Casablanca, Morocco

**Casablanca, Morocco** is a location.

☀**Casablanca** (Arabic: الدار البيضاء‎, romanized: *ad-dār al-bayḍāʾ*; Berber languages: ⴰⵏⴼⴰ, romanized: *anfa*) is the largest city of Morocco. Located in the central-western part of Morocco bordering the Atlantic Ocean, it is the largest city in the Maghreb region and the eighth-largest in the Arab world. Casablanca is Morocco's chief port and one of the largest financial centers in Africa. According to the 2019 population estimate, the city has a population of about 3.71 million in the urban area and over 4.27 million in the Greater Casablanca. Casablanca is considered the economic and business center of Morocco, although the national political capital is Rabat.

The leading Moroccan companies and many international corporations doing business in the country have their headquarters and main industrial facilities in Casablanca. Recent industrial statistics show Casablanca holds its recorded position as the primary industrial zone of the nation. The Port of Casablanca is one of the largest artificial ports in the world,[3] and the second largest port of North Africa, after Tanger-Med 40 km (25 mi) east of Tangier.[4] Casablanca also hosts the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

## Etymology

Original name of Casablanca was *Anfa* (Neo-Tifinagh: ⴰⵏⴼⴰ), in Berbthe er language, by at least the seventh century BC.[*citation needed*] After the Portuguese took control of the city in the 15th century AD, they rebuilt it, changing the name to *Casa Branca* ([kazɐ'bɾɐ̃kɐ]), meaning 'white house' in Portuguese. The present name, which is the Spanish version (pronounced [ka̠sa̠ˈβ̞la̠ŋka̠]), came when the Kingdom of Portugal came under Spanish control through the Iberian Union. During the French protectorate in Morocco, the name remained Casablanca (pronounced [kazablɑ̃ka]). In 1755 an earthquake destroyed most of the town. It was rebuilt by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah who changed the name into the local Arabic *Ad-dār al-Bayda'* (الدار البيضاء), although occasionally "Casablanca" is written in Arabic (كازابلانكا, *Kāzāblānkā*). The city is still nicknamed *Casa* by many locals and outsiders to the city. In many other cities with a different dialect, it is called *Ad-dār al-Bayḍā*, instead.

## History

Main articles: History of Casablanca and Timeline of Casablanca

### Early history

The area which is today Casablanca was founded and settled by Berbers by at least the seventh century BC.[5] It was used as a port by the Phoenicians and later the Romans.[*citation needed*] In his book Description of Africa, Leo Africanus refers to ancient Casablanca as "Anfa", a great city founded in the Berber kingdom of Barghawata in 744 AD. He believed Anfa was the most "prosperous city on the Atlantic Coast because of its fertile land."[6] Barghawata rose as an independent state around this time, and continued until it was conquered by the Almoravids in 1068. Following the defeat of the Barghawata in the 12th century, Arab tribes of Hilal and Sulaym descent settled in the region, mixing with the local Berbers, which led to widespread Arabization.[7][8] During the 14th century, under the Merinids, Anfa rose in importance as a port. The last of the Merinids were ousted by a popular revolt in 1465.[9]

### Portuguese conquest and Spanish influence

Casablanca in 1572, still called "Anfa" in this coloured engraving, although the Portuguese had already renamed it "Casa Branca" – "White House" – later Hispanicised to "Casablanca".

In the early 15th century, the town became an independent state once again, and emerged as a safe harbour for pirates and privateers, leading to it being targeted by the Portuguese, who bombarded the town which led to its destruction in 1468.[10] The Portuguese used the ruins of Anfa to build a military fortress in 1515. The town that grew up around it was called Casa Branca, meaning "white house" in Portuguese.

