Maghreb

(see also North Africa, Tamazgha, Arab Maghreb Union, Mashreq)

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The Maghreb (المغرب العربي ; sometimes also rendered Moghreb), meaning "western" in Arabic, is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert and west of the Nile - specifically, the modern countries of Morocco, Western Sahara (annexed and occupied by Morocco) Algeria, Tunisia, Libya- and to a much lesser extent Mauritania. Its mixed Arab-Berber inhabitants were traditionally called Moors by Europeans.

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From the end of the Ice Age, when the Sahara Desert dried up, contact between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa was extremely limited by the difficulty in crossing the desert. This remained the case until after the time of the Arab expansion and the spread of Islam; even then, trade was restricted to costly (but often profitable) caravan expeditions, trading such goods as salt, gold, ivory, and slaves.

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Though Maghreb culture as well as its people have both African and Middle Eastern roots, most Maghrebis are either Arabic- or Berber-speaking Muslims of predominantly Middle Eastern ancestry, while a few are of predominantly African ancestry, and the corsairs brought in significant amounts of French, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish ancestry in the big coastal cities. The Arabic dialects of the Maghreb share many common characteristics (like a first person singular present with n-) that set them apart from the dialects of the Middle East and most of Egypt; Berber languages, of course, are almost exclusively spoken in the Maghreb, and were originally spoken throughout it. It largely shares a common culinary tradition; indeed, the Maghreb was jocularly defined by Habib Bourguiba as the part of North Africa where couscous is the staple food.

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The Arab Maghreb Union (Union du Maghreb Arabe) is an effort to coordinate political and economic policies across this region; disagreements among its members and security problems in Algeria have posed it serious setbacks.

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The western Islamic world (northwest Africa); distinguished from the Mashriq, or eastern Islamic world (the Middle East). Literally, "the time and place of the sunset--the west." For its Arab conquerors, the region was the "island of the west" (jazirat al maghrib), the land between the "sea of sand" (the Sahara) and the Mediterranean Sea. Traditionally includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripolitania (in Libya); more recently some sources have treated Mauritania as part of the region.

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North Africa: North Africa is a region generally considered to include:...

Tamazgha: Tamazgha is a recent Tamazight neologism for the area more often known as the Maghreb or North Africa, covering the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Niger River, from the west bank of the Nile river to the Atlantic Ocean. The main inhabited areas are northern Libya, Tunisia and the Atlas M...

Arab Maghreb Union: The Arab Maghreb Union is a Pan Arab project aiming at economic and political union in northern Africa, initiated in 1989. Its members are Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. Very little in the way of actual political and economical coordination has been achieved, however....