Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 108, Apr 26, 2024, Agadir, Morocco, Post Cards from Agadir
Agadir is a major city in Morocco, on the
shore of the Atlantic
Ocean near the foot of the Atlas
Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss
River flows into the ocean, and 316 miles south of Casablanca. Agadir
is the capital of the Agadir Ida-U-Tanan
Prefecture and of the Souss-Massa economic region.
Agadir is one of the major urban centers of Morocco. The
municipality of Agadir recorded a population of 924,000 in the 2014 Moroccan census. According to the
2004 census, there were 346,106 inhabitants in that year and
the population of the Prefecture of Agadir-Ida Outanane was 487,954
inhabitants.
Agadir is known for being the capital of Amazigh culture
in Morocco. It is one of the few big Moroccan cities where Tamazight, one of Morocco's two
official languages, is spoken by more than half of the population. The native
variety to the region, Tachelhit, is
spoken by 222,000 speakers, representing 53.7% of the entire population. Agadir
is also a place for many festivals related to Amazigh culture, such as
The New
Amazigh Year, celebrated on 13 January every year throughout the city,
especially in the downtown area. The Bilmawen Festival is another old Berber
tradition celebrated in the suburbs of the city. Additionally, the Issni
N’Ourgh International festival is a festival for Amazigh films. Agadir is
also the birthplace of many of the pillars of Shilha and Amazigh music,
such as Izenzaren, Oudaden, and
many others.
It was the site of the 1911 Agadir Crisis that exposed tensions
between France and Germany, foreshadowing World War I. The city was destroyed
by an earthquake in 1960; it has been
completely rebuilt with mandatory seismic standards. It is now the
largest seaside
resort in Morocco, where foreign tourists and many residents are
attracted by an unusually mild year-round climate. Since 2010 it has been well
served by low-cost flights and a motorway from Tangier.
The mild winter climate (January average midday temperature
69 °F and good beaches have made it a major "winter sun"
destination for northern Europeans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agadir
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