Ifrane

Ifrane lies in the Middle Atlas at an altitude of about 1,650 metres and was founded in 1929.¹ The province of Ifrane belongs to the Fez-Meknes region.² In the 2024 census 13,964 people lived in the municipality of Ifrane and 160,904 in the province; the largest municipality in the province is Azrou, with 57,657 inhabitants.³

The Ifrane weather station lies at 1,663 metres. Averaged over the years 1991 to 2020, 961 millimetres of precipitation fall here each year, and the mean annual temperature is 12.5 °C.⁴ That is almost twice as much precipitation as at Fès-Saïss, with 488 millimetres.⁵ In January the mean daily minimum in Ifrane drops to −1.0 °C, and on an average of 68 days a year the temperature falls below zero.⁶

The surrounding area has extinct volcanic craters covered in cedar forest, where ski slopes have been laid out.⁷ A decree of 8 October 2004 created Ifrane National Park in the provinces of Ifrane and Boulemane.⁸

In 2016 UNESCO recognised the Atlas Cedar Biosphere Reserve in the central Atlas mountains. It covers 1.375 million hectares and, according to UNESCO, three quarters of the world's Atlas cedars; holm oaks and maritime pines also grow in its forests.⁹ The reserve's mammals include the Barbary macaque, the serval and Cuvier's gazelle, and Amazigh culture shapes the language and customs of the population.¹⁰

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the Barbary macaque as endangered (2016 assessment). Wild populations survive only in Morocco and Algeria, the species is extinct in Tunisia, and numbers are still declining.¹¹

Al Akhawayn University was founded by royal dahir in 1993 and began teaching in January 1995. It follows the American liberal arts model, teaches in English, is organised into three schools and has a 75-hectare campus with halls of residence; it is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.¹²

Azrou lies 17 kilometres south-west of Ifrane at about 1,204 metres. The old Amazigh settlement has been developed into a resort, and the Beni Mguild tribe keep sheep and make knotted carpets in the area.¹³