Kenitra

Kenitra
القنيطرة (Arabic)
ⵍⵇⵏⵉⵟⵕⴰ (Standard Moroccan Tamazight)
city
Scenes from Kenitra
Flag of Kenitra
Flag
Official seal of Kenitra
Seal
Interactive map of Kenitra
Coordinates: 34°15′N 6°35′W / 34.250°N 6.583°W / 34.250; -6.583
Country Morocco
RegionRabat-Salé-Kénitra
ProvinceKenitra
Population
 (2024)[1]
 • Total
507,736
 • Rank8th in Morocco
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
Postal code
14000
Websitehttp://www.kenitra.ma/ar/

Kenitra[a] is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024, with Mehdya counting an additional 58,558.[4]

It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and serves as the primary industrial hub for the region.[5] it is also the capital and namesake of Kénitra Province.

During the Cold War, the US Naval Air Station Port Lyautey served as an important stopping point in North Africa, the base was later handed over to the Royal Moroccan Air Force.

The historic coastal town of Mehdya is administered as a separate urban commune within Kénitra Province, though it is functionally integrated as a coastal district of the city of Kenitra.

History

Ancient history

The history of the city begins with the foundation of a trading post by Carthaginian explorer Hanno. It was known back then as Thamusida.[6]

Colonial and recent history

Sebou River - Corniche

After the French conquest of Morocco, One of Hubert Lyautey's first preoccupations as resident general was to build ports along the inhabitable Atlantic coast where there were no natural harbors. He established Port Lyautey in 1912 as a French military fort and town. Its port, at the mouth of the Sebou river, was opened in 1913.[7] It soon became the best river port in Morocco.[8]

Kenitra draws its name from a culvert built at Fouarat lake upstream of the kasbah by the Makhzen Qaid Ali Ouaddi in the late 17th century. This culvert was destroyed in 1928 by the colonial authorities. In 1933, the French officially named the locale "Port Lyautey".[9]

It was renamed "Kenitra" in 1956 as Morocco gained its independence. The city has grown rapidly to be a shipping centre for agricultural produce (mainly fruit), fish, timber, and lead and zinc ores. The city's industrial area lies upstream of the port.

U.S. Naval Base

Air base of Kenitra: Public works and maintenance department c. 1960

In November 1942, after Operation Torch, the Americans captured the Port Lyautey French fighter base as a military base, named Craw Field. For three months the 21st Engineer Aviation Regiment worked on the airfield. In February 1943 the Seabees of the 120th Naval Construction Battalion took over all construction activities.[10] The Navy ran the base until 1947, when the State Department negotiated reversion of control to France. In 1950, a $23,000,000 expansion was authorized, but then the Korean War diverted resources. In the 1950s, nearly 10,000 people were on the base making it the largest aggregation of Americans in any one overseas base outside Japan. Later, the base in Kenitra was expanded to become a U.S. Naval Air Station.[11]

The base was shared by both the US and Morocco through the Cold War. A small Navy communications out-station in Sidi Yahia closed in the late 1970s. The Air Station was closed in 1991.

Climate

Kenitra has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). In summer, there are 27.4 days on average in which the maximum daily temperature is at 30.0 °C (86.0 °F) or higher, and 1.6 days with max temperature above 40.0 °C (104.0 °F). Winters are mild and rainy, with sub-freezing temperatures occurring only 0.3 days per year on average.[12] The highest recorded temperature was 47.7 °C (117.9 °F) on 1 August 2003, and the coldest was −3.0 °C (26.6 °F) on 13 February 2012.[12]

