Chaouia
The Chaouia is a historically significant tribal region in the region Casablanca-Settat in the west of Morocco . The word comes from the regional Berber language : chaoui means something like "cattle breeder".
location
The area of the Chaouia ( Arabic الشاوية) extends from the Atlantic coast near Casablanca and Mohammedia in up to 400 m ascending terrain to far into the hinterland via Ben Slimane and Berrechid to the region around Settat . The phosphates plateau at Khouribga joins in the east, the region around Marrakech in the south and the Doukkala region with the capital El Jadida in the west . The climate is strongly influenced by the Atlantic and by Moroccan conditions it is rather mild and rainy.
population
In the Chaouia area, which was once mainly roamed by the cattle nomads of the Bargawata Berber and their herds of sheep and goats, several tribes of Arab-Tunisian origin that immigrated in the 13th and 14th centuries are still known by name. Today - despite the immigration of Berbers in the second half of the 20th century - mainly Moroccan Arabic is spoken.
economy
Despite the proximity of the industrial and commercial metropolis of Casablanca, the relatively densely populated region of the Chaouia is still largely agricultural, with agriculture and livestock being more or less equally important. At Settat, which is connected to the Moroccan motorway network via the A7 between Casablanca and Marrakech or Agadir , one of the country's largest industrial parks has been under construction since 2011.
history
Nomads have always been disturbing factors in an increasingly sedentary environment. Since the 8th century, the area of the Chaouia belonged to the Bargouata tribe, who for a time set up their own kingdom and were not subjugated by the Almoravids until 1149 . However, the Berbers , who were superficially converted to Islam , had established their own denomination in which animistic-Sufi-astrological practices played a major role; there is even said to have existed a Berber-language Koran . In the 14th century, several Arab groups immigrated from Tunisia. During the period of weakness of the Moroccan sultan's power in the 17th and 18th centuries, the area was again hit by unrest and uprisings; the Alawites -Sultan Moulay Ismail had several forts (at the time of his reign (1672-1727) kasbahs built, with which the area was finally pacified) - so in Settat and Boulaouane . After the French came to power , the region was divided into three civil districts: Chaouia-North ( Casablanca ), Chaouia-Center ( Berrechid ) and Chaouia-Sud ( Settat ). Today it belongs to the prefectures of Casablanca and Mohammédia as well as to the provinces of Nouaceur , Médiouna , Ben Slimane , Berrechid and Settat .
