Maghreb

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This article is about the region. For the Muslim prayer, see Maghrib.
The Maghreb

The Maghreb (المغرب العربي al-Maġrib al-ʿArabī), also rendered Maghrib (or rarely Moghreb), meaning "place of sunset" or "western" in Arabic, is a region in North Africa. The term is generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, but in older Arabic usage pertained only to the area of the three countries between the high ranges of the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Historically, some writers also included Spain, Portugal, Sicily and Malta in the definition, especially during the periods of Arab and Muslim domination. Malta, in particular, speaks a language descended from the extinct Siculo-Arabic variety, modern Maltese. Partially isolated from the rest of the continent by the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara, the Maghreb has long been closely tied in terms of climate, landforms, population, economy, and history to the Mediterranean basin. Because sea transportation dominated people's lives for so long, peoples joined by waters shared more than those joined by land.

The region was united as a single political entity only during the first years of Arab rule (early 8th century), and again for several decades under the Almohads (1159–1229). The Arab states of North Africa established the Arab Maghreb Union in 1989 to promote cooperation and economic integration. Its members are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania. Envisioned initially by Muammar al-Gaddafi as an Arab superstate, organization members expect eventually to function as a North African Common Market. Economic and political unrest, especially in Algeria, have hindered progress on the union’s joint goals.[1]

Algiers
Night view from Tunis
Casablanca, Morocco

A majority of the current population in the Maghreb consider themselves generally Arab in identity, regardless of mixed ethnic or linguistic heritage. There are significant non-Arab or non-Arab identifying populations in the region.

Most important of the non-Arab populations found throughout the Maghreb, particularly in Morocco and Algeria, are the Berbers. They represented the majority of the pre-Islamic population. After the arrival of Islamic Arabs, Berbers assimilated in large numbers to Arab or mixed Arab-Berber ethnic identities.

Various other influences are also prominent throughout the Maghreb. In particular in northern coastal towns, several waves of European immigrants have influenced the population. Most notable were the moriscos and muladies, that is, indigenous Spaniards who had earlier converted to the Muslim faith and were fleeing, together with ethnic Arab and Berber Muslims, from the Catholic Reconquista. Other European contributions included French, Italians, and others captured by the corsairs.

Historically the Maghreb was home to significant Jewish communities, including the Berber Jews, who predated the 7th century introduction and conversion of the majority of Berbers to Islam. Later Spanish Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Catholic Reconquista, established a presence in North Africa, chiefly in the urban trading centers. They have contributed to the wider population through conversion and assimilation. Many Sephardic Jews emigrated to North America in the early 20th century or to France and Israel later in the 20th century.

Among West Asians are Turks who came over with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. A large Turkish descended population exists, particularly in Tunisia and Algeria.

Sub-Saharan Africans joined the population mix during centuries of trans-Saharan trade. Traders and slaves went to the Maghreb from the Sahel region. On the Saharan southern edge of the Maghreb are small communities of black populations, sometimes called Haratine, who are apparently descended from black populations who inhabited the Sahara during its last wet period and then migrated north.

In Algeria especially, a large European minority, the "pied noirs", immigrated and settled under French colonial rule. The overwhelming majority of these, however, left Algeria during and following the war for independence. France maintains a close relationship with the Maghreb countries.[2]

Historic records of religion in the Maghreb region show its gradual inclusion in the Classical World, with coastal colonies established first by Phoenicians, some Greeks, and later extensive conquest and colonization by the Romans. By the second century common era, the area had become a center of Latin-speaking Christianity. Both Roman settlers and Romanized populations converted to Christianity. The region produced figures such as Christian Church writer Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 202); and Christian Church martyrs or leading figures such as St Cyprian of Carthage (+ 258); St. Monica; her son the philosopher St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo I (+ 430) (1); and St Julia of Carthage (5th century).

The domination of Christianity ended when Arab invasions brought Islam in 647. Carthage fell in 698 and the remainder of the region followed in subsequent decades. Gradual Islamization proceeded, although surviving letters showed correspondence from regional Christians to Rome up until the ninth century. Christianity was still a living faith. Christian bishoprics and dioceses continued to be active, with relations continuing with Rome. As late as Pope Benedict VII (974-983) reign, a new Archbishop of Carthage was consecrated. Evidence of Christianity in the region then faded through the tenth century.[citation needed]

During the 7th century, the region's peoples began their nearly total conversion to Islam. There is a small but thriving Jewish community, as well as a small Christian community. Most Muslims follow the Sunni Maliki school. Small Ibadi communities remain in some areas. A strong tradition of venerating marabouts and saints' tombs is found throughout regions inhabited by Berbers. Any map of the region demonstrates the tradition by the proliferation of "Sidi"s, showing places named after the marabouts. Like some other religious traditions, this has substantially decreased over the twentieth century. A network of zaouias traditionally helped proliferate basic literacy and knowledge of Islam in rural regions.

