Béni Mellal-Khénifra ( ar, بني ملال - خنيفرة, banī mallāl - ḵunayfira; ber, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵎⵍⵍⴰⵍ - ⵅⵏⵉⴼⵕⴰ, ayt mllal - xnifṛa) is one of the twelve regions of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It covers an area of 28,374 km² and recorded a population of 2,520,776 in the 2014 Moroccan census. The capital of the region is

Beni Mellal Beni Mellal ( ar, بني ملال}, ber, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵎⵍⵍⴰⵍ, Ayt Mellal) is a city in north-central Morocco. It is the capital of the Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region and has a population of 192,676 (2014 census). It sits at the foot of Jbe ...

Geography

Béni Mellal-Khénifra is located in the interior of the country. It borders

Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Rabat-Salé-Kénitra ( ar, الرباط-سلا-القنيطرة, ar-ribāṭ salā al-qunayṭira; ber, ⴻⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ-ⵙⵍⴰ-ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, eṛṛbaṭ sla qniṭra) is one of the twelve administrative regions of Morocco. It is ...

to the north,

Fès-Meknès Fès-Meknès or Fez-Meknes ( ar, فاس-مكناس, fās maknās; ber, ⴼⴰⵙ-ⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, fas mknas) is among the twelve Regions of Morocco. It has a population of 4,236,892 (2014 census). Its capital is Fez. Its current president is M ...

to the northeast,

Drâa-Tafilalet Drâa-Tafilalet ( ar, درعة - تافيلالت, darʿa - tāfīlālt; ber, ⴷⵔⴰ ⵜⴰⴼⵉⵍⴰⵍⵜ, drɛa tafilalt) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 88,836 km2 and had a population of 1,635,008 as ...

to the southeast,

Marrakesh-Safi Marrakesh-Safi or Marrakech-Asfi ( ar, مراكش آسفي, murrākuš āsafi; ( ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ ⴰⵙⴼⵉ, mṙṙakš asfi) is one of the ten Regions of Morocco.

to the southwest and

Casablanca-Settat Casablanca-Settat ( ar, الدار البيضاء - سطات, ad-dār al-bayḍāʾ - siṭṭāt; ber, ⴰⵏⴼⴰ - ⵙⵟⵟⴰⵜ, anfa - sṭṭat) is one of the twelve administrative regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 20,166 km² ...

to the northwest. In the western and central part of the region is the productive

Tadla Tadla is a historical and geographical region of Morocco, located in the center of the country, north of the High Atlas mountain range and west of the Middle Atlas. It is the region of origin of the eponymous collection of tribal, semi-nomadic pas ...

plain irrigated by the

Oum Er-Rbia River Oum Er-Rbia (Berber: ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏ ⵉⵙⴰⴼⴻⵏ, ar, أم الربيع, "the mother of springtime", spelling Oum el- rbia, is a large, long and high-throughput river in central Morocco. The river is long. With an average water throughp ...

. This plain is bracketed by the

High Atlas High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الكبير, Al-Aṭlas al-Kabīr; french: Haut Atlas; shi, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⵔⵏ ''Adrar n Dern''), is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of t ...

mountains which run through the southern and eastern parts of the region, and the foothills of the

Middle Atlas The Middle Atlas (Amazigh: ⴰⵟⵍⴰⵙ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵎⴰⵙ, ''Atlas Anammas'', Arabic: الأطلس المتوسط, ''al-Aṭlas al-Mutawassiṭ'') is a mountain range in Morocco. It is part of the Atlas mountain range, a mountainous region ...

to the north.

History

Béni Mellal-Khénifra was formed in September 2015 by adding

Khouribga Province Khouribga (in خريبكة ) is a province of Morocco in the region of Béni Mellal-Khénifra. It has a population of 499,144 people, with a majority from Arab root The major cities and towns are# Bejaad # Boujniba # Boulanouare # Hattane # Khou ...

Chaouia-Ouardigha Chaouia-Ouardigha () was formerly one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It was situated in north-central Morocco in the historical region of Chaouia. It covered an area of 7,010 km² and had a population of 1,893,950 (2014 cens ...

region and

Khénifra Province Khénifra is a province in the Moroccan region of Béni Mellal-Khénifra. was 511,53 The major cities and towns are* Aguelmous * Aït Ishaq * Amalou Ighriben * El Kbab * Had Bouhssoussen * Kehf Nsour * Kerrouchen * Khenifra * Moulay Bou ...

