Rabat

Rabat
Rabat; الرباط ⵕⴱⴰⵟ; ar-Ribāṭ Rbat
	Rabat
	Coordinates: 34°02′N 6°50′W / 34.033°N 6.833°W
Kintra	Morocco
Region	Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer
First settled	3rd century BC
Foondit bi Almohads	1146
Govrenment
• Mayor	Fathallah Oualalou
Area
• City	117 km2 (45.17 sq mi)
Elevation	75 m (246 ft)
Population (2004)
• City	620,996
• Density	5,300/km2 (14,000/sq mi)
• Metro	1,670,192
Website	http://www.rabat.ma/

Rabat (Arabic الرباط, transliterated ar-Rabāṭ or ar-Ribāṭ, literally "Fortified Place"), population 650 000 hab. (2010 estimate), is the caipital an third maistmuckle city o the Kinrick o Morocco. It is the caipital o the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region an aa.

The city is locatit on the Atlantic Ocean at the mooth o the river Bou Regreg. On the facin shore o the river lees Salé, Rabat's bedroom community. Thegither, the twa cities wi Temara accoont for a population o 1.8 million. Siltin problems hae diminished the city's role as a port; housomever, Rabat an Salé still hae relatively important textile, fuid processin an construction industries; some is fae sweatshop labour bi major multinaitional corporations (see Salé).

As weel, tourism an the presence o aw foreign embassies in Morocco serve tae mak Rabat the seicont maist important city in the kintra efter the mair muckle an economically mair significant Casablanca. It is accessible bi train throu the ONCF system an bi plane throu the nearbi Rabat-Salé Airport.

History

BC tae 17th century

Rabat's history began wi a dounset, kent as Chellah on the banks o the Oued Bou Regreg^[4] in the third century BC. In 40 AD, Romans teuk ower Chellah an convertit it tae the Roman dounset o Sala Colonia. Rome held the colony till 250 AD when thay abandoned it tae local rulers. In 1146, the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min turned Rabat's ribat intae a fou-scale fortress tae uise as a launchin pynt for attacks on Spain. In 1170, due tae its military importance, Rabat acquired the title Ribatu l-Fath, meanin "stranghold o victory," frae which it derives its current name.

Yaqub al-Mansur (kent as Moulay Yacoub in Morocco), anither Almohad Caliph, muived the caipital o his empire tae Rabat.^[5] He biggit Rabat's ceety walls, the Kasbah o the Udayas an began construction on what wad hae been the warld's lairgest mosque. Housomeivver, Yaqub dee'd an construction stopped. The ruins o the unfinished mosque, alang wi the Hassan Tower, still staund the day.

Yaqub's daith initiated a period o decline. The Almohad empire lost control o its possessions in Spain an muckle o its African territory, hinderly leadin tae its tot collapse. In the 13t century, muckle o Rabat's economic pouer shiftit tae Fez. In 1515 a Moorish explorer, El Wassan, reporit that Rabat haed declined sae muckle that anerlie 100 inhabitit hooses remained. An influx o Moriscos, who haed been expelled frae Spain, in the early 17t century helped boost Rabat's growth.

Corsair republics

Rabat an neighboring Salé unitit tae form the Republic o Bou Regreg in 1627. The republic wis run bi Barbary pirates who uised the twa ceeties as base ports for launchin attacks on shipping. The pirates didna hae tae contend wi ony central authority till the Alaouite Dynasty unitit Morocco in 1666. The latter attemptit tae establish control ower the pirates, but failed. European an Muslims authorities continued tae attempt tae control the pirates ower mony years, but the Republic o Bou Regreg didna collapse till 1818. Even efter the republic's collapse, pirates continued tae uise the port o Rabat, whilk led tae the shellin o the ceety bi Austrick in 1829 efter an Austrian ship haed been lost tae a pirate attack.

20th century

French invasion

The French invadit Morocco in 1912 an establisht a protectorate. The French admeenistrator o Morocco, General Hubert Lyautey,^[6] decidit tae relocate the kintra's caipital frae Fez tae Rabat. Amang ither factors, rebellious ceetizens haed made Fez an unstable place. Sultan Moulay Youssef follaed the decision o the French an muived his residence tae Rabat. In 1913, Gen. Lyautey hired Henri Prost wha designed the Ville Nouvelle (Rabat's modren quarter) as an admeenistrative sector. Whan Morocco achieved unthirldom in 1956, Mohammed V, the then Keeng o Morocco, chuise tae hae the caipital remain at Rabat.

Post Warld War II

Follaein Warld War II, the Unitit States established a military presence in Rabat at the umwhile French air base. Bi the early 1950s, Rabat Salé Air Base wis a U.S. Air Force installation hostin the 17t Air Force an the 5t Air Diveesion, whilk owersaw forwart basin for Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-47 Stratojet aircraft in the kintra. Wi the destabilization o French govrenment in Morocco, an Moroccan unthirldom in 1956, the govrenment o Mohammed V wantit the U.S. Air Force tae pull oot o the SAC bases in Morocco, insistin on sic action efter American intervention in Lebanon in 1958. The Unitit States agreed tae leave as o December 1959, an wis fully oot o Morocco bi 1963. SAC felt the Moroccan bases wur muckle less critical wi the lang range capability o the B-52 Stratofortresses that wur replacin the B-47s an wi the completion o the USAF installations in Spain in 1959.^[7]

Wi the USAF withdrawal frae Rabat-Salé in the 1960s, the facility became a primary facility for the Ryal Moroccan Air Force kent as Air Base Nº 1, a status it continues tae hauld.