{{Short description|Geographic and cultural region of Morocco}} {{About|a region of Morocco|the 11th-century Talmudist known as The Rif|Isaac Alfasi|other uses|RIF (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Rif | native_name = {{native name list |tag1=rif|name1=ⴰⵔⵔⵉⴼ|tag2=ar|name2=الريف}} | image = Chauen.jpg | image_caption = A view of the Rif mountains around Chefchaouen | country = Morocco | region_type = | region = | region1 = | borders_on = | border1 = | highest = Tidighin | elevation_m = 2455 | range_coordinates = {{coord|35|-4|display=inline,title|region:MA_type:mountain}} | geology = | age = | orogeny = | image_map = Rif mountains.png | map_caption = Map of the Rif in northern Morocco }}
The '''Rif''',{{efn|{{langx|zgh|ⴰⵔⵔⵉⴼ}}, {{Langx|ar|الريف}}}} also called the '''Rif Mountains''', is a geographic region in northern Morocco. The region is bounded to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Ouergha River, and to the east by the Moulouya River. <ref>{{cite journal |last=Daudin |first=Pascal |title=The Rif War: A forgotten war? |journal=International Review of the Red Cross |year=2023 |volume=105 |issue=923 |page=915 |doi=10.1017/S1816383122001023 }}</ref> The region is the homeland of the Riffians, the Senhaja de Srair, the Jebala, and the Ghomara.
Historically, the Rif was the heart of the Republic of the Rif, led by Abd el-Krim during the Rif War (1920–1927) against Spanish colonial forces. The mountains are divided into the eastern Rif (Nador, Driouch, Al Hoceima) and the western Rif (Tangier, Tétouan, Chefchaouen, Taounate).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rif {{!}} mountains, Morocco {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Rif-mountains-Morocco |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The western part is often called the ''Jebala'', while the eastern part is referred to as the Rif proper.
Linguistically, the western Rif is predominantly Arabized, with Moroccan Arabic as the main language, though the Ghomara people retain their Ghomara Berber language. The eastern Rif is predominantly Berber, with Tarifit (Riffian) as the main language. In the central Rif (Ketama, Issaguen, Targuist), a Berber-speaking community of Senhaja de Srair exists.
==Geography== Geologically, the Rif Mountains belong to the Gibraltar Arc or Alborán Sea geological region. They are an extension of the Baetic System, which includes the mountains of the southern Iberian Peninsula across the strait.<ref>{{Cite thesis|last=Davis|first=Dan|type=Dissertation |publisher=Univ. of Texas at Austin|title= Commercial Navigation in the Greek and Roman World |url=https://www.academia.edu/2955208|language=en}}</ref> Thus, the Rif Mountains are not part of the Atlas Mountain System.
Major cities in the greater Rif region include Nador, Al Hoceima (also called Villa), Imzouren, Driouch, Ben Taieb, Midar and Al Aaroui and a few (small) towns: Segangan, Selwan, Ajdir and Targuist (Targist). And in the Jebala region: Chefchaouen, Taounate, Tetouan, Ouezzane, Tangier and Ksar El Kebir.
== History == The Rif has been inhabited by Berbers since prehistoric times.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mário Curtis Giordani|title=História da África. Anterior aos descobrimentos|publisher= Editora Vozes|location= Petrópolis (Brasil)|year= 1985|lang=pt-br}} Giordani references Bousquet, ''Les Berbères'' (Paris 1961)</ref> As early as the 11th century BC, the Phoenicians began to establish trading posts and then cities such as Tetouan, Rusadir (now Melilla) and (in the 5th century BC) Tingi (now Tangier).
