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A rapidly changing country Traveling to Morocco at least 5 times a year, we see the country change before our eyes. Whereas only 4 years ago we still wrote that taking a train would mean chatting and sharing tea and cake with new friends... this is no longer true. A rapidly growing middle class and the hunger to join the Western world, make that nowadays you usually find yourself between youngsters with laptops, iPods and glossy magazines. Prices, constructions, developments, changing habits... Morocco is going full speed ahead. History of Morocco Do you have a day or 10 ? There are so many aspects to the history and culture of Morocco, that if you are interested, you have the choice between a one day or one year study. A very good source for information on all the aspects and era’s of the history of Morocco is the online encyclopedia wikipedia.org. At the same time the history is so fascinating, that you might want to think about contacting a professional guide when in Morocco. In summary , we can say that when, with the sudden expansion of the religion of Islam in the 7th century, the Arabs came to this part of northern Africa, it was inhabited by people’s that were - and are still sometimes referred to as - ‘Berber’. The fresh air that Islam had brought, the enthousiasm, the explosion of idea’s in fields as astronomy, mathematics (Al-Gebra), shipping techniques, made it possible that soon afterwards, a mixture of 90% Berbers and 10% Arabs, made it across the Gibraltar Straight, and started an empire of sultanates in Spain - the era of Al Andalus or the Moorish Times. "Moorish" was obviously not how the people considered themselves; it is merely a derivation of the Greek word "mauros" which meant "black", adapted by the Romans to describe people they saw as darker. The word also still lingers in the names of countries, as Mauritania and, perhaps, Morocco itself. The era of Muslim rule finally ended in 1492 when, with the marriage of Isabella ‘The Catholic’ and King Ferdinand, molding two empires together, the combined powers were strong enough to take over the last Moorish sultanate of Grenada. This was the beginning of the end for the so called Moors as well as Jews. The Moors drew back to northern Africa, the ladino speaking Jews migrated to the north, especially to more liberal Amsterdam. In the late 19th and early 20th century the crippled country of Morocco became a ball in the hands of powers as France, Spain, UK and Italy, resulting in colonisation and the period known as the International Era, which ended in the 1950’s when Morocco, once again in its long history, became independent. The future looks good for Morocco. As mentioned above, ever since in 1999 King Mohamed VI succeeded his father King Hassan II the country has been and is still slowly advancing towards a western European style democracy. And when in 2004 Spain elected a new president, José Zapatero, he choose Morocco for his first official visit abroad, which with neighboring countries as France and Portugal, was seen as very symbolic for the future relationships. The Berbers 60% of the population exists of so called "Berbers", a name that is used for ease only. The official name is Amazigh. The Amazigh are the original inhabitants, before the arrival of the Arabs, and are spread over some 10 countries in the north west of the African continent, the Maghreb (the north east is known as the Mashreq). Read more in TangierDreamer.
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