After the end of the Ice Age about ten thousand years ago, when the Sahara dried up, contact between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa was extremely limited. Arab expansion and the spread of Islam pushed the development of trans-Saharan trade. While restricted due to the cost and dangers, the trade was important and highly profitable. Peoples traded in such goods as salt, gold, ivory, and slaves available from the Sahel regions.

Paleo-anthropological evidence suggests that originally most of the Maghreb was inhabited by "Caucasoid" Cro-Magnoids (Iberomaurusians) in the north. Later, about 8000 BC, "Caucasoid" speakers of northern Afro-Asiatic languages, such as Berber, came from the east, at least since the Capsian culture.[citation needed]

Many ports along the Maghreb coast were occupied by Phoenicians, particularly Carthaginians. With the defeat of Carthage, Rome took over many of these ports, and ultimately it took control of the entire Maghreb north of the Atlas Mountains. Remaining outside its control were only some of the most mountainous regions like the Moroccan Rif.

The Arabs reached the Maghreb in early Umayyad times. Their control over it was quite weak. Various Islamic "heresies", such as the Ibadis and the Shia, adopted by some Berbers, quickly threw off Caliphal control in the name of their interpretations of Islam.

The Arabic language became widespread only later, as a result of the invasion of the Banu Hilal (unleashed, ironically, by the Berber Fatimids in punishment for their Zirid clients' defection) in the 1100s. Throughout this period, the Maghreb most often was divided into three states roughly corresponding to modern Morocco, western Algeria, and eastern Algeria and Tunisia. The region was occasionally briefly unified, as under the Almohads, and briefly under the Hafsids).

After the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Empire loosely controlled the area east of Morocco. After the 19th century, areas of the Maghreb were colonized by France, Spain and later Italy.

Today more than two and a half million Maghrebin immigrants live in France, especially from Algeria. In addition, there are 3 million French of Maghrebin origin (in 1999) (with at least one grand-parent from Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia)[3].

In the tenth century, as the social and political environment in Baghdad became increasingly hostile to Jews, many Jewish traders emigrated to the Maghreb, especially Tunisia. Over the following two or three centuries, such Jewish traders became known as the Maghribis, a distinctive social group who traveled throughout the Mediterranean World. They passed this identification on from father to son.[4]

The Maghreb is divided into a Mediterranean climate region in the north, and the arid Sahara to the south. The Magreb's variations in elevation, rainfall, temperature, and soils give rise to distinct communities of plants and animals. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) identifies several distinct ecoregions in the Maghreb.

The portions of the Maghreb between the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, along with coastal Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in Libya, are home to Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub. These ecoregions share many species of plants and animals with other portions of Mediterranean Basin. The southern extent of the Mediterranean Maghreb corresponds with the 100 mm isohyet, or the southern range of the European Olive (Olea europea)[5] and Esparto Grass (Stipa tenacissima).[6]

The Sahara extends across northern Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Its center is hyper-arid and supports little plant or animal life, but the northern portion of the desert receives occasional winter rains, while the strip along the Atlantic coast receives moisture from marine fog, which nourish a greater variety of plants and animals. The northern edge of the Sahara corresponds to the 100 mm isohyet, which is also the northern range of the Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera).[6]

Main articles: Arabic music, Berber music, Berber cuisine, and Arab cuisine

The Maghreb shares a common culinary tradition. Habib Bourguiba defined it as the part of the Arab world where couscous is the staple food, as opposed to Eastern Arab countries where white rice is the staple food. In terms of food, similarities beyond the starches are found throughout the Arab world.

Various disciplines shed light on the origin of the Northwest-Africans (Berbers and Arabs).

Northwest-Africans are defined as Mediterraneans with moderate Alpinid and Nordic elements.[11]. A significant proportion of the Rif Berbers, Kabyles and Chouias have blue or green eyes a percentage sometimes higher than that found in Sicilians or Spaniards[12]

The genetic proximity observed between the Northwest-Africans and southern Europeans is due to the fact that both these groups shared a common ancestor either in the Upper Paleolithic, in the Neolithic or alternatively during history with the invasion and the occupation during nearly seven centuries of the Iberian Peninsula by Moorish troops[13].