After the Third Punic War, the coast of North Africa came under the control of Rome, and the Rif became part of the Kingdom of Mauretania. When Mauretania was divided during the rule of Emperor Claudius, Tangier became the capital of Mauretania Tingitana.{{sfn|Le Bohec|2015|p=443}} In the 5th century AD, Roman rule came to an end, and the region was later conquered and partly controlled by the Byzantine Empire.<ref name="Ev">{{Harvnb|Evans|2005|p=xxv}}.</ref>
In 710, Salih I ibn Mansur founded the Emirate of Nekor in the Rif, and the Berbers started converting to Islam. By the 15th century, many Muslims who had converted to Christianity were expelled from Spain, and most of them settled in the western Rif and brought their culture with them, such as Andalusian music, and established the city of Chefchaouen. Afterwards the Rif was the site of numerous battles with Spain and Portugal. In 1415, Portugal invaded Ceuta, and in 1490 Spain conquered Melilla.{{Sfn|López de Coca Castañer|1998|p=351}}{{Sfn|Bravo Nieto|1990|pp=15; 24}}
The Hispano-Moroccan War broke out in 1859 in Tetouan, and Morocco was defeated.{{Sfn|Fernández-Rivero|2011|pp=470–471}} The Spanish-Moroccan conflicts continued in the 20th century, under the leadership of Abd el-Krim, the Berber guerrilla leader who proclaimed the Republic of the Rif in 1921.<ref>{{cite book|author=David S. Woolman|title=Rebels in the Rif: Abd El Krim and the Rif Rebellion|publisher=Stanford University Press|year= 1968|page= 96}}</ref> The Riffian Berbers won several victories over the Spanish in the Rif War in the 1920s before they were eventually defeated; the war saw extensive use of chemical weapons by Spanish forces.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Entelis |first1=John P. |date=9 March 2017 |title=La Guerre du Rif: Maroc (1925–1926) |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=500–503 |doi=10.1080/13629387.2017.1300383 |s2cid=151998348}}</ref> The Spanish region was decolonised and restored to Morocco by Spain in April 1956, a month after the French region gained its independence from France.<ref>{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Jennifer |title=Revolution of the King and the People in Morocco, 1950–1959: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files |url=http://gdc.gale.com/archivesunbound/archives-unbound-the-king-and-the-people-in-morocco-1950-1959-u.s.-state-department-records-on-the-internal-affairs-of-morocco/ |access-date=28 October 2016}}</ref> Shortly afterward, the 1958 Rif riots broke out in the north, led by Riffian insurgents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leveau |first=Rémy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UW9yAAAAMAAJ |title=Le fellah marocain, défenseur du trône |date=1985 |publisher=Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques |isbn=978-2-7246-0509-9 |pages=111 |language=fr}}</ref> The Moroccan government suppressed the uprising, an event that foreshadowed the broader state repression of the Years of Lead.
==Economy== {{main|Cannabis in Morocco}}
Farmers in the Rif produce most of Morocco's supply of cannabis. The region is economically underdeveloped.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0013-0613| title = Morocco moves to legalise some cannabis cultivation| newspaper = The Economist| date = 2021-07-10|url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/07/10/morocco-moves-to-legalise-some-cannabis-cultivation}}</ref>
== Environment == thumb|Rif mountains in the province of Ashawen [[File:20141218 - Marocco Mediterrane Coast (West Side) - Air Photo by sebaso.jpg|thumb| Moroccan Mediterranean coast – aerial view west from Bades over El Jebha to Tétouan with Rif mountains, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (2014)]]
According to C. Michael Hogan, there are between five and eight separate subpopulations of the endangered primate Barbary macaque, ''Macaca sylvanus''.{{sfn|Hogan|2008}} The Rif mountains are also home to the honey bee subspecies ''Apis mellifera major''.
