Ksar-el-Kebir
| Ksar-el-Kebir القصر الكبير ⵍⵇⵚⵕ ⵍⴽⴱⵉⵔ |
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| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Morocco
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| Region : | Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma | ||||
| Province : | Larache | ||||
| Coordinates | 35 ° 0 ′ N , 5 ° 54 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 126,617 (2014) | ||||
| Height : | 20 m | ||||
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Ksar-el-Kebir ( Arabic القصر الكبير, DMG al-Qaṣr al-Kabīr 'great fortress', Central Atlas Tamazight ⵍⵇⵚⵕ ⵍⴽⴱⵉⵔ Lqṣṛ Lkbir , Spanish : Alcazarquivir , Portuguese : Alcácer-Quibir ) is a town with around 140,000 inhabitants in the Larache province in the Tangier-Tétouan- Al Hoceïma in the north of Morocco .
location
The city is located at a height of almost 20 m in the valley of the Loukos River, about halfway between Larache (approx. 33 km drive northwest) on the Atlantic coast and Ouezzane (approx. 54 km southeast). It is located in the north of the Gharb plain , one of the most productive agricultural areas in Morocco. The climate is temperate and rainy by Moroccan standards.
population
| year | 1994 | 2004 | 2014 |
| Residents | 107.065 | 107,380 | 126,617 |
The inhabitants are mostly of Berber descent, but this hardly plays a role in northern Morocco. Moroccan Arabic is spoken mainly ; Berber dialects are rarely heard. With the influx of rural populations, the city has grown enormously since the independence of Morocco (1956); however, their infrastructure is not designed for this growth.
economy
The city is the artisanal and mercantile center of a large number of villages in the area, but service companies such as banks, educational institutions and hospitals can also be found here.
history
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In the first millennium BC The city was founded as a colony of Carthage . In the Roman Empire, the city under its ancient name Oppidum Novum belonged to the province of Mauretania Tingitana .
In 720 the place is mentioned as a caravanserai with the name Ketama Souk on the trade routes to Al-Andalus and Fès . In the 12th century, the city was fortified with city walls under the rule of the Almohads . Ksar -el-Kebir meant "great fortress"; there was a first wave of immigration from Andalusian refugees. In 1492 Muslims and Jews fled from Al-Andalus before the Reconquista of the Spaniards and some settled in what was then the Alcazarquivir ; they brought their respective cultural habits with them.
In 1578, the still young Portuguese King Sebastian tried to Christianize Morocco, following the idea of the Crusade and the Reconquista . The mission failed due to troops under Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik in the battle of the three kings of Alcazarquivir .
Mulai Ismail had significant parts of the city walls demolished around 1700 after the local prince annoyed him. The Samia Rachidi family ruled over Alcazarquivir at that time .
From 1911 to 1956, Ksar-el-Kebir was part of the Spanish-Morocco Protectorate ; the city was a garrison town of the Spanish occupation army. Since the withdrawal of the Spanish and French occupiers, the city has developed into a regional marketplace for the agricultural area of the Loukkos-Gharb valley with a market on Sunday.