[edit] Y-chromosome DNA

The Northwest-African Y-chromosome pool (including both Berber and Arab populations) may be summarized as follows where only two haplogroups E1b1b and J comprise generally more than 80% of the total chromosomes[14]:

  • E1b1b (mainly E-M81) (50-80 %)
  • J (mainly J1-M267) (10-40%)
  • R1b (0-15%)
  • E1b1a (0-8%)

E1b1b1b (E-M81) is the most common Y haplogroup among North African Arabs and Berbers dominated by its sub-clade E-M183. It is thought to have originated in North Africa 5,600 years ago[15]. Colloquially referred to as the "Berber marker" for its prevalence among Mozabite, Moyen Atlas, Kabyle and other Berber groups, E-M81 is also quite common among North African Arab groups[16]. It can reach frequencies of up to 80% in the Maghreb.

[edit] Mitochondrial DNA

Many studies [17] have attempted to describe the genetic diversity of Northwest-African populations, evaluating mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation and the results may be summarized as follows (data for 536 individuals from 9 populations : Morocco (Asni, Bouhria, Figuig, Souss), Algeria (Mozabites, Chenini-Douiret, Sened, Matmata), Tunisia (Jerba)[18]):

  • Total Eurasian lineages (H, HV0,HV, R0, J, T, U (without U6),K, N1, N2, X) : 50-90%
  • Total sub-Saharan lineages (L0, L1, L2, L3, L4-L5) : 5-45
  • Total North African lineages (U6,M1) : 0-35

The Northwest-African mtDna pool is characterized by an "overall high frequency of Western Eurasian haplogroups, a somehow lower frequency of sub-Saharan L lineages, and a significant (but differential) presence of North African haplogroups U6 and M1."[19]. Acccording to Cherni et al. 2008 "the post-Last glacial maximum expansion originating in Iberia not only led to the resettlement of Europe but also of North Africa"[20].

In the Iberian Peninsula, North African E1b1b1b (E-M81) haplogroup is found in significant amounts (average frequency of about 5% in the peninsula with frequencies that surpasse 10% in some regions[21]) and Sicily[22]. As an exceptional case in Europe, this sub-clade of E1b1b1 has also been observed at 40% the Pasiegos from Cantabria[23]. A very recent and thorough study by Adams. et al. 2008 about Iberia that analysed 1140 unrelated Y-chromosome samples found that the religious conversions of Jews and Muslims during the Spanish Inquisition have had a profound impact on the population of the Iberian Peninsula showing a "mean North African admixture of 10.6%, with wide geographical variation, ranging from zero in Gascony to 21.7% in Northwest Castile"[24][25]. MtDna genetic studies on Iberian populations also show that North African mitochondrial DNA sequences (haplogroup U6) and sub-Saharan sequences (Haplogroup L), although present at only low levels in Iberia, are still at much higher levels than those generally observed elsewhere in Europe [26][27][28].

In Sicily, a very recent study by Gaetano et al. 2008 also found that E-M81 was estimated to contribute to the Sicilian gene pool at a rate of 6% which confirmed "the genetic affinity between Sicily and North Africa"[29]. Haplogroup U6 have also been detected in Sicily and South Italy at very low levels[30]. In smaller numbers, North African E-M81 contributions can be found in and Italy[31] , France, Sudan, Somalia, Jordan (4%)[32], Lebanon and amongst Sephardic Jews.

As a consequence of Spanish and Portuguese colonization of Latin America, E-M81 is also found throughout Latin America[33] and among Hispanic men in USA[34].

