Ifrane (province)

Ifrane province in the Meknes-Tafilalet region

Ifrane townscape

View over Azrou with the new mosque

Center of Azrou

The Moroccan province of Ifrane ( Arabic إقليم إفران, DMG Iqlīm Ifrān ; Central Atlas Tamazight ⵜⴰⵙⴳⴰ ⵏ ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵏ ) has been part of the Fès-Meknès region (previously Meknès-Tafilalet ) since 2015 . The provincial capital is the city of Ifrane .

geography

location

The province of Ifrane lies on the northern slope of the Middle Atlas to the Moroccan plain ( meseta ) with the cities of Fès and Meknes . It borders in the south on the province of Midelt , in the west on the province of Khénifra , in the north on the province of El Hajeb , in the north-east on the province of Sefrou and in the south-east on the province of Boulemane .

landscape

The landscape profile is mountainous and wooded; the average altitude is around 1500  m (Ifrane 1650  m , Azrou 1250  m , Timahdite 1800  m , Jbel Mischliffen 1800 to 2100  m ). Some mountain peaks reach heights of almost 2500  m .

climate

The province of Ifrane is next to the south adjoining province of Midelt one of the highest provinces of Morocco, which affects both the precipitation and the temperatures. The summer daytime temperatures rarely reach 35 ° C; at night the thermometer falls to around 10 to 15 ° C, depending on the cloudiness. In the winter months there is more rain (sometimes as snow) than in the other regions of Morocco and the daytime temperatures drop to values ​​between 10 and 15 ° C; Night frosts are also possible in winter.

population

The province is predominantly inhabited by Berbers from various tribal groups. The proportion of Arabs and foreigners is less than 10%; mostly doctors, lawyers, engineers and high administrative officials who own a summer house here. In addition to the various Berber dialects , Moroccan Arabic is also spoken. About half of the population now lives in small and medium-sized towns; the other half continue to live in the various rural communities ( communes rurales ).

economy

In addition to traditional agriculture, which for centuries of self-sufficiency served the population, today the service sector as well as the summer and winter tourism play (hiking, skiing) a not unimportant role in the economy of the province.

history

The area, only about 50 to 60 km south of Fès or Meknes, was discovered - after centuries of seclusion - only in the first half of the 20th century by the French who wanted to escape the hot summer climate of the central Moroccan plain. Since the 1990s, the area has also become more and more interesting for wealthier Moroccans.

Attractions

The architecture of many houses with their saddle roofs, which is otherwise unknown in Morocco, is reminiscent of Europe and the entire area has often been referred to as "Moroccan Switzerland". Apart from a multitude of landscape impressions for Europeans, the province of Ifrane offers no culturally interesting sights. Only the new mosque of Azrou built in the 1990s is considered a scaled-down copy of the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca ; however, it is only accessible to Muslims.

Web links

Commons : Ifrane  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Azrou  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Demographics Morocco 1994 + 2004