Between 1580 and 1640, the Crown of Portugal was integrated to the Crown of Spain, so Casablanca and all other areas occupied by the Portuguese were under Spanish control, though maintaining an autonomous Portuguese administration. As Portugal broke ties with Spain in 1640, Casablanca came under fully Portuguese control once again.[11] The Europeans eventually abandoned the area completely in 1755 following an earthquake which destroyed most of the town.[12]

The town was finally reconstructed by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah (1756–1790), the grandson of Moulay Ismail and an ally of George Washington, with the help of Spaniards from the nearby emporium. The town was called *ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ* (الدار البيضاء), the Arabic translation of the Portuguese *Casa Branca*.

### Colonial struggle

In the 19th century, the area's population began to grow as it became a major supplier of wool to the booming textile industry in Britain and shipping traffic increased (the British, in return, began importing gunpowder tea, used in Morocco's national drink, mint tea).[13] By the 1860s, around 5,000 residents were there, and the population grew to around 10,000 by the late 1880s.[14] Casablanca remained a modestly sized port, with a population reaching around 12,000 within a few years of the French conquest and arrival of French colonialists in 1906. By 1921, this rose to 110,000,[15] largely through the development of shanty owns.

### French rule and influence

Main article: French protectorate of Morocco

A postcard showing the French cruiser *Gloire* recoiling from firing artillery at the city during the bombardment of Casablanca August 1907.

The Qaid of Casablanca, Si Boubker Ben Bouzid Slaoui, captive on the French cruiser Galilée.

*Place de France* (now United Nations Square) in 1917.[16] With its landmark Clock Tower, this space became a contact point between what the colonists called the *ville indigène* to the left—comprising the *Mellah* and the Medina—and the European *nouvelle ville* to the right.

Henri Prost's plans to extend 4éme Zouaves Street (now Félix Houphouët-Boigny Street) from the port to the *Place de France* (now United Nations Square), part of his redesigns of Casablanca's urban landscape.

The Treaty of Algeciras of 1906 formalized French preeminence in Morocco and included three measures that directly impacted Casablanca: that French officers would control operations at the customs office and seize revenue as collateral for loans given by France, that the French holding company *La Compagnie Marocaine* would develop the port of Casablanca, and that a French-and-Spanish-trained police force would be assembled to patrol the port.[17]

To build the port's breakwater, narrow-gauge track was laid in June 1907 for a small Decauville locomotive to connect the port to a quarry in Roches Noires, passing through the sacred Sidi Belyout graveyard. In resistance to this and the measures of the 1906 Treaty of Algeciras, tribesmen of the Chaouia attacked the locomotive, killing 9 Compagnie Marocaine laborers—3 French, 3 Italians, and 3 Spanish.[18]

In response, the French bombarded the city with multiple gunboats and landed troops inside the town, causing severe damage and 15,000 dead and wounded. In the immediate aftermath of the bombardment and the deployment of French troops, the European homes and the *Mellah*, or Jewish quarter, were sacked, and the latter was also set ablaze.[19]

The bombardment and military invasion of the city effectively began the French military conquest of Morocco, although French control of Casablanca was not formalized until the French *Protectorat* wase established by the Treaty of Fes March 1912.

General Hubert Lyautey assigned the planning of the new colonial port city to Henri Prost. As he did in other Moroccan cities, Prost designed a European *ville nouvelle* outside the walls of the medina. In Casablanca, he also designed a new "*Ville indigène*" to house Moroccans arriving from other cities.[20]

Europeans formed almost half the population of Casablanca.[21]

### World War II

Further information: Operation Torch

After Philippe Pétain of France signed the armistice with the Nazis, he ordered French troops in France's colonial empire to defend French territory against any aggressors—Allied or otherwise—applying a policy of "asymmetrical neutrality" in favor of the Germans.[22] French colonists in Morocco generally supported Pétain, while politically conscious Moroccans tended to favor de Gaulle and the Allies.[23]

Operation Torch, which started on 8 November 1942, was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. The Western Task Force, composed of American units led by Major General George S. Patton and Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt, carried out the invasions of Mehdia, Fedhala, and Asfi. American forces captured Casablanca from Vichy control when France surrendered November 11, 1942, but the Naval Battle of Casablanca continued until American forces sank German submarine U-173 on November 16.[24]

Casablanca was the site of the Nouasseur Air Base, a large American air base used as the staging area for all American aircraft for the European Theater of Operations during World War II. The ai field has since become Mohammed V International Airport.

