Oujda

Oujda (Berber: ⵡⴻⵊⴷⴰ Arabic: وجدة‎) is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of half a million inhabitants. The city is located about 15 kilometers west of Algeria and about 60 kilometers south of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Oriental Region.

Oujda is home to Mohammed I University, a French, English and Arabic language and technology university. The city is served by Angads Airport, which receives many international flights coming from Europe.

There is some evidence of a settlement during the Roman occupation, but this seems to have been under the control of Berbers rather than Romans[1]. The modern city was founded in 994 by Ziri ibn Atiyya, king of the Zenata tribes[2]. Further additions were made in 1048. The city was rebuilt in 13th century by sultan Abou Youssef. The French twice occupied it (in 1844 and again in 1859). Also to the west is Isli, which saw a major Franco-Moroccan battle in 1844. Once Morocco was occupied by the French, Oujda was used as a military base to control eastern Morocco.

The city grew up along the roads that were built and owes much of its present form to the French.

The Moroccan border with Algeria is just east of Oujda, on the other side of the border is the Algerian town of Maghnia. The state of the border crossing depends on relations between the two countries which are often strained.

Since 2006, the city has been twinned with Trowbridge in England due to the huge number of diasporans most of whom originate from villages close to Oujda. Trowbridge has the largest Moroccan community in the UK outside London.

Amicalin.