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 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, Driouch, Al Hoceima) and western Rif mountains (

, Tetouan, Chefchaouen, Taounate).

Geography

Geologically, the Rif Mountains belong to the Gibraltar Arc or Alborán Sea geological region. They are an extension of the Baetic System, 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 Nador, Al Hoceima (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

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) Tingi (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. In the 5th century AD, 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 founded the Emirate of Nekor 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, 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 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 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 and holm oak, as well as the only remaining forests of Moroccan fir, a subspecies of the Spanish fir. 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'' * * * 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