Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima () is the northernmost of the twelve regions of

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 covers an area of 15,090 km² and recorded a population of 4 030 222 in the 2024 Moroccan census. The capital of the region is

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 ...

Geography

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

Tétouan Tétouan (, or ) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about E.S.E. of Tangier. In the 2014 Morocc ...

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 ...

is the northernmost of Morocco's twelve regions. In the north it faces the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

and 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 borders the Spanish

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

. It also borders the Moroccan regions of

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 ...

to the southwest,

Fès-Meknès Fez-Meknes () is among the twelve Regions of Morocco Regions are currently the highest administrative divisions in Morocco. Since 2015, Morocco officially administers 12 regions, including one (Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab) that lies completely wi ...

to the southeast and

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

to the east. The

Rif The Rif (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. It is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and Spain and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the homeland of the Rifians and the Jebala people ...

rises in the eastern part of the region and is the location of

Al Hoceima National Park Al Hoceima National Park (, Tarifit: Afrag Anamur n Lhusima) is a national park located outside the town of Al Hoceima in Morocco. It covers an area of , including of sea. The park was created in 2004 and is managed by the ''Haut-Commissariat d ...

and Talassemtane National Park. The land near the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast in the west is less rugged, and the fertile southwestern corner of the region is drained by the

Loukkos River The Loukkos River (واد لوكوس; Spanish: Río Luco) is a major river in northern Morocco. Although it is relatively short (about 100 km), the river is the third largest in Morocco with an average flow of 50 m³/s. The Loukkos river's s ...

History

Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima was formed in September 2015 by adding Al Hoceima Province, formerly part of

Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate () was formerly one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It was situated in northern Morocco. It covered an area of 24,155 km² and had a population of 1,807,036 (2014 census). The capital was Al Hoceima. I ...

region, to the former

Tangier-Tetouan Tangier-Tétouan () was formerly one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It covered an area of 11,570 km2 and had a population of 3,157,075.2014 census The capital was Tangier. In 2015, Al Hoceïma Province from Taza-Al Hoce ...

region.

Government

Ilyas El Omari Ilyas El Omari (; born 1967 in Bni Bouayach) is a Moroccan politician. He headed the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, and headed the Akhir Saâ press group, and was formerly General Secretary of Authenticity and Modernity Party The Authen ...

, a member of the

Authenticity and Modernity Party The Authenticity and Modernity Party (; ; , PAM) is a political party in Morocco. It was founded in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, an advisor to the king Mohammed VI, and it has been perceived by its opponents and the press as being backed and dir ...

, was elected as the regional council's first president on 14 September 2015. Mohamed El Yaacoubi was appointed governor (''wali'') of the region on 13 October 2015. On 18 February 2019, Mohamed Mhidia, former wali of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and governor of Rabat Prefecture, was appointed wali of the region. Fatima El Hassani was elected as president of the Regional Council of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima on 28 October 2019, which makes her the second Moroccan woman to assume such a position. As of 2025, Omar Moro continues to serve as the President of the Regional Council of Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma. He was elected to this position on September 20, 2021

Subdivisions

Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima comprises two prefectures and six provinces: * Al Hoceima Province *

Chefchaouen Province Chefchaouen () is a province in the Morocco, Moroccan economic region of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima. Demographics According to the 2014 Moroccan census, national census in Morocco, the province has more than 457,432 inhabitants. The population is ...

* Fahs-Anjra Province * Larache Province *

M'diq-Fnideq Prefecture M'diq-Fnideq () is a prefecture in Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco. It covers an area of and recorded a population of 209,897 in the 2014 Moroccan census. The seat of the prefecture is M'diq. Geography M'diq-Fnideq borders Fahs-Anjra Provinc ...

Ouezzane Province Ouezzane () is a province in the Morocco, Moroccan region of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima with the capital being Ouezzane. Subdivisions The province is divided administratively into the following Municipalities and communes of Morocco, municipalities ...

Tangier-Assilah Prefecture The prefecture of Tangier-Asilah () is a largely urban subdivision of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region of Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the ...

* Tetouan Province

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

is a major economic activity in the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Major crops include cereals, pulses, olives and sugarcane. Animal husbandry and fishing are also important contributors to the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

. Various

free economic zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subjec ...

s have been set up in the area surrounding the

Tanger-Med Tanger Med (in Arabic: طنجة المتوسط ) is a Moroccan industrial port complex, located 45 km northeast of Tangier and opposite Tarifa, Spain (15 km north) on the Strait of Gibraltar, with handling capacities of 9 million conta ...

container port A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land v ...

, one of Africa's busiest, to promote industrial growth and foreign investment. The region is also heavily reliant on tourism.

Infrastructure

The A1 expressway connects Tangier with the national capital

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. ...

. There are also two shorter expressways in the region: the A4 bypasses Tangier and links the A1 expressway to the Tanger-Med port, and the A7 connects Tetouan with M'Diq and

Fnideq Fnideq () is a town in northern Morocco, on the Mediterranean coast of M'diq-Fnideq Prefecture, north of the city of Tétouan. The town is also known under the Spanish name Castillejos. It is the closest Moroccan ''urban commune'' to the Spanish ...

. National Route 2 connects Tangier and Tetouan with Al Hoceima via an inland route, while National Route 16 provides a coastal route between the same cities. National Route 13 branches off the N2 near

Chefchaouen Chefchaouen (, ) is a city in northwest Morocco. It is the chief town of the province of the same name and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue, for which it is nicknamed the "Blue City". It is situated in a mountainous region in northern ...

and runs south via Ouezzane to

Meknes Meknes (, ) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravids as a military settlement, Mekne ...

and beyond. Tangier's Ibn Battouta Airport is the busiest airport in the region. Al Hoceima's

Cherif Al Idrissi Airport Cherif Al Idrissi Airport () is an international airport serving Al Hoceima, Morocco. It is the second-busiest airport in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region of northern Morocco. The airport is named after the 12th century CE Moroccan geograp ...

and Tetouan's

Sania Ramel Airport Sania Ramel Airport (, ) is an airport serving Tétouan, a city in the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region in Morocco. It is also the closest airport to the Spanish city of Ceuta (which only has a heliport). The airport served over 15,000 passenge ...

also receive commercial flights. The first phase of the Casablanca–Tangier high-speed rail line was opened between Tangier and

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 ...

in November 2018.

References

External links

{{Regions of Morocco