Ourika River ( ar, نهر أوريكا) (french: Oued Ourika) is a river in

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 t ...

, at . It rises in 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 ...

and flows through the

Ourika Valley Ourika Valley is a valley in the Moroccan High Atlas along the Ourika River. It is located around 30 km from Marrakech, and is essentially populated by Berber people speaking Shilha. Despite its proximity to Marrakech, it is still considered a ...

, 30 km from Marrakech.

Natural history

A number of interesting plants have been recorded in this valley beginning in the late 19th century including ''

Fraxinus dimorpha ''Fraxinus dimorpha'' is a species of ash tree native to Morocco and Algeria in Northern Africa. An example occurrence of ''F. dimorpha'' is the Ourika River Valley, which is also the sole location within the High Atlas Range where the endangere ...

''. This valley is the sole location within the High Atlas Range where the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

Barbary macaque, ''Macaca sylvanus'' is known to occur; this primate is found in the Middle Atlas and a few disjunctive populations in Algeria and Gibraltar.C. Michael Hogan, 2008. Ourika Valley, due to its many waterfalls and several attractions, is a very popular Ourika day trip from Marrakech. The region is inhabited by

Berber people , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber flag, Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , p ...

who practice a traditional way of life. Despite its proximity to Marrakech, it is still considered relatively "unspoiled". Image:Salt-pans near Marrakech 2.JPG, Salt production in Ourika Valley File:Ourika river.jpg, Ourika river itself Image:OurikaValleyCarpets.jpg, Drying carpets at a Berber village factory in Ourika Valley.

References

Notes

* C. Michael Hogan (2008)
''Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus''
Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg. * Joseph Dalton Hooker, John Ball and George Maw (1878). ''Journal of a Tour in Marocco and the Great Atlas''. Macmillan and Company.

External links

Atlas Mountains Rivers of Morocco {{Morocco-river-stub