Tamazgha

Tamazgha (Berber: Tamazɣa; ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵗⴰ or ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵖⴰ) is an Amazigh (Berber) name employed for the Berber lands, equally known as the Greater Maghreb. The region encompasses the geographical area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Niger River, from Siwa Oasis to the Canary Islands, including northern Mali and northern Niger.

Although the Berber linguistic root MZƔ or ZƔ is likely ancient, Tamazɣa as a country or region name is modern, coined in the context of Berber nationalism. It appeared for the first time in Algeria and Morocco in the 1970s. It is not clear at all who coined it. Some say it was Mouloud Mammeri (1917–1989). According to others, it was Kateb Yacine (1929–1989).

The most inhabited areas of Tamazgha are the coastal vertile regions of northern Libya, northern and eastern Tunisia, northern Algeria, northern Morocco, and the Atlanctic coast of Morocco. "Tamazgha" corresponds roughly to Herodotus' Ancient Libya and to the medieval Barbary Coast.

The term is used by Amazigh activists because there was not originally a common word that refers to all the geographical territory inhabited by the Amazigh people (Berbers), since the Amazigh people live in several countries, and they are not united politically, with many scattered around the World by the Amazigh Diaspora. So, the name has been created to define an Amazigh Nation, and unify the people of the Tamazgha, or the Great Maghreb with their original culture. Many philologists sort this term like neologism, built from traditional Tamazight language terms (i.e. Tamazight, Tamurt an Imazighen, Tamazirt.)

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