#### Anfa Conference[edit source]

Main article: Casablanca Conference

Casablanca hosted the Anfa Conference (also called the Casablanca Conference) in January 1943. Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt discussed the progress of the war. Also in attendance were the Free France generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, though they played minor roles and didn't participate in the military planning.

It was at this conference that the Allies adopted the doctrine of "unconditional surrender," meaning that the Axis powers would be fought until their defeat. Roosevelt also met privately with Sultan Muhammad V and expressed his support for Moroccan independence after the war.[25] This became a turning point, as Moroccan nationalists were emboldened to openly seek complete independence.[25]

### Toward independence

During the 1940s and 1950s, Casablanca was a major centre of anti-French rioting.

April 7, 1947, a massacre of working class Moroccans, carried out by Senegalese Tirailleurs in the service of the French colonial army, was instigated just as Sultan Muhammed V was due to make a speech in Tangier appealing for independence.[26]

Riots in Casablanca took place from December 7–8, 1952, in response to the assassination of the Tunisian labor unionist Farhat Hached by *La Main Rouge*—the clandestine militant wing of French intelligence.[27] Then, on 25 December 1953 (Christmas Day), Muhammad Zarqtuni orchestrated a bombing of Casablanca's Central Market in response to the forced exile of Sultan Muhammad V and the royal family on August 20 (Eid al-Adha) of that year.[28]

### Since independence

Morocco gained independence from France in 1956.[29]

#### Casablanca Group

January 4–7, 1961, the city hosted an ensemble of progressive African leaders during the Casablanca Conference of 1961. Among those received by King Muhammad V were Gamal Abd An-Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah, Modibo Keïta, and Ahmed Sékou Touré, Ferhat Abbas.[30][31][32]

#### Jewish emigration

Casablanca was a major departure point for Jews leaving Morocco through Operation Yachin, an operation conducted by Mossad to secretly migrate Moroccan Jews to Israel between November 1961 and spring 1964.[33]

#### 1965 riots

The 1965 student protests organized by the National Union of Popular Forces-affiliated National Union of Moroccan Students, which spread to cities around the country and devolved into riots, started on March 22, 1965 in front of Lycée Mohammed V in Casablanca.[34][35][36] The protests started as a peaceful march to demand the right to public higher education for Morocco, but expanded to include concerns of laborers, the unemployed, and other marginalized segments of society, and devolved into vandalism and rioting.[37] The riots were violently repressed by security forces with tanks and armored vehicles; Moroccan authorities reported a dozen deaths while the UNFP reported more than 1,000.[34]

King Hassan II blamed the events on teachers and parents, and declared in a speech to the nation on March 30, 1965: "There is no greater danger to the State than a so-called intellectual. It would have been better if you were all illiterate.”[38][39]

#### 1981 riots

On June 6, 1981, the Casablanca Bread Riots took place.[40] Hassan II appointed the French-trained interior minister Driss Basri as hardliner, who would later become a symbol of the Years of Lead, wielling the protests.[41] The government stated that 66 people were killed and 100 were injured, while opposition leaders put the number of dead at 637, saying that many of these were killed by police and army gunfire.[40]

#### *Mudawana*

In March 2000, more than 60 women's groups organized demonstrations in Casablanca proposing reforms to the legal status of women in the country.[42] About 40,000 women attended, calling for a ban on polygamy and the introduction of divorce law (divorce being a purely religious procedure at that time). Although the counter-demonstration attracted half a million participants, the movement for change started in 2000 was influential on King Mohammed VI, and he enacted a new *mudawana*, or family law, in early 2004, meeting some of the demands of women's rights activists.[43]