Meknès-Tafilalet Meknès-Tafilalt (Arabic: (''Meknes-Tafilelt''), Berber: ''Meknas-Tafilalt'') was one of the sixteen former regions of Morocco that existed from 1997 to 2015. It was situated in north-central Morocco, bordering Algeria. It covered an area of 79, ...

region to the three provinces previously making up the region of

Tadla-Azilal Tadla-Azilal (Berber: ''Tadla-Aẓilal'', ) was formerly one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It was situated in central Morocco. It covered an area of 17,125 km2 and had a population of 1,607,509 (2014 census). The capi ...

Government

Ibrahim Moujahid, a member of the

Authenticity and Modernity Party The Authenticity and Modernity Party ( ar, حزب الأصالة والمعاصرة, translit=ḥizb al-ʾaṣāla wa-l-muʿāṣira; zgh, ⴰⵎⵓⵍⵍⵉ ⵏ ⵜⴰⵥⵖⵓⵕⵜ ⴷ ⵜⴰⵎⵜⵔⴰⵔⵜ, translit=amulli n taẓɣoṛt ...

, was elected as the regional council's first president on 14 September 2015. Mohamed Derdouri was appointed governor (''wali'') of the region on 13 October 2015.

Subdivisions

Béni Mellal-Khénifra comprises five provinces: *

Azilal Province Azilal (in berber : ⴰⵣⵉⵍⴰⵍ) is a province in the Moroccan region of Béni Mellal-Khénifra. Its population in 2004 is 504,501. The major cities and towns are: * Afourar * Azilal * Ait Attab * Bzou Bzou (بزو) is a town in th ...

* Béni Mellal Province * Fquih Ben Salah Province *

Economy

Agriculture is the backbone of the region's economy. Major crops include cereals, beetroot, olives, citrus fruits and pomegranates; the production of milk and meat is also substantial. The

Ouled Abdoun Basin The Oulad Abdoun Basin (also known as the Ouled Abdoun Basin or Khouribga Basin) is a phosphate sedimentary basin located in Morocco, near the city of Khouribga. It is the largest in Morocco, comprising 44% of Morocco's phosphate reserves, and a ...

near

Khouribga Khouribga ( ber, ⵅⵯⵔⵉⴱⴳⴰ, xʷribga; ar, خريبڭة, ḵurībga, ) is the capital of Khouribga Province in the Béni Mellal-Khénifra Regions of Morocco, region, Morocco. With a population of 196,196 (2014 census), Khouribga owes i ...

holds 44% of Morocco's

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

reserves.

Infrastructure

The

Berrechid–Beni Mellal expressway The Berrechid–Beni Mellal expressway (A4) was inaugurated in 2015. It runs mainly parallel with the existing Route Nationale 11 History Start of building On 12 April 2010 King Mohammed VI of Morocco formally started the building-activities f ...

connects the region with the rest of the national expressway network, passing through the cities of Beni Mellal,

Oued Zem Oued Zem is a city in Khouribga Province, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Morocco. According to the 2014 Moroccan census, Oued Zem had a population of 95,267. Wadi Zem is a Moroccan city located in central Morocco, in the Chaouia-Ouardigha region in the ...

and Khouribga as it heads northwest to

Berrechid Berrechid ( ar, برشيد, ber, ⴱⴰⵔⵛⵉⴷ, baršid) is a town and municipality in Berrechid Province of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco. It recorded a population of 136,634 inhabitants in the 2014 Moroccan census The 2014 Moroc ...

just south of

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

. National Route 8 is another important highway, connecting Beni Mellal and

Khenifra Khenifra (Berber: ''Xnifṛa'', ⵅⵏⵉⴼⵕⴰ, ar, خنيفرة) is a city in northern central Morocco, surrounded by the Atlas Mountains and located on the Oum Er-Rbia River. National Highway 8 also goes through the town. The population, a ...

with

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

in the southeast and

Fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

in the northwest.

Beni Mellal Airport Beni Mellal Airport is an airport serving Beni Mellal, Morocco opened in 2014. The airport is located near the township of Oulad Yaich. Airlines and destinations Beni Mellal does not have any scheduled services to other airports as of January 2 ...

is served by

Royal Air Maroc Royal Air Maroc (; ar, الخطوط الملكية المغربية, , literally ''Royal Moroccan Lines'' or ''Royal Moroccan Airlines''; ber, ⴰⵎⵓⵏⵉ ⴰⵢⵍⴰⵍ ⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⴰⵎⵓⵔⴰⴽⵓⵛ, ''Amuni Aylal Age ...

, and there is a rail line with passenger service that runs between Oued Zem, Khouribga and Casablanca.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beni Mellal-Khenifra