Marrakech

Marrakech (Amazigh: ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, Mourrākoush; Arabic: مراكش), nicknamed the Pearl of the South or South Gate and red or ocher City. Is a city in Morocco, in the interior, in the foothills of the Atlas.

The city was founded in 1062 by Youssef Ibn Tachfin king of Amazigh Almoravid dynasty. In the past, Morocco was known in the East as the Marrakech (name still current in Iran); Morocco name itself comes from the deformation of the Portuguese pronunciation of Marrakech Marrocos.

Marrakech has about 909,000 (Marrakchi) inhabitants, according to the 2012 census, spread over an area of ​​230 km2. The population density is 350 inhabitants per hectare in Medina. It is the fourth largest city in Morocco after Casablanca, Fez and Meknes. The city is divided into two distinct parts: the Medina or historic (ten kilometers speaker) and the new town whose main areas are called Gueliz and Wintering, Askar Douar Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, hamid, Daoudiat. Gueliz is now the commercial center. It was founded by the French during the Protectorate. The Hivernage contains many hotel complexes. In recent years, the city expanded in the periphery, especially in the west with the appearance of new residential districts and for the region of Targa or extension of Avenue Mohammed VI, or north Tamansourt.