On 16 May 2003, 33 civilians were killed and more than 100 people were injured when Casablanca was hit by a multiple suicide bomb attack carried out by Moroccans and claimed by some to have been linked to al-Qaeda. Twelve suicide bombers struck five locations in the city.[44]

Another series of suicide bombings struck the city in early 2007.[45][46][47] These events illustrated some of the persistent challenges the city faces in addressing poverty and integrating disadvantaged neighborhoods and populations.[48] One initiative to improve conditions in the city's disadvantaged neighborhoods was the creation of the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center.[48]

As calls for reform spread through the Arab world in 2011, Moroccans joined in, but concessions by the ruler led to acceptance. However, in December, thousands of people demonstrated in several parts of the city, especially the city center near la Fontaine, desiring more significant political reforms.

## Geography

Casablanca's fishing port.

Casablanca is located on the Atlantic coast of the Chaouia Plains which have historically been the breadbasket of Morocco.[49] Apart from the Atlantic coast, the Bouskoura forest is the only natural attraction in the city.[50] The forest was planted in the 20th century and consists mostly of eucalyptus, palm, and pine trees.[51] It is located halfway to the city's international airport.

The only watercourse in Casablanca is *oued Bouskoura*,[52] a small seasonal creek that until 1912 reached the Atlantic Ocean near the actual port. Most of oued Bouskoura's bed has been covered due to urbanization and only the part south of El Jadida road can now be seen. The closest permanent river to Casablanca is Oum Rabia, 70 km (43.50 mi) to the south-east.

### Climate

Casablanca has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification *Csa*). The cool Canary Current off the Atlantic coast moderates temperature variation, which results in a climate remarkably similar to that of coastal Los Angeles, with similar temperature ranges. The city has an annual average of 72 days with significant precipitation, which amounts to 412 mm (16.2 in) per year. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in the city are 40.5 °C (104.9 °F) and −2.7 °C (27.1 °F), respectively. The highest amount of rainfall recorded in a single day is 178 mm (7.0 in) on 30 November 2010.

## Economy

Boulevard des FAR (Forces Armées Royales)

Port of Casablanca

Main article: Economy of Casablanca

The Grand Casablanca region is considered the locomotive of the development of the Moroccan economy. It attracts 32% of the country's production units and 56% of industrial labor. The region uses 30% of the national electricity production. With MAD 93 billion, the region contributes to 44% of the industrial production of the kingdom. About 33% of national industrial exports, MAD 27 billion, comes from the Grand Casablanca; 30% of the Moroccan banking network is concentrated in Casablanca.[56]

One of the most important Casablancan exports is phosphate. Other industries include fishing, fish canning, sawmills, furniture production, building materials, glass, textiles, electronics, leathe work, processed food, spirits, soft drinks, and cigarettes.[57]

The Casablanca and Mohammedia seaports activity represent 50% of the international commercial flows of Morocco.[*citation needed*] Almost the entire Casablanca waterfront is under development, mainly the construction of huge entertainment centres between the port and Hassan II Mosque, the Anfa Resort project near the business, entertainment, and living center of Megarama, the shopping, and entertainment complex of Morocco Mall, as well as a complete renovation of the coastal walkway. The Sindbad park is planned to be totally renewed with rides, games and entertainment services.[58]

Royal Air Maroc has its head office at the Casablanca-Anfa Airport.[59] In 2004, it announced that it was moving its head office from Casablanca to a location in Province of Nouaceur, close to Mohammed V International Airport.[60] The agreement to build the head office in Nouaceur was signed in 2009.[61]

The biggest CBD of Casablanca and Maghreb is in the North of the town in Sidi Maarouf near the mosque of Hassan II and the biggest project of skycrapers of Maghreb and Africa Casablanca Marina.