Oujda

**Oujda** ()  is a muckle ceety in eastren Morocco wi an estimatit population o hauf a million. The ceety is locatit aboot 15 kilometers wast o Algerie an aboot 60 kilometers sooth o the Mediterranean Sea.  It is the caipital o the Oriental Region o Morocco an the birthplace o the current Algerian preses Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The urban area o Oujda haes a beach cried Saidia.

## History

There is some evidence o a settlement durin the Roman occupation, whilk seems tae hae been unner the control o Berbers insteid o the Romans. The modren ceety wis foondit in 994 bi Ziri ibn Atiyya, king o the Zenata tribes. Mair additions wur made in 1048. The ceety wis rebiggit in the 13t century bi sultan Abou Youssef. The French occupied it in 1844 an again in 1859. Tae the wast is the site o the 1844 major Franco-Moroccan Battle o Isly. When Morocco wis occupied bi the French, Oujda wis uised as a military base tae control eastren Morocco.

The ceety grew alang the gaits that wur biggit bi the French, that gies it muckle o its present form. The Moroccan border wi Algerie is juist east o Oujda, on the ither side o the border is the Algerian toun o Maghnia. The state o the border crossin lippens tae relations atween the twa kintras, that are aften sair.

Uqba ibn Nafi begoud the Arab conquest o the region, in the reign o the Umayyad Caliphate, a conquest that wis finisht in 705 AD bi Musa bin Nusair. In the mid 11t century, Oujda becam kenspeckle throu its strategic position on the gait rinnin east frae Sijilmasa. Throu-oot the history o the dynasties o the Muslim West, Oujda haed an important strategic role amang the Merinids, settled in Fez, bein a rear base in their conflict wi the Abdalwadids o Tlemcen. This situation wis at the oreegin o sindry destructive invasions o Oujda. The ceety experienced greit difficulty in makin peace wi its neighbours tae the east, an sometimes tae the wast, acause o its position in respect tae the clashes atween the Saadi dynasty an Turks. It wis torn atween the rulers o Fez an the disputit Tlemcen, an frae the 16t century, it wis contestit bi the Alaouite Dynasty o Morocco an the Turks in Algiers. In 1692, Sultan Ismail led in the Turks, that establisht their hegemony ower Algerie.  Oujda fell again tae Turkish rule a century efter.

## Muisic
**Gharnati** refers tae a variety o Moroccan muisic oreeginatin in Andalusia. Its name is relatit, being derived frae the Arabic name o the Spainyie ceety o Granada.

Gharnati is the muisic mode maist uised in the Moroccan ceety o Oujda, whaur this kynd o music is aye present, an whaur the International Feast o Gharnati muisic is hauden in Juin ilka year. This airt o muisic is keepit maistly in Oujda an Rabat, an near the Moroccan-Algerian marches at Tlemcen in Algerie. Jus as Oran is, sae is Oujda the place whaur folk gaither tae hear raï.

Famous muisicians o Gharnati

* Hassan El Hayek
* Sheik Salah Chaabane,
* Bouchnak Benyounes says Afendi
* Kerzazi Sheik Brahim.
* Hamid Bouchnak
* Cheikh Hamada
* Cheb Rachid Beriah
* Mohamed Ray

## Education
Oujda is hame tae the Mohammed I University, a French,  Inglis an Arabic leid an technology university.  The ceety is served bi Angads Airport, whilk haes connectin flichts tae Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Marseille an Paris.

## Industry
Oujda has a cement works.

## Transport

The ceety is the endpoint o the mainline frae Casablanca via Fez and Taourirt afore the border wi Algeria. There ar sindry day and nicht trains gangin tae an frae the ceety, linkin it tae the Wastren pairt o the country.

Forby the rail link an mony bus/coach services, the ceety haes an airport an aa, offerin baith national as international destinations.

## [[Twin touns an sister ceeties|Toun twinnin]]

Syne 2009, the ceety haes been twinned wi Trowbridge in Ingland acause o the lairge number o diasporans, maist o whilk oreeginate frae villages close tae Oujda. Trowbridge haes the lairgest Moroccan community in the UK ootside London.

*  Trowbridge, UK, since 2009/10
*  Lille, Fraunce
*  Sevran, Fraunce
*  Jouy-le-Moutier, Fraunce
*  Aix-en-Provence, Fraunce (2007)
*  Jeddah, Saudi Arabie
*  Sirte, Libie
*  Oran, Algerie
*  Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium

## See also

* Oujda group - an Algerian poleetical faction named efter the toun.

## Freemit airtins

* Oujda Portail  Portail d'actualités et Immobilier d'Oujda
* Oujda Portail  Journal d'actualités d'Oujda
* Oujda Times 
* Entry in Lexicorient 
* OujdaCity.net
* Le Maroc oriental

## References