The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. It is bordered on the north by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the

Rifians Riffians or Rifians (, singular: ; ) are a Berber ethnic group originally from the Rif region of northeastern Morocco (includes the autonomous city of Spain, Melilla). Communities of Riffian immigrants are also found in southern Spain, Netherland ...

and the Jebala people. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by

Cape Spartel Cape Spartel (; ; ) is a promontory in Morocco about above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 km west of Tangier. It is the northwesternmost point of the African continent. Below the cape are the Caves of Hercules. Des ...

and

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

to the north, and by the Ouergha River to the south. The Rif mountains are separated into the eastern Rif mountains (

Nador Nador () is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 158,202 (2024 census). The Nador Province has over 600,000 inhabitants. Nador is considered the second largest city in the Ori ...

, Driouch,

Al Hoceima Al Hoceima () is a city in the north of Morocco, on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains and on the Mediterranean coast. It is the capital city of the Al Hoceima Province. The city is a known tourist destination despite its small size. It has ...

) and western Rif mountains (

, Tetouan, Chefchaouen,

Taounate Taounate () is a town in northern Morocco, and is the capital of Taounate Province. The town had 37,616 inhabitants as of the 2014 Moroccan census. Geography Taounate is located in the southern Rif Mountains, and the river Oued Sra and gorges a ...

Geography

Geologically, the Rif Mountains belong to the

Gibraltar Arc The Gibraltar Arc is a geological region corresponding to an arcuate orogen surrounding the Alboran Sea, between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. It consists of the Betic Cordillera (south Spain), and the Rif (North Morocco). The Gibraltar Ar ...

or Alborán Sea geological region. They are an extension of the

Baetic System The Baetic System or Betic System () is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula, it is also known as the Cordilleras Béticas (Baetic Mountain Ranges) or Baetic Mountains. The n ...

, which includes the mountains of the southern

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

across the strait. Thus, the Rif Mountains are not part of the Atlas Mountain System. Major cities in the greater Rif region include

(also called Villa), Imzouren, Driouch, Ben Taieb, Midar and Al Aaroui and a few (small) towns: Segangan, Selwan, Ajdir and Targuist (Targist).

History

The Rif has been inhabited by

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

since prehistoric times. As early as the

11th century BC The 11th century BC comprises all years from 1100 BC to 1001 BC. Although many human societies were literate in this period, some of the individuals mentioned below may be apocryphal rather than historically accurate. The world in the 11th c ...

, the

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

began to establish trading posts and then cities such as Tetouan, Rusadir (now

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

) and (in the

5th century BC The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. This century saw the establishment of Pataliputra as a capital of the Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha Empire. This city would later become the ruling capital o ...

)

Tingi Tingis (Latin; ''Tíngis'') or Tingi ( Ancient Berber:), was the ancient name of Tangier in Morocco and an important Carthaginian, Moor, and Roman port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was eventually granted the status of a Roman colony and made the ...

(now

). After the

Third Punic War The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome. The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in what is now northern Tunisia. When the Second Punic War ended in 20 ...

, the coast of North Africa came under the control of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and the Rif became part of the Kingdom of

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

. When Mauretania was divided during the rule of Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, Tangier became the capital of

Mauretania Tingitana Mauretania Tingitana (Latin for "Tangerine Mauretania") was a Roman province, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The territory stretched from the northern peninsula opposite Gibraltar, to Sala Colonia (or Chellah ...

. In the

5th century AD The 5th century is the time period from AD 401 (represented by the Roman numerals CDI) through AD 500 (D) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. ...

, Roman rule came to an end, and the region was later conquered and partly controlled by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

.. In 710,

Salih I ibn Mansur Salih I ibn Mansur () was the founder of the Kingdom of Nekor, located in the Rif Mountains of Morocco. It is widely accepted that he was a Himyarite immigrant from Yemen. His dynasty was responsible for converting the local Berber tribes to Islam ...

founded the

Emirate of Nekor The Emirate of Nekor or Şālihid Emirate () was an Arab emirate centered in the Rīf area of present-day Morocco. Its capital was initially located at Tamsāmān, and then moved to Nekor. The ruling dynasty presented itself as of Himyarite A ...

in the Rif, and the

started converting to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. By the 15th century, many Muslims who had converted to Christianity were expelled from Spain, and most of them settled in the western Rif and brought their culture with them, such as

Andalusian music Andalusia is a region in Spain. Andalusian may also refer to: Animals * Andalusian chicken, a type of chicken * Andalusian donkey, breed of donkey * Andalusian hemipode, a buttonquail, one of a small family of birds *Andalusian horse, a breed of ...

