The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) (, ) is a historical, cultural and geographical region 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 ...

, which constitutes part of the region administration of

Souss-Massa Souss-Massa () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco, regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 51,642 km² and had a population of 2,676,847 as of the 2014 Moroccan census. The capital of the region is Agadir. Geography Souss-Massa bord ...

and

Guelmim-Oued Noun Guelmim-Oued Noun () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco, regions of Morocco. The southeastern part of the region is located in the disputed territory of Western Sahara and a small strip of land in this area is administered by the Sahrawi A ...

. The region is known for the endemic argan tree (which has become a symbol of Souss) as well as for being the capital of the Shilha Berber ethnic group. It is a major commercial and tourist agricultural region of Morocco. Vegetable production, shared between very large farms and small producers, contributes to the economic development of the region. The Souss plain produces 40% of Moroccan

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruits, and 60% of the production of early vegetables. It is historically a stage of trans-Saharan trade.

History

Medieval Arab geographers generally divided the Sous region into two distinct sub-regions: ''as-Sūs al-Aqṣā'' ( 'the far Sus'), or , and ''as-Sūs al-Adnā'' ( 'the near Sus'). ''Sus al-Aqsa'' consisted of the southern/western part, and ''Sus al-Adna'' consisted of the northern/eastern part; however, there were never any precise boundaries between the two. The capital of the Sous was at Igli. There was also a

ribat A ribāṭ (; hospice, hostel, base or retreat) is an Arabic term, initially designating a small fortification built along a frontier during the first years of the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb to house military volunteers, called ''murabitun' ...

at Massa near the Atlantic coast. Around 683,

Uqba ibn Nafi ʿUqba ibn Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Qays al-Fihrī al-Qurashī (), also simply known as Uqba ibn Nafi (622 – 683), was an Arab general serving the Rashidun Caliphate since the reign of Umar and later the Umayyad Caliphate during the reigns of Mu'awi ...

conquered the Sous region, but after his death in 688 his conquests in Morocco slipped out of Muslim control. The Sous was reconquered around 20 years later by

Musa ibn Nusayr Musa ibn Nusayr ( ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) was an Arab general and governor who served under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim province of Ifriqiya, and directed the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic King ...

, who began the spread of Islam among the local population.

Bibliography

*Boogert, Nico van den. ''The Berber Literary Tradition of the Sous: with an edition and translation of 'The Ocean of Tears' by Muḥammad Awzal (d. 1749)'', Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 1997. *Montagne, Robert. ''Les Berbères et le Makhzen dans le sud du Maroc; essai sur la transformation politique des Berbères sédentaires (groupe Chleuh)''. Rabat: Dar Al-Aman, 2013 .
UNESCO Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve

References

External links

{{coord, 30, 18, N, 9, 20, W, region:MA_dim:100000, display=title Natural regions of Africa Geography of Morocco