Wikipedia

Riffians

Riffians or Rifians (Tarifit: Irifiyen;[5] Arabic: الريفيون) are a Berber ethnic group indigenous to the Rif region of northeastern Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla.[3] Communities of Riffians are also found in southern Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as elsewhere in Western Europe.[6] Riffians are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims; they primarily speak Tarifit.

Riffians
Irifiyen
ⵉⵔⵉⴼⵉⵢⵏ
الريفيون
Total population
Around 1.2 million
(3.2% of Moroccan population; 2024 census)[1]
Languages
Tarifit, Moroccan Arabic
Religion
Sunni Islam[2][3][4]

Society

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According to Irina Casado i Aijon, Riffians have historically organized themselves under "patrilineality and patrilocality principles."[6] The oldest man in the household commands authority and responsibility for decisions, while women jointly care for the young and sick without discrimination. Like other Berber groups, temporary migration is a traditional practice.[7] The Riffians have been a significant source of Moroccan emigrants to European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Germany.[8][9][10]

Riffians speak Tarifit, which belongs to the Zenati group of Berber languages.[3] Many Riffians additionally speak Moroccan Arabic and Spanish. Nineteen Riffian social units are known: five in the west along the Mediterranean coast which speak Riffian and Moroccan Arabic; in the central area, seven groups exist, of which one speaks mainly Moroccan Arabic and the rest speak Riffian; five in the east and two in the southeastern desert area also speak Riffian.[2][clarification needed]

The Riffians have lived a largely settled, agricultural lifestyle, using hand tools, oxen and cattle to plow the steeply terraced land in their valleys. Horticultural produce, along with sheep and goat meat, cheese, and milk have provided their traditional sustenance.[11] Some Riffians have practiced sardine seining along the Mediterranean coast.[2]

History

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The earliest written reference that may possibly refer to the Riffians is found in an inscription from a tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. It reports an invasion of Egypt by a Libyan group called the Mashausha. Before this, the Mashausha had subjugated the Tehenu, until then the only Libyan population group known to the Egyptians, and had incorporated them into the campaign against Egypt. The Mashausha are described as coming from the west. This account may be connected with the name of the Mazuza, a subgroup of the present-day Iqel'iyen, who are counted among the Riffians. However, it cannot be ruled out that several groups bore the name Mazuza at that time.[12][better source needed]

Riffians have fought in numerous wars throughout their history. During the Rif War (1921–1926), Riffian forces inflicted heavy losses on the Royal Spanish army, while also sustaining severe casualties, particularly after the French intervention and Spain's use of chemical weapons, among the first such uses in modern warfare.[13][14]

During the 1960s, poverty rates and infant mortality rates among Riffians were high.[11] This was largely a consequence of the 1958 Rif riots, which led to the region being subjected to military rule for several years, as well as its official neglect and marginalization by Moroccan authorities for decades, pressuring its population to emigrate to Europe.[15] The Rif remains one of the poorest areas in Morocco.[16]

In the decades following the 1958 riots, the Rif region has witnessed popular demonstrations demanding better education, healthcare and job opportunities, most notably in the 1984 Bread Uprising. A resurgent Riffian popular movement in 2010, protests in 2013 and protests in 2017 against hogra – a humiliating treatment by an abusive state – have drawn public attention, as well as claims of brutal suppression by Moroccan authorities.[3][17][18]

Tribes and tribal groups

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The Riffians are divided into the following tribes and tribal groups:[19][better source needed]

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Gauthier, Christophe. "كلمة افتتاحية للسيد المندوب السامي للتخطيط بمناسبة الندوة الصحفية الخاصة بتقديم معطيات الإحصاء العام للسكان والسكنى 2024". Site institutionnel du Haut-Commissariat au Plan du Royaume du Maroc (in French). Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Rif people, Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. 1 2 3 4 James B. Minahan (2016). Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups around the World, 2nd Edition. ABC-CLIO. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-61069-954-9.
  4. ↑ Lucien Oulahbib, Le monde arabe existe-t-il ?, page 12, 2005, Editions de Paris, Paris.
  5. ↑ Hart, David M. (1976). The Aith Waryaghar of the Moroccan Rif: An Ethnography and History. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-8165-0452-7.
  6. 1 2 Irina Casado i Aijon (2013). Laura Oso; Natalia Ribas-Mateos (eds.). The International Handbook on Gender, Migration and Transnationalism. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 450 with notes 2–8. ISBN 978-1-78195-147-7.
  7. ↑ Irina Casado i Aijon (2013). Laura Oso; Natalia Ribas-Mateos (eds.). The International Handbook on Gender, Migration and Transnationalism. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 439–449. ISBN 978-1-78195-147-7.
  8. ↑ Malcolm Klein; Hans-Jürgen Kerner; Cheryl Maxson; et al. (2012). The Eurogang Paradox: Street Gangs and Youth Groups in the U.S. and Europe. Springer Science. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-94-010-0882-2.
  9. ↑ Maurice Crul; Flip Lindo; Ching Lin Pang (1999). Culture, Structure and Beyond. Het Spinhuis. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-90-5589-173-3.
  10. ↑ James Minahan (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: L-R. Greenwood Publishing. pp. 1590–1592. ISBN 978-0-313-32111-5.
  11. 1 2 Joseph, Terri Brint (1980). "Poetry as a Strategy of Power: The Case of Rifian Berber Women". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 5 (3). University of Chicago Press: 418–434. doi:10.1086/493728. S2CID 14712463.
  12. ↑ Coon, Charleton S. (1931). Tribes of the Rif. Harvard African studies.v. 9. University of Harvard. p. 4.
  13. ↑ James A. Romano Jr.; Harry Salem; Brian J. Lukey (2007). Chemical Warfare Agents: Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics, Second Edition. CRC Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4200-4662-5.
  14. ↑ Martin Thomas (2008). Empires of Intelligence: Security Services and Colonial Disorder After 1914. University of California Press. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-0-520-25117-5.
  15. ↑ Ilahiane, Hsain (17 July 2006). Historical Dictionary of the Berbers Imazighen. Scarecrow Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-0-8108-6490-0. ASIN 081085452X.
  16. ↑ "Morocco's blighted Rif region: So little to do – so much time | Qantara.de". qantara.de. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  17. ↑ David S. Woolman (1968). Rebels in the Rif: Abd el Krim and the Rif Rebellion. Stanford University Press. pp. 1–17. ISBN 978-08047-066-43.
  18. ↑ Rough in the Rif: Morocco’s unrest is worsening, The Economist (July 8, 2017), Quote: "The trouble began in October after a fishmonger called Mouhcine Fikri was crushed by a garbage compactor at a port in Al Hoceima, which is located in the Rif, a northern mountain region with a rebellious streak. Fikri was trying to retrieve fish that had been confiscated by the authorities. To locals, his death was a striking example of hogra—humiliating treatment by an abusive state. (...) The government has since exacerbated the situation with yet more hogra. In May it called the protesters separatists, though most are not, and suggested that they were foreign agents. (...) The unrest not only increased, but spread to other parts of the country, including Rabat, the capital, where on June 11th thousands of people rallied in support of the Riffians. All told, it is the largest display of public anger in Morocco since the Arab spring in 2011."
  19. ↑ Coon, Charleton S. (1931). Tribes of the Rif. Harvard African studies.v. 9. University of Harvard. p. 4.

Further reading

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  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Riffian people at Wikimedia Commons

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