The Maghreb is the region located in North Africa that includes the countries of Morocco , Tunisia , Algeria , Mauritania , Western Sahara and Libya . It means “Place where the sun sets.”
Summary
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- 1 Introduction
- 2 Geography
- 3 Population
- 4 Main cities
- 5 Religion
- 6 languages
- 7 Sources
Introduction
The Maghreb is the westernmost part of the Arab world . As a political entity, there is the Union of the Arab Maghreb ( UMA ), which groups all the countries in the area ( Western Sahara as part of Morocco ).
Despite the physical, demographic and economic contrasts between them, the Maghreb countries have in common their situation at the crossroads between Europe and Africa, their membership in the Arab world and Islam , their historical ties, rapid population growth, the contrast between an increasingly populated and dynamic coastline and an empty and backward interior, the increase in urbanization processes and rural exodus, and the economic transformations that have occurred in recent decades.
Geography
The Maghreb is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the North , the Atlantic Ocean to the West, and the Sahara Desert to the South. The great mountain range of the Atlas extends by its western zone. It is a region with a Mediterranean climate , with a low rate of rainfall, except in the mountainous areas.
Population
The Maghreb countries are unevenly populated: Algeria , followed by Morocco, is the country where the most people live: just over 30 million. The highest demographic densities, above 60 inhabitants / km2, are found in Morocco and Tunisia, while in Mauritania and Libya they are around 3 inhabitants / km2. The Maghreb has a high demographic increase, although Soto Mauritania exceeds 3%, due to the maintenance of high fertility: almost 6 children per woman. The strong population growth of the region is due to Youthof its inhabitants: in all these countries, the population under 15 years of age accounts for more than 25% of the total. The youngest country is Mauritania, where this percentage rises to 46% and only just over 2% are 65 years of age or older. The urban population represents more than 60% of the total. The least urbanized country is Morocco, followed by Mauritania, where approximately a third of the population is nomadic and the capital city, Nouakchott alone , has more than 100,000 inhabitants. The most urbanized country is Libya : almost 90% of its population lives in cities.
Main cities
The main urban agglomerations, located on the coast, are: Algiers (Algeria), Casablanca (Morocco), Tunis (Tunisia), Rabat and Tripoli (Libya). Most of the population crowds into run-down neighborhoods on the periphery, while a privileged minority lives in residential areas.
Religion
Maghrebis belong to the Sunni branch of Islam , and they habitually practice the Maliki rite . The religious minorities are very meager: in the Algerian desert there are small Muslim Kharijid communities (a branch of Islam once very present in the area and today almost extinct). Small Jewish communities and few Christian communities formed by Europeans also survive . Despite the fact that the majority of the population is Berber , this region is characterized by the strong Arabization of its Society , in addition to its belonging to Islam.
Languages
At present, most of the Maghrebis are Berber- speaking , although there is a large percentage of the population who speak Arabic , mainly in Morocco , followed by Algeria . The Arabic spoken in the Maghreb has notable differences with the Eastern Arabic dialects , and in turn is made up of very different languages. The Standard Arabic or literal is language official in all North African States . The second language is French in all the States except Libya and theSahrawi Republic constituted in exile; the latter’s second language is Spanish . Estimates for the speakers of the Berber languages vary between 45 and 55 million speakers of some variant as their mother tongue. Not counting the estimated Tuareg population in Mali and Niger , the speakers of Berber languages in the five Maghreb states make up between 55% and 65% of the population. However, it should be mentioned that the vast majority of these speakers live in Algeria or Morocco , their presence being more limited in Libya and Tunisia., and almost nil in the case of Mauritania