, and established the city of Chefchaouen. Afterwards the Rif was the site of numerous battles with Spain and Portugal. In 1415, Portugal invaded Ceuta, and in 1490 Spain conquered Melilla. The Hispano-Moroccan War broke out in 1859 in Tetouan, and Morocco was defeated. The Spanish-Moroccan conflicts continued in the 20th century, under the leadership of Abd el-Krim, the Berber

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

leader who proclaimed the

Republic of the Rif The Republic of the Rif ( ''Jumhūriyyatu r-Rīf'') was a confederate republic in the Rif, Morocco, that existed between 1921 and 1926. It was created in September 1921, when a coalition of Riffians and Jebala led by Abd el-Krim revolted in ...

in 1921. The Riffian Berbers won several victories over the Spanish in the

Rif War The Rif War (, , ) was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several ...

in the 1920s before they were eventually defeated; the war saw extensive use of chemical weapons by Spanish forces. The Spanish region was decolonised and restored to Morocco by Spain in April 1956, a month after the

French region France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which hav ...

gained its independence from France. Shortly afterward, a revolt broke out in the north against the Moroccan king by Riffian insurgents in 1958, but it was easily suppressed.

Economy

Farmers in the Rif produce most of Morocco's supply of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

. The region is economically underdeveloped.

Environment

According to C. Michael Hogan, there are between five and eight separate subpopulations of 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, inv ...

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

Barbary macaque The Barbary macaque (''Macaca sylvanus''), also known as Barbary ape, is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar. It is the type species of the genus ' ...

, ''Macaca sylvanus''. The Rif mountains are also home to the

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...

subspecies ''Apis mellifera major''. The Rif region receives more rainfall than any other region in Morocco, with some portions receiving upwards of of precipitation a year. The western and central portions are more rainy and are covered in forests of Atlas cedar,

cork oak ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork (material), cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, ...

and holm oak, as well as the only remaining forests of Moroccan fir, a subspecies of the

Spanish fir ''Abies pinsapo'', Spanish fir, is a species of tree in the family Pinaceae, native to southern Spain and northern Morocco. Related to other species of Mediterranean firs, it appears at altitudes of in the Sierra de Grazalema in the Province of ...

. The eastern slopes receive less rainfall, and there forests consist mainly of pines, particularly the

Aleppo pine ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. It was officially named by the botanist Philip Miller in his 1768 book ''The Gardener's Dictionary''; he pro ...

and the maritime pine, as well as tetraclinis. Massive deforestation due to

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

, forest fires, and forest clearing for agriculture, particularly for the creation of

plantations, has taken place since the 1950s. This deforestation has led to

soil degradation Soil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a soil health, stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to soil erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession revert ...

due to the washing away of

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic mat ...

, which has aggravated the process.

Tribes

The Rif is home to tribal people belonging to different tribes which are usually subdivided in even smaller groups. Following is a list of tribes: * Gzenaya * Ait Waryaghar *Ait Amart *Ait Touzine *Ait Temsaman * Ait Ulishk *Ait Tafersit *Ait Said * Kebdana *Targuist *Bokoya *Ait Itteft *Ait Boufrah *Ait Hadifa

Footnotes

References

* * Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy (2005)
"Morocco said to produce nearly half of the world's hashish supply"
''

Jane's Intelligence Review ''Jane's Intelligence Review'' was a monthly journal on global security and stability issues published by Jane's Information Group. Its coverage includes international security issues, state stability, terrorism and insurgency, ongoing conflicts, ...

'' * * * C. Michael Hogan (2008)
"Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus"
Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg * *

External links

Galerie Rif (Arrif)

Rif Map
{{Authority control Al Hoceïma Province Berber history Geography of Fès-Meknès Geography of Oriental (Morocco) Geography of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Historical geography of Morocco Historical regions Mountain ranges of Morocco