Women of Marrakech

Marrakech or Marrakesh (Berber: ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ Mərrakəš or Murakuc, Arabic: مراكش‎ Murrākuš, local pronunciation: Mərrakəš), known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history. The city of Marrakech is the capital of the mid-southwestern economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, being also the fourth largest city in Morocco according to the 2004 census.

Like many Moroccan cities, the city of Marrakech comprises both an old fortified city (the médina) and modern neighborhoods, the most prominent of which is Gueliz, for a total population of 794,620 and 1,063,415 in the metropolitan area (2004 census). It is served by Ménara International Airport (IATE code: RAK) and a rail link to Casablanca and the north.

Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna. The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant.

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Morocco, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Most Moroccans are Sunni Muslims, mainly of Arab-Berber, Arabized Berber or Berber stock. Morocco was inhabited by Berbers since at least 5000 years ago. The Arabs conquered the territory that would become Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries, at the time under the rule of various late Byzantine Roman princips and indigenous Berber and Romano-Berber principalities, such as the one of Julian, count of Ceuta, laying the foundation for the emergence of the Morish culture. A small minority of the population is identified as Haratin and Gnaoua, dark-skinned sedentary agriculturalists of the southern oases that speak either Berber or Arabic. Morocco's Jewish minority has decreased significantly and today numbers about 5,000. Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French or Spanish.

Recent studies make clear no significant genetic differences exist between Arabic and non-Arabic speaking populations, highlighting that in common with most of the Arab World, Arabization was mainly via acculturation of indigenous populations over time and intermarriage between Arabs and Berbers. According to the European Journal of Human Genetics, Moroccans from North-Western Africa are genetically closer to Iberians and other South Europeans than to Middle Easterners and Sub-Saharan Africans.