Oujda

About Oujda

Oujda is a major city in northeast Morocco near the border with Algeria. Oujda is the largest city and capital of the Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of 506,224 people (2024 census). It is located about 15 kilometres (9 miles) west of the Moroccan-Algerian border in the south of the Beni Iznassen Mountains and about 55 km (34 miles) south of the Mediterranean coast.

There is some evidence of a settlement during the Roman occupation, which seems to have been under the control of Berbers rather than Romans.

The city was founded in 994 by Ziri ibn Atiyya, Berber chief of the Zenata Maghrawa tribe. Ziri was, with his tribe, authorized to occupy the region of Fas, but feeling insecure in that region and that town, and wishing to be nearer to the central Maghrib homeland of his tribe, he moved to Oujda, installed there a garrison and his possessions, appointing one of his relatives as governor.

In the mid-11th century, a new quarter with a wall was allegedly added to the primitive core. Yusuf ibn Tashfin occupied the city in 1079, and in the next century, it came under Almohad control, with its fortifications...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.