Berkane
| Berkane بركان ⴰⴱⵔⴽⴰⵏ |
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| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Morocco
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| Region : | Oriental | ||||
| Province : | Berkane | ||||
| Coordinates | 34 ° 55 ′ N , 2 ° 19 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 109,237 (2014) | ||||
| Area : | 27 km² | ||||
| Population density : | 4,046 inhabitants per km² | ||||
| Height : | 190 m | ||||
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Berkane (from the mazirischen ⴰⴱⵔⴽⴰⵏ Aberkan , "black", Arabic بركان) is a city with about 120,000 inhabitants (2004) in the province of the same name in the Oriental region in north-east Morocco .
The city takes its name from the saint Sidi Ahmad Aberkane (who died in 868 according to the Islamic calendar ).
location
Berkane is located at the junction of the coastal plain ( thrifa ) of about 30 km from the Mediterranean Sea to the mountain range of the Tell Atlas (Little Atlas) and is located on the mostly dry Oued Cherráa about 60 km (driving distance) northwest of the city of Oujda and only about 20 kilometers west of the border to Algeria at an altitude of about 150 to 190 m . The climate is temperate by Moroccan standards; Rain (approx. 330 mm / year) mainly falls in the winter months.
population
| year | 1994 | 2004 | 2014 |
| Residents | 77,026 | 96.157 | 109,237 |
The city grew enormously in the second half of the 20th century due to immigration from the mountain and desert regions of Morocco. Moroccan Arabic and Tarifit are usually spoken .
economy
Berkane, which was founded by the French, is the center of a growing region for citrus fruits as well as an important trading center for the agricultural products of the area.
history
The area was probably already settled in pre-Roman times and was in the period from 118 to 104 BC. Ruled by the Numid king Jugurtha . Under Roman rule (from approx. 42 AD) it belonged to the province of Mauretania Caesariensis . Refugees from Andalusia settled here in the 17th century . Berkane itself was founded by the French on the ruins of a ruined town in the early 20th century .
Attractions
The overall modern looking city has no historical or architectural sights.
sons and daughters of the town
- Mubarek Bekkai (1907–1961), politician, first Prime Minister of Morocco
- Abbas al-Fassi (* 1940), politician, former prime minister
- Hicham El Guerrouj (* 1974), middle-distance runner
- Bekkay Harrach (1977–2010), German-Moroccan Islamist and alleged al-Qaeda member
- Aziz Bouhaddouz (* 1987), German-Moroccan football player
Web links
- Berkane - Video (Arabic)