghreb countries by GDP (PPP)

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List by the International Monetary Fund (2013) List by the World Bank (2013) List by the CIA World Factbook (2013)
Rank Country GDP (PPP) $M
44 Algeria 285,541
58 Morocco 179,240
70 Tunisia 108,430
81 Libya 70,386
148 Mauritania 8,241
Rank Country GDP (PPP) $M
34 Algeria 421,626
55 Morocco 241,757
70 Libya 132,695
75 Tunisia 120,755
143 Mauritania 11,835
Rank Country GDP (PPP) $M
45 Algeria 284,700
58 Morocco 180,000
68 Tunisia 108,400
81 Libya 73,600
151 Mauritania 8,204
List by the International Monetary Fund (2019) List by the World Bank (2017) List by the CIA World Factbook (2017)
Rank Country GDP (PPP) $M
35 Algeria 681,396
54 Morocco 328,651
76 Tunisia 149,190
101 Libya 61,559
143 Mauritania 19,811
Rank Country GDP (PPP) $M
35 Algeria 631,150
55 Morocco 298,230
76 Tunisia 137,358
78 Libya 125,142
143 Mauritania 17,458
Rank Country GDP (PPP) $M
35 Algeria 629,300
55 Morocco 300,100
76 Tunisia 135,900
102 Libya 63,140
148 Mauritania 17,370

Medieval regions

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b A disputed territory with undetermined political status.[1] Formerly Spanish Sahara up to 1976, administration is currently split between Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, both of which claim the entire territory. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic's administrative control is limited to approximately 30% of the territory, with the remaining 70% of the territory occupied by Morocco.[2] The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara is the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the territory (see Western Sahara conflict).

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  101. ^ Avner Greif (June 1993). "Contract Enforceability and Economic Institutions in Early Trade: The Maghribi Traders' Coalition" (PDF). American Economic Review. American Economic Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2007.. See also Greif's "Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders", in Journal of Economic History Vol. XLIX, No. 4 (Dec. 1989) pp.857–882
  102. ^ Lubrich, Naomi (30 November 2023). "Who were the Jews of North Africa? Four Questions to Daniel Zisenwine". Jüdisches Museum Schweiz. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  103. ^ Rosenberg, Jerry M. (28 September 2009). The Rebirth of the Middle East. Hamilton Books. ISBN 978-0-7618-4846-2.
  104. ^ "Jewish Population Rises to 15.2 million Worldwide". Jewish agency. 15 September 2021. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  105. ^ Dallman, Peter R. (1998) Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates. California Native Plant Society/University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-20809-9
  106. ^ a b Wickens, Gerald E. (1998) Ecophysiology of Economic Plants in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. Springer, Berlin. ISBN 978-3-540-52171-6
  107. ^ "North Saharan steppe and woodlands". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  108. ^ "Atlantic coastal desert". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  109. ^ "Sahara desert". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  110. ^ "Saharan halophytics". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  111. ^ Jonathan M. Bloom; Sheila S. Blair (2009). Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set. New York: Oxford University Press USA. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  112. ^ See, for example, Rabaté, Marie-Rose (2015). Les bijoux du Maroc: du Haut-Atlas à la vallée du Draa. Paris: ACR ed. and Rabaté, Marie-Rose; Jacques Rabaté; Dominique Champault (1996). Bijoux du Maroc: du Haut Atlas à la vallée du Draa. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud/Le Fennec, as well as Gargouri-Sethom, Samira (1986). Le bijou traditionnel en Tunisie: femmes parées, femmes enchaînées. Aix-en-Provence: Edisud.
  113. ^ "UNESCO adds couscous to list of intangible world heritage". Al Jazeera English. 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
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