Masinissa

Juba II

Apuleius

Septimius Severus

Caracalla

Macrinus

Pope Victor I

Pope Gelasius I

Augustine of Hippo

Monica

Tertullian

Tariq ibn Ziyad

Abd ar-Rahman I

Ibn Battuta

Ibn Khaldoun

Abd al-Qadir

Abd el-Krim

Édith Piaf

Zinedine Zidane

Dany Boon

  1. ^ "Maghreb" (html). The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  2. ^ "France and Maghreb - An enhanced partnership with the Maghreb (March 20, 2007)". French ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  3. ^ An Estimation of the Foreign-Origin Populations of France, Michèle Tribalat
  4. ^ Avner Greif (June 1993). "Contract Enforceability and Economic Institutions in Early Trade: The Maghribi Traders' Coalition". American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.. See also Greif's "Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders" in the Journal of Economic History Vol. XLIX, No. 4 (Dec. 1989) pp.857-882
  5. ^ Dallman, Peter R. (1998) Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates. California Native Plant Society/University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-20809-9
  6. ^ a b Wickens, Gerald E. (1998) Ecophysiology of Economic Plants in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. Springer, Berlin. ISBN 978-3-540-52171-6
  7. ^ "North Saharan steppe and woodlands" WWF Scientific Report [1]. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  8. ^ "Atlantic coastal desert" WWF Scientific Report [2]. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  9. ^ "Sahara desert" WWF Scientific Report [3]. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  10. ^ "Saharan halophytics" WWF Scientific Report [4]. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  11. ^ Marie-Claude Chamla in Physical Anthropology of European Populations, Mouton, 1980, p.264: "Basically, there are three main types to be found (...). The Mediterranean element is always the major one making up about three-quarters of the population , and it appears to have three recognizable variants: (1) an Ibero-insular type (...); (2) an Atlanto-Mediterranean type (...); (3) finally, a type called "Saharan", rather infrequent (...). A second element which is fundamental but not widespread has been classed as Alpine by certain authors. (...) They constitute about one-tenth of the population, but it does not seem that they can be confused with the European Alpine type (...). A third element with Armenoid ties characterizes less than ten percent of the subjects (...). Beside these classes, some traces of the ancient Mechta-Afalou type can be found (...)."
  12. ^ Marie-Claude Chamla in Physical Anthropology of European Populations, Mouton, 1980, p.265-66 :"Green or light chesnut-colored eyes can frequently be found in the mountains areas (Kabylie and especially aures) and in the high plains of the east. This relative frequency of "mixed" colored eyes is not peculiar to Algerians but is apparent in other countries of North Africa as well, especially in Morocco (...) The frequency of pale-colored eyes (blue and gray), varies from two to fifteen percent according the region concerned"
  13. ^ "The genetic proximity observed between the Berbers and southern Europeans reveals that these groups shared a common ancestor. Two hypotheses are discussed: one would date these common origins in the Upper Paleolithic with the expansion of anatomically modern humans, from the Near East to both shores of the Mediterranean Sea; the other supports the Near Eastern origin, but would rather date it from the Neolithic, around 10,000 years ago (Ammerman & Cavalli-Sforza 1973; Barbujani et al. 1994; Myles et al. 2005; Rando et al. 1998). Common polymorphisms (i.e. those defining H and V lineages) between Berbers and south Europeans also could have been introduced or supported by genetic flows through the Straits of Gibraltar. For example, genetic exchanges could have taken place during prehistory, while European populations retreated from ice sheets and expanded from refuge, around 15,000 years ago (as evidenced by the H and U5b mitochondrial lineages). Alternatively, these exchanges could have occurred during history, with the invasion and the occupation during nearly seven centuries (from the 8th to the 15th century) of the Iberian Peninsula by Almoravide then Almohade Muslim Berber troops", The Complex and Diversified Mitochondrial Gene Pool of Berber Populations , Coudray et al. 2008
  14. ^ Bosch et al. (2001);Nebel et al. (2002);Semino et al. (2004);Arredi et al. (2004); Cruciani et al. (2004); Robino et al. (2008); Onifri et al.2008
  15. ^ Arredi et al. 2004;Cruciani et al . 2004
  16. ^ 45% in Oran; Robino et al. (2008)
  17. ^ Achilli et al. 2005; Brakez et al. 2001; Cherni et al. 2005; Fadhlaoui-Zid et al. 2004; Krings et al. 1999; Loueslati et al. 2006; Macaulay et al. 1999; Olivieri et al. 2006; Plaza et al. 2003; Rando et al. 1998; Stevanovitch et al. 2004; Coudray et al.2008; Cherni et al. 2008
  18. ^ Coudray et al. 2008
  19. ^ The Complex and Diversified Mitochondrial Gene Pool of Berber Populations, Coudray et al. 2008
