Skip to content
Home

Rabat — Capital city of Morocco

Overview of Rabat, Morocco's administrative capital: location, history, urban form, economy, cultural sites and its role alongside Salé and Casablanca.

Author: Created: Updated:

Overview

Rabat is the administrative capital of the Kingdom of Morocco and the chief city of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region. Its name in Arabic is often given as الرباط, and it is sometimes transliterated as ar-Rabāṭ or ar-Ribāṭ, originally meaning "fortified place". Located on the Atlantic coast of northwest Africa, Rabat faces the ocean and spans the northern bank of the Bou Regreg estuary. The municipal population is commonly reported in the hundreds of thousands (around 2014 figures commonly cited), while the wider metropolitan area that includes Salé and Temara exceeds 1.5–1.8 million inhabitants; Rabat is one of Morocco's principal urban centers alongside the Moroccan state and other large cities.

Image gallery

10 Images
Africa relief location map
simple.wikipedia.org · CC BY-SA 3.0

Geography and setting

Rabat sits where the river Bou Regreg meets the Atlantic Ocean, and the cityscape includes a mix of coastal cliffs, an historic medina, administrative districts and modern residential suburbs. Directly across the river is the older city of Salé; together they form a continuous urbanized corridor. The mouth of the Bou Regreg and associated channels have experienced navigational and siltation challenges, which have affected the historical role of Rabat as a seaport and led to changes in maritime activity over time (Bou Regreg, silting issues).

Historical development

Rabat's identity grew from a fortified ribāt and later military and administrative works attributed in large part to the Almohad period in the late 12th century; notable remnants from that era include the incomplete minaret and foundations of the Hassan complex and the adjacent necropolis at Chellah. Over subsequent centuries Rabat developed as a coastal town with a strategic fortification (the Kasbah of the Udayas) and a medina that preserved traditional urban forms. In the 20th century, under the French protectorate, Rabat became the principal administrative center and was retained as the national capital after Morocco regained independence.

Urban structure and notable sites

The city is commonly described in terms of its historic core and its modern administrative districts. Key landmarks include the medina, the Kasbah of the Udayas, the Hassan Tower and the Roman-Byzantine ruins within the Chellah. Rabat's modern quarter contains government ministries, diplomatic missions and civic institutions. The close relationship with Salé and the neighboring town of Temara means its metropolitan identity is regional rather than limited to municipal boundaries.

Economy, institutions and transport

While Rabat's port function diminished because of silting, the city's economy rests on a mix of public administration, services, education, light industry and tourism. Local manufacturing includes textiles, food processing and construction-related activity (textiles, food processing, construction). As the national capital, Rabat hosts the government, many national cultural institutions and a large diplomatic community; all foreign embassies to Morocco are concentrated in the city, giving it a major diplomatic and international role (foreign embassies).

Culture, tourism and distinctions

Rabat combines official functions with cultural life: museums, universities and festivals contribute to its profile, and several historic monuments are protected as significant heritage. The combination of modern administrative importance and preserved historic sites has made Rabat a frequent destination for visitors and for international delegations. Nationally, Rabat is generally regarded as the second most important city in Morocco by administrative and symbolic weight, while Casablanca remains the country's largest economic and commercial center (Casablanca).

Further information

Location

Rabat is about 90 kilometres on the A 3 motorway northeast of Casablanca and 200 kilometres on the A 1 motorway along the coast south of Tangier. The distance on the A 2 motorway heading east inland to Meknès is 120 kilometres. Rabat and Salé each lie on a rocky outcrop above the broad Bou Regreg valley. Barely two kilometres as the crow flies separate the fortified walls of the two old towns at the confluence of the river and the Atlantic. The only road bridge in the downtown area was the four-lane Pont Moulay El Hassan, built in the late 1950s, which was replaced by the taller Hassan II bridge in May 2011. The new bridge serves motor and tram traffic. The new bridge's greater height of 12.8 metres has made the Bou Regreg estuary navigable inland, so that larger yachts can now call at the newly developed Salé marina. For long-distance traffic, two more road bridges will be added a few kilometres inland.

Rabat-Salé airport is located eight kilometres northeast of the city centre near Salé.

The coastal strip from the industrial city of Kenitra, 45 kilometres to the north, to Casablanca in the south, is one of the most densely populated regions in the country and has the strongest industrial production. This area, declared a priority development zone during the colonial period, is home to 34 percent of Morocco's population. The prefecture of Rabat has an area of 9,526 hectares and the prefecture of Salé of 15,095 hectares, separated by the alluvial, agricultural plain of Bou-Regreg. To the north of Salé, the field plain of Bouknadel forms the border of the agglomeration, and 15 kilometres to the south of Rabat, the industrial town of Témara is also part of it.

December 2007 marked the official start of construction of the Rabat-Salé tramway, which will serve the Rabat-Salé conurbation in two lines with a length of 20 kilometres and 31 stops. Following its inauguration, the new Hassan II bridge has been open to motor traffic and trams since 23 May 2011. The tramway has started operations with lines 1 and 2 (phase 1). Line 2 is to be further extended.

Population development

Year

1982

1994

2004

2014

Inhabitants

526.124

615.377

621.480

573.895

At the end of the 19th century, Rabat and Salé together had a population of about 30,000. In 1912, Rabat was estimated to have 27,000 inhabitants and Salé 19,000. In the 1952 census, the population was 156,000, which had grown to 231,000 by 1960, about three times that of Salé. Starting in the 1970s, Salé began to catch up. The population of the entire Rabat prefecture was 623,457 in 1994, according to the census. In that year, Salé was already just ahead with 631,803 inhabitants, as it increasingly became a "bedroom community" for workers and employees employed in Rabat.

Questions and answers

Q: What is the population of Rabat?

A: The population of Rabat is 577,827 (2014 estimate).

Q: What region is Rabat the capital of?

A: Rabat is the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco and also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region.

Q: Where is Rabat located?

A: Rabat is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg.

Q: What other city lies across from Rabat?

A: Across from Rabat lies its bedroom community. Together, these two cities with Temara have a population of 1.8 million.

Q: How has silting affected Rabat's role as a port?

A: Silting problems have lowered the city's role as a port. However, it still maintains somewhat important textile, food processing and construction industries.

Q: What other factors contribute to making it an important city in Morocco? A: Tourism and being home to all foreign embassies in Morocco help to make it an important city in Morocco after Casablanca which is larger and economically more significant.

Related articles

Author

AlegsaOnline.com Rabat — Capital city of Morocco

URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/80667

Share

Sources