The Rif region receives more rainfall than any other region in Morocco, with some portions receiving upwards of {{convert|2000|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} of precipitation a year.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} The western and central portions are more rainy and are covered in forests of Atlas cedar, cork oak and holm oak, as well as the only remaining forests of Moroccan fir, a subspecies of the Spanish fir.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} The eastern slopes receive less rainfall, and there forests consist mainly of pines, particularly the Aleppo pine and the maritime pine, as well as tetraclinis.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}
Massive deforestation due to overgrazing, forest fires, and forest clearing for agriculture, particularly for the creation of cannabis plantations, has taken place since the 1950s. This deforestation has led to soil degradation due to the washing away of topsoil, which has aggravated the process.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Spatio-temporal analysis and identification of deforestation hotspots in the Moroccan western Rif |year=2023 |doi=10.1016/j.tfp.2023.100388 |last1=Boubekraoui |first1=Hamid |last2=Maouni |first2=Yazid |last3=Ghallab |first3=Abdelilah |last4=Draoui |first4=Mohamed |last5=Maouni |first5=Abdelfettah |journal=Trees, Forests and People |volume=12 |article-number=100388 |bibcode=2023TFP....1200388B |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Tribes== The Riffians are divided into these tribes and tribal groups:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Coon |first=Charleton S. |author-link=Carleton S. Coon |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020847656&view=1up&seq=38&q1=eighteen |title=Tribes of the Rif |publisher=University of Harvard |year=1931 |series=Harvard African studies.v. 9 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=4 |language=en |hdl=2027/mdp.39015020847656 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
=== Rif === *Gzenaya *Ait Waryaghar *Ait Amart *Ait Touzine *Ait Temsaman *Ait Ulishk *Ait Tafersit *Ait Said *Kebdana *Bokoya *Ait Itteft *Ibdarsen
=== Senhaja === Northern Senhaja, may be divided into the Senhaja Srair, and the Arabophone Senhaja. The last ones are divided into two groups, The Eastern Arabophone Senhaja & The Western Arabophone Senhaja.<ref name=":0" />
* Zerqet * Ait Gmil * Ait Bunsar * Ait Khennus * Ait Seddath * Ait Ahmed * Ait Bshir * Ait Bushibet * Ait Berber * Taghzut * Ketama * Ait Mezduy * Targuist
== See also == * Ghomaras * Senhaja Srair * Hirak Rif * Iznasen * Nekor * Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima * Oriental (Morocco)
==Footnotes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}} * {{Cite journal|title=La ocupación de Melilla en 1497 y las relaciones entre los Reyes Católicos y el duque de Medina Sidonia|first=Antonio|last=Bravo Nieto|journal=Aldaba|year=1990|issue=15 |publisher=Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia|issn=0213-7925|location=Melilla|pages=15–38|doi=10.5944/aldaba.15.1990.20168 |doi-access=free}} * Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy (2005). [http://geopium.org/?p=276 "Morocco said to produce nearly half of the world's hashish supply"], ''Jane's Intelligence Review'' * {{Cite book |last=Evans |first=James Allan Stewart |title=The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire |publisher=Greenwood |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-313-32582-3 |location=Westport}} * {{Cite book|url=http://eprints.rclis.org/16861/1/Enrique%20Fazio%20en%20la%20Guerra%20Africa.pdf|last=Fernández-Rivero|first=Juan-Antonio|chapter=La fotografía militar en la guerra de África: Enrique Facio|title=Ceuta y la Guerra de África de 1859–1860|location=Ceuta|year=2011|pages=459–492|publisher= Instituto de Estudios Ceutíes|isbn=978-84-92627-30-1}} * {{cite web|last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |year=2008 |url=http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=31757&lang=us |title=Barbary Macaque: ''Macaca sylvanus''|website= Globaltwitcher.com|editor= Nicklas Stromberg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419033431/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=31757&lang=us |archive-date=19 April 2012 }} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Hoyos |editor1-first=Dexter |first=Yann |last=Le Bohec |chapter= The "Third Punic War": The Siege of Carthage (148–146 BC) |date=2015 |orig-year=2011 |title=A Companion to the Punic Wars |location=Chichester, West Sussex |publisher=John Wiley |pages=430–446 |isbn=978-1-1190-2550-4 |author-link=Yann Le Bohec}} * {{Cite journal|title=Granada y la expansión portuguesa en el Magreb extremo|first=José Enrique|last=López de Coca Castañer|journal=Historia. Instituciones. Documentos|issn=0210-7716|issue=25|year=1998|pages=351–368|publisher=Universidad de Sevilla|location=Seville|doi=10.12795/hid.1998.i25.018 |s2cid=252936676 |doi-access=free}}
== External links == {{commons category}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121120043854/http://www.fadma.be/galeries/arrif Galerie Rif (Arrif)] {{in lang|fr}} * [http://weecheng.com/morocco/chef/map-rif.gif Rif Map] {{Major African geological formations}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Rif Category:Al Hoceïma Province Category:Berber history Category:Geography of Fès-Meknès Category:Geography of Oriental (Morocco) Category:Geography of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Category:Historical geography of Morocco Category:Historical regions of Africa Category:Mountain ranges of Morocco