  20. ^ The Post-last glacial maximum expansion from Iberia to North Africa revealed by fine characterization of mtDNA H haplogroup in Tunisia, Cherni et al. 2008
  21. ^ Flores et al. 2005;Beleza et al. 2006; Adams et al.2008
  22. ^ Cruciani et al. 2004
  23. ^ Cruciani et al 2004
  24. ^ The Genetic Legacy of Religious Diversity and Intolerance: Paternal Lineages of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, Adams et al. 2008
  25. ^ "The study shows that religious conversions and the subsequent marriages between people of different lineage had a relevant impact on modern populations both in Spain, especially in the Balearic Islands, and in Portugal", The religious conversions of Jews and Muslims have had a profound impact on the population of the Iberian Peninsula, Elena Bosch, 2008
  26. ^ "Haplogroup U6 is present at frequencies ranging from 0 to 7% in the various Iberian populations, with an average of 1.8%. Given that the frequency of U6 in NW Africa is 10%, the mtDNA contribution of NW Africa to Iberia can be estimated at 18%. This is larger than the contribution estimated with Y-chromosomal lineages (7%) (Bosch et al. 2001)."Joining the Pillars of Hercules: mtDNA Sequences Show Multidirectional Gene Flow in the Western Mediterranean (2003)
  27. ^ "Although the absolute value of observed U6 frequency in Iberia is low, it reveals a considerable North African female contribution, if we keep in mind that haplogroup U6 is not very common in North Africa itself and virtually absent in the rest of Europe. Indeed, because the range of variation in western North Africa is 4-28%, the estimated minimum input is 8.54%"African female heritage in Iberia: a reassessment of mtDNA lineage distribution in present times (2005)
  28. ^ "Our results clearly reinforce, extend, and clarify the preliminary clues of an "important mtDNA contribution from northwest Africa into the Iberian Peninsula" (Côrte-Real et al., 1996; Rando et al., 1998; Flores et al., 2000a; Rocha et al., 1999)(...) Our own data allow us to make minimal estimates of the maternal African pre-Neolithic, Neolithic, and/or recent slave trade input into Iberia. For the former, we consider only the mean value of the U6 frequency in northern African populations, excluding Saharans, Tuareg, and Mauritanians (16%), as the pre-Neolithic frequency in that area, and the present frequency in the whole Iberian Peninsula (2.3%) as the result of the northwest African gene flow at that time. The value obtained (14%) could be as high as 35% using the data of Corte-Real et al. (1996), or 27% with our north Portugal sample." Mitochondrial DNA affinities at the Atlantic fringe of Europe (2003)
  29. ^ "The co-occurrence of the Berber E3b1b-M81 (2.12%) and of the Mid-Eastern J1-M267 (3.81%) Hgs together with the presence of E3b1a1-V12, E3b1a3-V22, E3b1a4-V65 (5.5%) support the hypothesis of intrusion of North African genes. (...) These Hgs are common in northern Africa and are observed only in Mediterranean Europe and together the presence of the E3b1b-M81 highlights the genetic relationships between northern Africa and Sicily. (...) Hg E3b1b-M81 network cluster confirms the genetic affinity between Sicily and North Africa. (...) The contribution of North African populations is estimated to be around 6%.", Differential Greek and northern African migrations to Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome, Gaetano et al. 2008
  30. ^ 1.33% (3/226) in Calabria and 1.28% in Campania, Mitochondrial DNA Variation of Modern Tuscans Supports the Near Eastern Origin of Etruscans, Achilli et al. 2007
  31. ^ "Considering both these E-M78 sub-haplogroups (E-V12, E-V22, E-V65) and the E-M81 haplogroup, the contribution of northern African lineages to the entire male gene pool of (...) continental Italy and Sicily can be estimated as (...) 3.6%, and 6.6%, respectively.", Fluvio Cruciani et al. 2007, "Tracing Past Human Male Movements in Northern/Eastern Africa and Eurasia: New Clues from Y-Chromosomal Haplogroups E-M78 and J-M12", Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 24, Number 6: June 2007, Oxford University Press, Pp. 1307
  32. ^ 4/101, Flores et al 2005, "Isolates in a corridor of migrations: a high-resolution analysis of Y-chromosome variation in Jordan"
  33. ^ See the remarks of genetic genealogist Robert Tarín for example. We can add 6.1% (8 out of 132) in Cuba, Genetic origin, admixture, and asymmetry in maternal and paternal human lineages in Cuba, Mendizabal et al. 2008; 5.4% (6 out of 112) in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), "The presence of chromosomes of North African origin (E3b1b-M81; Cruciani et al., 2004) can also be explained by a Portuguese-mediated influx, since this haplogroup reaches a frequency of 5.6% in Portugal (Beleza et al., 2006), quite similar to the frequency found in Rio de Janeiro (5.4%) among European contributors.", Y-chromosome genetic variation in Rio De Janeiro population, Silva et al. 2006
  34. ^ 2.4% (7 out of 295) among Hispanic men from California and Hawaii, A Y chromosomal influence on prostate cancer risk: the multi-ethnic cohort study , Paracchini et al. 2003

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