Tangier
Tangier, Tandja [-d ʒ a], port city and seaside resort in northwest Morocco, at the western entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar in a protected bay, (2019) 1.1 million residents.
Administrative seat of the prefecture of Tangier-Assilah and the region of Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima; catholic archbishop’s seat; University of North Africa (founded in 1971), Spanish Polytechnic Institute, Pasteur Institute, Conservatory, Museums, Biblioteca Pública Española; international financial center (offshore center since 1992); Trade and market center; Shipbuilding, automotive, electrical, textile, tobacco and canned fish industries; major tourism; Commercial port (with free port), deep-sea port Tanger-Med, fishing port and marina; largest passenger port in the country with ferry lines to Algeciras, Gibraltar, Tarifa, Sète, Marseille, Lisbon, Southampton and Casablanca; Railway and long-distance bus lines to all major Moroccan cities and via Madrid and Barcelona to Paris; Tangier-Boukhalf international airport 15 km southwest of the city.
Cityscape
Tangier, a lively melting pot between Orient and Occident, is divided into the old town (medina) on a hill above the port, the semi-circular new town (former European town) with the business center, the hilly villa district Montagne in the north-west (with the royal palace, late 19th century). Century) and the elongated bathing and hotel center Malabata in the southeast. In the walled medina (four city gates) are the spacious kasba (15th century) with the complex of the former sultan’s residence Dar el-Makhzen (built at the end of the 17th century, later changed several times; today the museum for Moroccan handicrafts and the archaeological museum, mainly Punic and Roman finds), the arts and crafts school and the famous Cafe Maure; also the Great Mosque (end of the 17th century, expanded in 1815; jewelry portal), the Merinidic Abul Hasan Medrese (1331–54, 1757–90 restored), the Spanish Cathedral (1880) and the Dar Naiba Renaissance palace; in the new town the Sidi Bou Abid Mosque (1917), the Mendoubia Palace with park (800-year-old dragon trees, 40 bronze cannons from the 17th century) and the Musée Forbes des Miniatures Militaires (including 115,000 tin soldiers).
History
According to areacodesexplorer, Tangier is the oldest permanent settlement in Northwest Africa and existed as early as 1600 BC. BC as a city founded by Berbers. As a thingi, it was an important trading post for the Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians. In the 1st century BC It was conquered by the Romans and called Tingis 38 BC Colony, 42 AD capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana. In 429 Tangier was conquered by the Vandals, in 533 by the Byzantines, and at the beginning of the 8th century by the Arabs. Under changing dynasties, it rose to become at times the most important trading port in the western Mediterranean. In 1471 it was conquered by the Portuguese, was under Spanish rule from 1581–1643, became Portuguese again in 1661, then British (until 1684). From 1727 Tangier was an independent Pasha principality, but fell into disrepair without its hinterland (only 5,000 residents in 1810). After 1844 (French punitive action against Tangier for supporting Abd el-Kader ) the growing economic interests of the major European powers led to a recovery. In 1892 Tangier was placed under an international commission; Against the influence of the French, on March 31, 1905, the German Emperor Wilhelm II. Freedom of trade in Tangier granted at the Algeciras Conference in 1906. When Morocco was divided between Spain and France in 1912, Tangier and its environs were given the status of a tax-free and duty-free international zone, which came into force in 1923 along with demilitarization. The administration took over a legislative assembly (twelve Europeans, six Muslims, three Jews); the Moroccan sultan (formal holder of suzerainty) had only one permanent representative in Tangier, the mendoub. In 1940 the city was occupied by Spain, but France and Great Britain enforced international status again on October 11, 1945. On October 29, 1956, Tangier was annexed to Morocco, which had become independent, but retained some tax advantages until 1960.
