Total population | |
---|---|
~ 38M | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Morocco | 33,322,699 |
France | 1,514,000 |
Spain | 792,158 |
Italy | 524,775 |
Belgium | 500,000 |
Israel | 486,600 |
Netherlands | 385,761 |
Germany | 140,000 |
Canada | 100,000 |
United Arab Emirates | 100,000 |
United States | 113,544 |
United Kingdom | 70,000 |
Algeria | 63,000 |
Saudi Arabia | 60,000 |
Libya | 50,000 |
Sweden | 40,000 |
Norway | 30,000 |
Denmark | 26,000 |
Egypt | 18,000 |
Qatar | 9,000 |
Tunisia | 9,500 |
Switzerland | 7,270 |
Ukraine | 7,000 |
Australia | 4,200 |
Oman | 4,000 |
Brazil | 3,500 |
Russia | 3,400 |
Syria | 3,056 |
South Africa | 2,100 |
Ivory Coast | 1,800 |
Finland | 1,200 |
Mauritania | 1,056 |
Languages | |
Moroccan Arabic, Berber dialects | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Islam (Sunni, Nondenominational Muslims,Sufi); minority Judaism, Christianity |
Moroccans (Arabic: المغاربة al-Magharibah, Berber: ⵉⵎⵖⵕⴰⴱⵉⵢⵏ ; Imɣṛabiyen) are a people that share a common Moroccan culture and ancestry.
In addition to the 33 million Moroccans in Morocco, there is a large Moroccan diaspora in France, Belgium, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and a smaller one in United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Arabian Peninsula and in other Arab states. A sizable part of the Moroccan diaspora is composed of Moroccan Jews.
In traditional physical anthropology, the indigenous Berbers of Morocco and elsewhere in the Maghreb are among the various Hamitic inhabitants of Africa, representing the westernmost branch. As such, the principal morphological element in the local population is the Mediterranean type (Atlanto-Mediterranean and Basic Mediterranean).
The first anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) in North Africa are the makers of the Aterian, a Middle Stone Age (or Middle Palaeolithic) stone tool culture. The earliest Aterian lithic assemblages date to around 145,000 years ago, and were discovered at the site of Ifri n'Ammar in Morocco. This industry was followed by the Iberomaurusian culture, a backed bladelet industry found throughout the Maghreb. It was originally described in 1909 at the site of Abri Mouillah. Other names for this Cro-Magnon-associated culture include Mouillian and Oranian. The Epipaleolithic Iberomaurusian makers were centered in prehistoric sites, such as Taforalt and Mechta-Afalou. They were succeeded by the Capsians. The Capsian culture is often thought to have arrived in Africa from the Near East, although it is also suggested that the Iberomaurusians may have been the progenitors of the Capsians. Around 5000 BC, the populations of North Africa were primarily descended from the makers of the Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures, with a more recent intrusion associated with the Neolithic revolution. The proto-Berber tribes evolved from these prehistoric communities during the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age.