Region · East
Oriental
18 places in Oriental, each with its own story. From north to south.
- Beni AnsarBeni Ansar lies on the north-western side of the Marchica lagoon and is home to the port of Nador. The railway line from Taourirt ends at Beni Ansar Port station. In 2024 the town had 50,508 inhabitants.
- NadorNador lies on the Marchica lagoon, which has been listed as a wetland of international importance since 2005. With 158,202 inhabitants (2024) it is the second-largest city in the Oriental region.
- Ras el MaRas El Ma, also called Ras Kebdana, lies at the mouth of the Moulouya and had 7,527 inhabitants in 2024. The estuary has been a Ramsar site since 2005.
- Kariat ArekmaneKariat Arekmane lies on the south-eastern side of the Marchica lagoon. The urban centre had 4,602 inhabitants in 2024, the municipality of Arekmane as a whole 16,477.
- SaïdiaSaïdia, bounded to the west by the Moulouya, belongs to Berkane province and had 10,514 inhabitants in 2024. On 19 June 2009 Mediterrania Saïdia, the first resort of the Plan Azur, opened here.
- SelouaneBetween 2014 and 2024 Selouane grew by 8,058 to 29,628 inhabitants, at 3.2 per cent a year faster than any other town in the region. Since September 2005 the Faculté Pluridisciplinaire de Nador of the Université Mohammed Premier has been teaching here.
- Al ArouiAl Aroui is an urban municipality in Nador province and had 46,540 inhabitants in 2024. In 2023 Nador-El Aroui airport passed the mark of one million passengers a year for the first time.
- DriouchDriouch is the capital of Driouch province in the Rif, created in 2009. In the province 89.6 per cent of the people speak Tarifit.
- AhfirAhfir lies on the left bank of the Oued Kiss at the foot of the Beni Snassen, between the plains of Triffa and Angad. The town in Berkane province had 16,310 inhabitants in 2024.
- ZaioZaïo lies roughly halfway between Nador and Berkane on the Sebra plain. The town in Nador province had 36,766 inhabitants in 2024; in the same year its sugar factory processed 115,900 tonnes of sugar beet.
- MidarMidar is one of the three urban municipalities of the province of Driouch, created in 2009, and lies near the middle course of the Oued Kert on the eastern edge of the Rif. In 2024 the town had 15,391 inhabitants.
- BerkaneBerkane lies on the Triffa plain at the foot of the Beni Snassen. Since 2010 the plain's clementines have carried the protected indication “Clémentine de Berkane”.
- OujdaOujda is the seat of the Oriental region and, with 506,224 inhabitants (2024), its largest city. It was founded in 994.
- TaourirtTaourirt had 100,402 inhabitants in 2024; only Oujda and Nador are larger in the Oriental. Its fortress was built in 1295 on the orders of the Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf, on what was then the border of his realm.
- JeradaJerada grew up around an anthracite deposit that was mined from 1930 onwards. The town is the capital of the province of the same name and had 41,014 inhabitants in 2024.
- GuercifGuercif is the seat of a province created by decree in 2009 and part of the Oriental region since 2015. The town had 80,703 inhabitants in 2024; olive growing is the province’s main branch of farming.
- BouarfaBouarfa is the seat of Figuig province and, with 30,068 inhabitants (2024), its largest municipality. Near the town lies a manganese and iron deposit from which more than 1.5 million tonnes of manganese have been extracted.
- FiguigThe oasis of Figuig, with its seven ksour, the terraced gardens of its palm grove and its irrigation system, has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List since 2011. Since 2022 the FAO has listed the ksour of Figuig as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS).