Meknes (Arabic: مكناس, Berber: ⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ Mknas or Ameknas, French: Meknès, Spanish: Mequinez) is a city in northern Morocco, 130 kilometres (81 mi) from the capital Rabat and 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Fes. It is served by the A2 expressway between those two cities and by the corresponding railway. Meknes was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672–1727), before it was relocated to Marrakech. The population is 785,000 (2010 census). It is the capital of the Meknes-Tafilalet region. Meknes is named after a Berber tribe which was known as Miknasa (native Berber name: Imeknasen) in the medieval North African sources.
Meknès-Tafilalet (Berber: Meknas-Tafilalt) is one of the sixteen regions of Morocco. It is situated in north-central Morocco, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 79,210 km² and has a population of 2,141,527 (2004 census). The capital is Meknès.