The history of the city of Casablanca in Morocco has been one of many political and cultural changes. At different times it has been governed by Berber, Roman, Arab, Portuguese, Spanish, French, British, and Moroccan regimes. It has had an important position in the region as a port city, making it valuable to a series of conquerors during its early history.
The original Berber name, Anfa (meaning: "hill" in English[1]), was used by the locals until the earthquake of 1755 destroyed the city. When Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah rebuilt the city's medina, he gave it the name "ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ" (الدار البيضاء) a literal translation of Casablanca into Arabic.[2] French forces occupied the city in 1907 and adopted the Spanish name, Casablanca. The name Anfa now refers to an area within Casablanca, slightly West of the 18th century medina.
- ^ Miller, Catherine (2007). Arabic in the City: Issues in Dialect Contact and Language Variation. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-415-77311-9. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page).