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 economic and business center. Located on the Atlantic coast of the Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a population of about 3.71 million in the urban area, and over 4.27 million in the Greater Casablanca, making it the most populous city in the Maghreb region, and the eighth-largest in the Arab world.

Casablanca is Morocco's chief port, with the Port of Casablanca being one of the largest artificial ports in the world, and the second largest port in North Africa, after Tanger-Med ( east of Tangier). Casablanca also hosts the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy.

Casablanca is considered a Global Financial Centre, ranking 54th globally in the Global Financial Centres Index rankings for the year 2022, outperforming many cities such as New Delhi, Jakarta, Istanbul, and Mexico City. Casablanca is ranked among the Emerging International contenders, and it is considered the largest financial center in Africa. The leading Moroccan companies and many of the larger American and European corporations doing business in the country have their headquarters and main industrial facilities in Casablanca. Recent industrial statistics show Casablanca is the primary industrial zone of the nation.

Etymology

Anfa

Before the 15th century, the settlement at what is now Casablanca had been called ''Anfa'', rendered in European sources variously as El-Anfa, Anafa or Anaffa, Anafe, Anife, Anafee, Nafe, and Nafee. Ibn Khaldun ascribed the name to the ''Anfaça'', a branch of the tribe of the Maghreb, though the sociologist André Adam refuted this claim due to the absence of the third syllable. Nahum Slouschz gave a Hebrew etymology, citing the ''Lexicon'' of Gesenius: ''anâphâh'' (a type of bird) or ''anaph'' (face, figure), though Adam refuted this arguing that even a Judaized population would still have spoken Tamazight. Adam also refuted an Arabic etymology, (''anf'', "nose"), as the city predated the linguistic Arabization of the country, and the term ''anf'' was not used to describe geographic areas. Adam affirmed a Tamazight etymology—from ''anfa'' "hill," ''anfa'' "promontory on the sea," ''ifni'' "sandy beach," or ''anfa'' "threshing floor"—although he determined the available information insufficient to establish exactly which. The name Anfa is now rendered in Neo-Tifinagh as ⴰⵏⴼⴰ.

The name "Anfa" was used in maps until around 1830—in some until 1851—which Adam attributes to the tendency of cartographers to replicate previous maps.

Casablanca

When Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah (–1790) rebuilt the city after its destruction in the earthquake of 1755, it was renamed "''ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ'' " ( ''The White House''), though in vernacular use it was pronounced "''Dar al-Baiḍā''" ( literally ''House of the White,'' although in Moroccan Arabic vernacular it retains the original sense of ''The White House'').

The origins of the name "Casablanca" are unclear, although several theories have been suggested. André Adam mentions the legend of the Sufi saint and merchant Allal al-Qairawani, who supposedly came from Tunisia and settled in Casablanca with his wife Lalla al-Baiḍāʾ ( ''White Lady''). The villagers of Mediouna would reportedly provision themselves at "Dar al-Baiḍāʾ" ( ''House of the White'').

In fact, on a low hill slightly inland above the ruins of Anfa and just to the west of today's city centre, it appears there was a white-washed structure, possibly a Sufi zawiya that acted as a landmark to sailors. The Portuguese cartographer Duarte Pacheco wrote in the early 16th century that the city could easily be identified by a tower, and nautical guides from the late 19th century still mentioned a "white tower" as a point of reference. The Portuguese mariners calqued the modern Arabic name to "Casa Branca" ( ''White House'') in place of Anfa. The name "Casablanca" was then a calque of the Portuguese name when the Spanish took over trade through the Iberian Union.

During the French protectorate in Morocco, the name remained Casablanca (). The city is still nicknamed ''Casa'' by many locals and outsiders to the city. In the Arabic world, is still called ''Ad-dār al-Bayḍāʾ''.

History

Early history

The area which is today Casablanca was founded and settled by Berbers by at least the seventh century BC. It was used as a port by the Phoenicians and later the Romans. 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." 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.S. Lévy, ''Pour une histoire linguistique du Maroc'', in ''Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental: dialectologie et histoire'', 1998, pp.11–26 () 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.

Portuguese conquest and Spanish influence

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. 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. The Europeans eventually abandoned the area completely in 1755 following an earthquake which destroyed most of the town.

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). By the 1860s, around 5,000 residents were there, and the population grew to around 10,000 by the late 1880s. 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, largely through the development of shanty towns.

Bombardment of Casablanca

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.

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.

In response, the French bombarded the city in August 1907 with multiple gunboats and landed troops inside the town, causing severe damage and killing between 600 and 3,000 Moroccans. Estimates for the total casualties are as high as 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.

As Oujda had already been occupied, the bombardment and military invasion of the city opened a western front to the French military conquest of Morocco.
File:Derailed locomotive in Casablanca 1907.jpg, A man inspects the derailed Decauville locomotive at the scene of the attack that served as the pretext for the French bombardment of Casablanca in 1907.
File:الدار البيضاء 1907 01.jpg, A postcard showing the French cruiser '' Gloire'' recoiling from firing artillery at the city during the bombardment of Casablanca August 1907.
File:قائد الدار البيضاء محتجز على متن سفينة فرنسية.jpg, The Qaid of Casablanca, Si Boubker Ben Bouzid Slaoui, captive on the French cruiser '' Galilée''.
File:الدار البيضاء 1907 مقبرة جماعية.jpg, Moroccan cadavers in a mass grave in 1907.

French rule and influence

French control of Casablanca was formalized March 1912 when the Treaty of Fes established the French ''Protectorat''. Under French imperial control, Casablanca became a port of colonial extraction.

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.

Europeans formed almost half the population of Casablanca.Albert Habib Hourani, Malise Ruthven (2002). "
A history of the Arab peoples
'". Harvard University Press. p.323.

A 1937-1938 typhoid fever outbreak was exploited by colonial authorities to justify the appropriation of urban spaces in Casablanca. Moroccans residing in informal housing were cleared out of the center and displaced, notably to .

World War II

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 favour of the Germans. French colonists in Morocco generally supported Pétain, while politically conscious Moroccans tended to favour de Gaulle and the Allies.

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.

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 Theatre of Operations during World War II. The airfield has since become Mohammed V International Airport.

Anfa 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. This became a turning point, as Moroccan nationalists were emboldened to openly seek complete independence.

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.

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. 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.

Since independence

Morocco gained independence from France in 1956.

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.

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.

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.Par Omar Brouksy,
Que s'est-il vraiment passé le 23 mars 1965?
, ''Jeune Afrique'', 21 March 2005
Archived
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.Miller, ''A History of Modern Morocco'' (2013), pp. 162�
168
��169. 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.

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."

1981 riots

On June 6, 1981, the Casablanca Bread Riots took place. Hassan II appointed the French-trained interior minister Driss Basri as hardliner, who would later become a symbol of the Years of Lead, with quelling the protests. 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.

''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. 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.

Further history

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.

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

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

The only watercourse in Casablanca is ''oued Bouskoura'', 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, 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 per year. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in the city are and , respectively. The highest amount of rainfall recorded in a single day is on 30 November 2010.

Economy

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.

Casablanca is considered a global financial centre, ranking 53rd globally in the Global Financial Centres Index for the year 2021, outperforming many cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Berlin, Istanbul, Mexico City, Glasgow, Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Riyadh, Doha, Kuwait City, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. Casablanca is ranked among the emerging international contenders, and it is the largest financial center in Africa.

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

The Casablanca and Mohammedia seaports activity represent 50% of the international commercial flows of Morocco. 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 centre 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.

Royal Air Maroc has its head office at the Casablanca-Anfa Airport. 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. The agreement to build the head office in Nouaceur was signed in 2009.

The largest CBD both in Casablanca and the Maghreb is in Sidi Maarouf, near the Hassan II Mosque.

Administrative divisions

Casablanca is a commune, part of the region of Casablanca-Settat. The commune is divided into eight districts or prefectures, which are themselves divided into 16 subdivisions or arrondissements and one municipality. The districts and their subdivisions are:

# Aïn Chock (عين الشق) – Aïn Chock (عين الشق)
# Aïn Sebaâ - Hay Mohammadi (عين السبع الحي المحمدي) – Aïn Sebaâ (عين السبع), Hay Mohammadi (الحي المحمدي), Roches Noires (روش نوار).
# Anfa (أنفا) – Anfa (أنفا), Maârif (المعاريف), Sidi Belyout (سيدي بليوط).
# Ben M'Sick (بن مسيك) – Ben M'Sick (بن مسيك), Sbata (سباته).
# Sidi Bernoussi (سيدي برنوصي) – Sidi Bernoussi (سيدي برنوصي), Sidi Moumen (سيدي مومن).
# Al Fida - Mers Sultan (الفداء – مرس السلطان) – Al Fida (الفداء); Mechouar (المشور) (municipality), Mers Sultan (مرس السلطان).
# Hay Hassani (الحي الحسني) – Hay Hassani (الحي الحسني).
# Moulay Rachid (مولاي رشيد) – Moulay Rachid (مولاي رشيد), Sidi Othmane (سيدي عثمان).

Neighborhoods

The list of neighborhoods is indicative and not complete:

* 2 Mars
* Ain Chock
* Ain Diab
* Ain Sebaa
* Attacharouk
* Belvédère
* Beauséjour
* Bouchentouf
* Bouskoura
* Bourgogne
* Californie
* Centre Ville
* C.I.L.
* La Colline
* Derb Ghallef
* Derb Sultan
* Derb Tazi
* Gauthier
* Ghandi
* Habous
* El Hank
* Hay Dakhla
* Hay El Baraka
* Hay El Hanaa
* Hay El Hassani
* Hay El Mohammadi
* Hay Farah
* Hay Moulay Rachid
* Hay Salama
* Hubous
* Inara
* Laimoun (Hay Hassani)
* Lamkansa
* Lissasfa
* Maârif
* Mers Sultan
* Nassim
* Oasis
* Old Madina
* Oulfa
* Palmiers
* Polo
* Racine
* Riviera
* Roches Noires
* Salmia 2
* Sbata
* Sidi Bernoussi
* Sidi Maârouf
* Sidi Moumen
* Sidi Othmane

Demographics

The commune of Casablanca recorded a population of 3,359,818 in the 2014 Moroccan census

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases