Moroccans are the citizens and nationals of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers. The term also applies more broadly to those who share a common Moroccan culture and identity, as well as those who natively speak Moroccan Arabic, Berber languages, or other languages of Morocco.
In addition to the approximately 37 million residents of Morocco, there is a large Moroccan diaspora. Considerable Moroccan populations can be found in France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands; with smaller notable concentrations in other Arab states, as well as Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
Ethnic groups
Moroccans are primarily of Arab, Berber, and Andalusian origins (as in other countries of the Mediterranean Maghreb). The Higher Planning Commission, the country's state statistics bureau, does not collect data on ethnic demographics, citing the historical difficulty of distinguishing between Arabs and Berbers, even among Berber speakers.
According to 2024 census data, 92.7% of the population speaks Arabic, while 24.8% regularly speak an Amazigh variety. Despite the lack of official ethnic statistics, estimates typically put the Berber population as ranging between 35–60% of the population, with some estimates as high as 70%, while estimates of the Arab population range between 40–60%.
Socially, there are two contrasting groups of Moroccans: those living in the cities and those in the rural areas. Among the rural, several classes have formed such as landowners, peasants, and tenant farmers. Moroccans live mainly in the north and west portions of Morocco. Historically and today, most Moroccans live in the country's most fertile regions near Morocco's Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
Between the Nile and the Red Sea were Arab tribes expelled from Arabia for their turbulence, Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, who often plundered farming areas in the Nile Valley. The Arab population of Morocco is a result of the inflow of nomadic Arab tribes from the Arabian Peninsula since the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century with a major wave in the 11th century. Since the 7th century, the influx of Arab migrants from the Arabian Peninsula has contributed to shaping Morocco's demographic, cultural, and genetic landscape. The major migration to the region by Arab tribes was in the 11th century when the tribes of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, along with others, were sent by the Fatimids to defeat a Berber rebellion and then settle in the Maghreb. According to Ibn Khaldun, whole tribes set off with women, children, ancestors, animals and camping equipment. These tribes, who arrived in the region of Morocco around the 12th-13th centuries, and later the Ma'qil in the 14th century, contributed to a more extensive ethnic, genetic, cultural, and linguistic Arabization of Morocco over time, especially beyond the major urban centres and the northern regions which were the main sites of Arabization up to that point. The Berber population mainly inhabits the mountainous regions of Morocco where some preserve Berber culture, and are split into three groups; Rifians, Shilha, and Central Atlas Amazigh, who inhabit the Rif mountains, Anti-Atlas mountains, and Middle Atlas mountains respectively. The Berbers were an amalgamation of Ibero-Maurisian and a minority of Capsian stock blended with a more recent intrusion associated with the Neolithic Revolution.J. Desanges, "The proto-Berbers" 236–245, at 237, in General History of Africa, v.II Ancient Civilizations of Africa (UNESCO 1990). Out of these populations, the proto-Berber tribes formed during the late Paleolithic era.Mário Curtis Giordani, História da África. Anterior aos descobrimentos (Petrópolis, Brasil: Editora Vozes 1985) at 42–43, 77–78. Giordani references Bousquet, Les Berbères (Paris 1961). As a result of the influx of Arab nomads, some Berbers who sought the protection of the Bedouin became Arabized becoming Arabized Berbers.
A small minority of the population are identified as Haratin and Gnawa. These are sedentary agriculturalists of non-Arab and non-Berber origin, who inhabit the southern and eastern oases and speak either Berber or Arabic. Although it is commonly believed that all Haratins descend from West African slaves, some Haratins were native to southern Morocco descending from Black minority communities who have long inhabited the Draa.
Millions of northern Moroccans are descendants of Morisco and Sephardic Jewish refugees, who were expelled from Spain during the Reconquista. The Trans-Saharan slave trade brought a population of Sub-Saharan Africans to Morocco. Following the 1948 founding of Israel and start of the Arab-Israeli conflict, many Jewish Moroccans felt compelled to leave Morocco (particularly after anti-Jewish riots in Oujda) and immigrated to Israel-Palestine, Europe, and North America. By 1967, more than 250,000 Jewish Moroccans left the country.
History
Early Arab era (670–1031)
In 670 AD, the first Arab conquest of the Maghreb's Mediterranean coastal plain took place under Uqba ibn Nafi, a general serving under the Umayyad Caliphate, marking the first wave of Arab migration to Morocco. Arab tribes such as Banu Muzaina migrated, and the Arab Muslims in the region had more impact on the culture of the Maghreb than the region's conquerors before and after them. The Umayyads brought their language, their system of government, and Islam to Morocco and many Berbers converted to Islam. The first independent state in the area of modern Morocco was the Emirate of Nekor, an Arab emirate in north Morocco ruling as a client state of the Umayyad Caliphate. It was founded by the Himyarite descendant Salih ibn Mansur in 710. After the outbreak of the Berber Revolt in 739, the Berbers formed other independent states such as the Emirate of Sijilmasa and the Barghawata Confederation.Georges Duby, Atlas Historique Mondial, Larousse Ed. (2000), pp.220 & 224 ()
After the Battle of Fakhkh in 786, Idris ibn Abdallah, who traced his ancestry to Ali ibn Abi Talib, fled from the Arabian Peninsula to Morocco.Idris I, D. Eustache, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. III, ed. B.Lewis, V. L. Menage, C. Pellat and J. Schact, (Brill, 1986), 1031. He first went to Tangier before going to Walili and founding the Arab Idrisid dynasty in 788, ruling most of Morocco. The Idrisids established Fes as their capital and Morocco became a centre of Muslim learning and a major regional power. The Idrisids were ousted in 927 by the Fatimid Caliphate and their Miknasa allies. After Miknasa broke off relations with the Fatimids in 932, they were removed from power by the Maghrawa of Sijilmasa in 980. In 973, the Caliphate of Cordoba under the Umayyads took over parts of Morocco.
