Kenitra (, , , ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in northwestern

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 a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

on the

Sebou River The Sebou (Berber: Asif en Sbu, ) is a river in northern Morocco. At its source in the Middle Atlas mountains it is known as the Guigou River (Berber: Asif n Gigu). The river is 496 kilometers long and has an average water flow of 137 m3/s, wh ...

with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the

Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Rabat-Salé-Kénitra () is one of twelve administrative regions of Morocco. It is situated in north-western Morocco and has a population of 5,132,639 (2024 census). The capital is Rabat. History Rabat-Salé-Kenitra was formed in September 201 ...

region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra Province. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the US Naval Air Station Port Lyautey served as a stopping point in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

History

Ancient history

The history of the city begins with the foundation of a trading post by Carthaginian explorer Hanno. It was known back then as Thamusida.

Colonial and recent history

In March 1912 the French government and the Sultan of Morocco, Abd al-Hafid, signed the

Treaty of Fez The Treaty of Fes (, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sharifian Empire ( French: ), was signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid of Morocco under duress a ...

. Because of his growing unpopularity, the Sultan asked the French government for protection against the Berber rebel tribes surrounding Fez. France appointed

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. In earl ...

resident-general in Morocco. General Lyautey restored peace and order to the country after crushing the tribal uprising. After safely moving the Sultan from Fez to the current capital city, Rabat, Lyautey began his task of civilian administration. Sbou River - Corniche Kenitra

One of the first preoccupations of General Lyautey was to build ports along the inhabitable Atlantic coast where there were no natural harbors. He established Port Lyautey in 1912 as a French military

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

and town. Its port, at the mouth of the Sebou river, was opened in 1913. It soon became the best river port in Morocco. Kenitra draws its name from a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

built at Fouarat lake upstream of the kasbah. This culvert was destroyed in 1928. In 1933, the French officially named the locale "Port Lyautey". It was renamed "Quneitra" in 1956 as Morocco gained its independence. The city has grown rapidly to be a shipping centre for agricultural produce (mainly fruit), fish, timber, and lead and zinc ores. The city's industrial area lies upstream of the port.

U.S. Naval Base

In November 1942, after

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, the Americans captured the Port Lyautey French fighter base as a military base, named Craw Field. For three months the 21st Engineer Aviation Regiment worked on the airfield. In February 1943 the

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

of the 120th Naval Construction Battalion took over all construction activities. The Navy ran the base until 1947, when the State Department negotiated reversion of control to France. In 1950, a $23,000,000 expansion was authorized, but then the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

diverted resources. In the 1950s, nearly 10,000 people were on the base making it the largest aggregation of Americans in any one overseas base outside Japan. Later, the base in Kenitra was expanded to become a U.S. Naval Air Station. The base was shared by both the US and Morocco through the

. A small Navy communications out-station in Sidi Yahia closed in the late 1970s. The Air Station was closed in 1991.

Climate

Kenitra has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Csa''). In summer, there are 27.4 days on average in which the maximum daily temperature is at or higher, and 1.6 days with max temperature above . Winters are mild and rainy, with sub-freezing temperatures occurring only 0.3 days per year on average. The highest recorded temperature was on 1 August 2003, and the coldest was on 13 February 2012.

Population

Areas and neighbourhoods

*Mdina ** ''Khabazate'' ** ''The Cigogne'' ** La cite *Modern city ** ''Mimosa'' ** ''La Ville Haute'' *Popular districts ** ''Saknia'' ** ''Ouled Oujih'' **''Maghrib al Arabi'' *Residential districts **''Bir Rami'' **''Ismailia'' **''Val fleuri''

Education

Colleges and universities

* (UIT) *ENCG Kénitra () *HECI Kénitra (Hautes Etudes Commerciales et Informatiques) *ENSA Kénitra (

École nationale des sciences appliquées de Kénitra The École nationale des sciences appliquées de Kénitra () is a Moroccan engineering school founded in 2008 by a partnership between the University Ibn Tofail in Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on t ...

) *ENSC Kénitra ( �cole nationale supérieure de chimie de Kénitra

Transportation

*The National Route 1 and the A1 motorway pass through Kenitra and connect it to

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Salé Salé (, ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Along with some smaller nearby towns, Rabat and Salé form together a single m ...

in the south-west and to

Larache Larache () is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Many civilisations and cultures have ...

in the north-east. *The city is served by one

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

: ''Kenitra-Ville''. A shuttle

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

, TNR, connects the city, every 30 minutes, to

and

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. *A

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

line to

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 ...

was completed in 2018. (''See Kenitra–Tangier high-speed rail line''.)

Sports

Kenitra Athletic Club, KAC

In 1938, a group of Kenitra natives created KAC. This group of soccer lovers wanted to resist French domination in sports in Morocco. The team, made entirely of Kenitra natives, succeeded in reaching the premier Moroccan soccer league in 1956. In 1960, KAC won its first championship league of Morocco. KAC embarked in a journey of glories by winning the 1973-81-82 championship leagues and the 1961 throne cup. Ahmed Souiri was a long-time manager and coach. KAC has produced many international players. Noureddine Bouyahyaoui and Labid Khalifa were among the players who helped the Moroccan national soccer team qualify for the second round of the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1986. Mohammed Boussati still holds a national record of goals by scoring 25 goals in one soccer championship season in 1981–82.
Its home is the Kenitra Municipal Stadium which has a capacity of 15,000 people.

Basketball

The KAC Kénitra was a very successful basketball team during the 70s and 80s.

Notable people

Kenitra was the birthplace of: * Amina Aït Hammou, Olympic athlete * David Bitan, Israeli politician * Ismaël Ferroukhi - Director and scriptwriter *

Margie Cox Margaret Cox is an American singer. She is best known as the lead singer of the Minneapolis sound band Ta Mara and the Seen, and for her work with Prince. Early life and career Cox was born in Kenitra, Morocco, and moved to Minneapolis with her f ...

, American R&B Singer * Mohamed Sijelmassi, writer and physician * Nayef Aguerd – footballer * Saïd Aouita, Olympic athlete * Sofian Chakla – footballer * Tariq Chihab - Former international footballer *

Youssef Chippo Youssef Chippo (; born 10 May 1973) is a Moroccan former footballer. He was a renowned midfielder for the Morocco national team during the 1990s, and was a member of the team that participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 19 ...

, International football player * Zouhair Laaroubi - footballer

Notes and references

External links

Entry in Lexicorient

Histoire de Kenitra / Port-Lyautey en images de 1911 au 1956
{{Authority control Port cities and towns on the Moroccan Atlantic Coast Populated places in Kénitra Province Municipalities of Morocco 1912 establishments in Morocco

Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...