Berber dynasties (1053–1549)
From the 11th century onwards, a series of dynasties of Berber origin arose. Under the Almoravid dynasty and the Almohad dynasty dominated the Maghreb, much of present-day Spain and Portugal, and the western Mediterranean region. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Merinids held power in Morocco and strove to replicate the successes of the Almohads by military campaigns in Algeria and Iberia. They were followed by the Wattasids. In the 15th century, the Reconquista ended Muslim rule in central and southern Iberia and many Muslims and Jews fled to Morocco. Portuguese efforts to control the Atlantic coast in the 15th century did not greatly affect the interior of Morocco. According to Elizabeth Allo Isichei, "In 1520, there was a famine in Morocco so terrible that for a long time other events were dated by it. It has been suggested that the population of Morocco fell from 5 to under 3 million between the early sixteenth and nineteenth centuries."Allo Isichei, Elizabeth (1997). A history of African societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press. p. 264.
Arab dynasties (1549–present)
The major migration to the region by Arab tribes was in the 11th century when the tribes of Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, along with others, were sent by the Fatimids to defeat a Berber rebellion and then settle in the Maghreb. These tribes advanced in large numbers all the way to Morocco, contributing to a more extensive ethnic, genetic, cultural, and linguistic Arabization in the region. The Arab tribes of Maqil migrated to the Maghreb a century later and even immigrated southwards to Mauritania.
From 1549, a series of Arab dynasties arose. First the Saadian dynasty who ruled from 1549 to 1659, and then the 'Alawi dynasty, who remain in power since the 17th century. Both dynasties are Sharifian.
Under the Saadian dynasty, the country repulsed Ottoman incursions and a Portuguese invasion at the battle of Ksar el Kebir in 1578. The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and a large expedition to West Africa inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhay Empire in 1591. However, managing the territories across the Sahara proved too difficult. After the death of al-Mansur the country was divided among his sons. The Saadi dynasty is credited with the birth of a Moroccan national consciousness. "It is also to the credit of the Saʿdid s̲h̲urafāʾ that they presided over the birth of a genuine feeling of national consciousness, which resisted any attempt at domination by Christians or Ottomans." Historian Dahiru Yahaya describes it as the "most lasting impact that the Saʿdīs had upon Morocco".
In 1666, Morocco was reunited by the Arab 'Alawi dynasty, who have been the ruling house of Morocco ever since. Morocco was facing aggression from Spain and the Ottoman Empire lies pressing westward. The 'Alawis succeeded in stabilizing their position, and while the kingdom was smaller than previous ones in the region, it remained quite wealthy. Against the opposition of local tribes Ismail Ibn Sharif (1672–1727) began to create a unified state."Morocco (Page 8 of 9)". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2009. 2009-11-01.
Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777. In the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean were subject to attack by the Barbary pirates. On 20 December 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage. The Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship, signed in 1786, stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty.Roberts, Priscilla H. and Richard S. Roberts, Thomas Barclay (1728–1793): Consul in France, Diplomat in Barbary, Lehigh University Press, 2008, pp. 206–223 .
Genetic composition
Population Language n E G I J1 L N R1 T ReferenceMoroccoAA (Semitic)5173——20——4—Onofri et al. 2008Arabs (Morocco)AA (Semitic)8752.8——26.4————Fadhlaoui-Zid et al. 2013Arabs (Morocco)AA (Semitic)2814.3—3.660.7——17.8—Underhill et al. 2000Arabs (Morocco) AA (Semitic) 49 — — — — Semino et al. 2004Berbers (North Morocco)AA (Berber)6387——11.1————Bosch et al. 2001 Berbers (Marrakesh) AA (Berber) 29 — — — — — — — Semino et al. 2000 Berbers (Middle Atlas) AA (Berber) 69 — — 5.8 — — — — Cruciani et al. 2004 Berbers (South Morocco) AA (Berber) 62 — 0 10.0 0 0 — 0 Bosch et al. 2001 Berbers (Central Morocco) AA (Berber) 40 93.8 — 0 11.1 0 0 — 0 Bosch et al. 2001 Rifians AA (Berber) 54 — — — — — — — — Dugoujon 2005J.-M. Dugoujon and G. Philippson (2005) The Berbers. Linguistic and genetic diversity . CNRS.Sahrawi (Morocco)AA (Semitic)8959.5——20.2————Fregel et al. 2009Jews (Morocco)AA (Semitic)1921.126.3—31.5——10.5—Francalacci et al. 2008
Geographic distribution Morocco