Climate data for Kenitra (normals and extremes 1991–2020, sun 1981-2010, rainy days 1961-1990)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 24.8
(76.6)		 32.2
(90.0)		 35.1
(95.2)		 36.5
(97.7)		 43.7
(110.7)		 46.3
(115.3)		 46.1
(115.0)		 47.7
(117.9)		 44.6
(112.3)		 39.9
(103.8)		 33.5
(92.3)		 26.0
(78.8)		 47.7
(117.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 17.9
(64.2)		 18.8
(65.8)		 20.8
(69.4)		 22.1
(71.8)		 24.8
(76.6)		 26.6
(79.9)		 28.2
(82.8)		 28.7
(83.7)		 27.6
(81.7)		 25.5
(77.9)		 21.6
(70.9)		 19.0
(66.2)		 23.5
(74.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) 12.5
(54.5)		 13.5
(56.3)		 15.5
(59.9)		 17.0
(62.6)		 19.6
(67.3)		 22.0
(71.6)		 23.7
(74.7)		 24.2
(75.6)		 22.7
(72.9)		 20.4
(68.7)		 16.3
(61.3)		 13.8
(56.8)		 18.4
(65.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 7.0
(44.6)		 8.1
(46.6)		 10.1
(50.2)		 11.8
(53.2)		 14.5
(58.1)		 17.4
(63.3)		 19.2
(66.6)		 19.6
(67.3)		 17.8
(64.0)		 15.2
(59.4)		 11.0
(51.8)		 8.6
(47.5)		 13.4
(56.1)
Record low °C (°F) −1.0
(30.2)		 −3.0
(26.6)		 1.0
(33.8)		 1.7
(35.1)		 6.6
(43.9)		 10.5
(50.9)		 12.8
(55.0)		 2.2
(36.0)		 1.7
(35.1)		 2.1
(35.8)		 1.7
(35.1)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 −3.0
(26.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 87.4
(3.44)		 59.6
(2.35)		 52.4
(2.06)		 41.4
(1.63)		 17.3
(0.68)		 3.7
(0.15)		 0.2
(0.01)		 0.6
(0.02)		 21.9
(0.86)		 57.1
(2.25)		 104.9
(4.13)		 93.0
(3.66)		 539.5
(21.24)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) 7.8 6.5 6.7 5.2 2.8 0.9 0.1 0.2 1.9 5.4 7.2 7.9 52.6
Average rainy days 12.3 12.7 12.2 11 7.6 2.9 0.3 0.7 2.8 8.6 13.3 14 98.4
Mean monthly sunshine hours 182.4 184.4 235.6 268.2 313.7 316.6 333.2 315.6 264.6 230.4 190.3 170.7 3,005.7
Source 1: NOAA[12] (sun 1981-2010)[13]
Source 2: NOAA (days with rain 1961–1990)[14]
Climate data for Kenitra (1991-2020)[12]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean number of days with thunder 1.9 1.4 2.0 1.6 1.3 0.5 0.7 0.4 1.1 1.4 2.2 1.9 16.4
Number of days with wind speed > 10 m/s (36 km/h) 9.6 10.5 16.7 20.7 24.4 24.1 22.5 21.8 20.3 14.2 10.3 9.7 204.8

Population

Estimated population of Kenitra city from 1982 to 2014[15]
19821994200420102014
187,000291,000358,000400,000430,000

Areas and neighbourhoods

  • Mdina
    • Khabazate
    • The Cigogne
    • La cité
  • Modern city
    • Mimosa
    • La ville haute
  • Popular districts
    • Saknia
    • Ouled Oujih
    • Maghrib al Arabi
  • Residential districts
    • Bir Rami
    • Ismailia
    • Val fleuri

Education

Colleges and universities

  • Université Ibn-Tofail (UIT)[16]
  • ENCG Kénitra (École nationale de commerce et de gestion de Kénitra)
  • ENSA Kénitra (École nationale des sciences appliquées de Kénitra)
  • ENSC Kénitra (École nationale supérieure de chimie de Kénitra)
  • HECI Kénitra (Hautes Etudes Commerciales et Informatiques)

Transportation

Foughal Bus manufactured in Kenitra

Sports

Kénitra Athletic Club, KAC

In 1938, a group of Kénitra natives created KAC. This group of soccer lovers wanted to resist French domination in sports in Morocco. The team, made entirely of Kénitra natives, succeeded in reaching the premier Moroccan soccer league in 1956. In 1960, KAC won its first championship league of Morocco. KAC embarked in a journey of glories by winning the 1973-81-82 championship leagues and the 1961 throne cup. Ahmed Souiri was a long-time manager and coach. KAC has produced many international players. Noureddine Bouyahyaoui and Labid Khalifa were among the players who helped the Moroccan national soccer team qualify for the second round of the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1986. Mohammed Boussati still holds a national record of goals by scoring 25 goals in one soccer championship season in 1981–82.
Its home is the Kenitra Municipal Stadium which has a capacity of 15,000 people.[18]

Basketball

The Kénitra AC was a successful basketball team during the 70s and 80s.

Notable people

Kenitra was the birthplace of:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Population légale du Royaume du Maroc répartie par régions, provinces et préfectures et communes selon les résultats du Recensement général de la population et de l'habitat 2024" (in Arabic and French). High Commission for Planning, Morocco. 7 November 2024.
  2. ↑ Team, Almaany. "ترجمة و معنى قنيطرة بالإنجليزي في قاموس المعاني. قاموس عربي انجليزي مصطلحات صفحة 1". www.almaany.com. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  3. ↑ "ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ-ⵙⴰⵍⴰ-ⵍⵇⵏⵉⵟⵕⴰ | Maroc.ma". www.maroc.ma. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  4. ↑ "Population légale du Royaume du Maroc selon les résultats du Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat de 2024". hcp.ma (in French and Arabic). 7 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "Région Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, un pôle industriel en plein essor". La Vie Éco (in French). 16 November 2024. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  6. ↑ "Hanno | Phoenician, Mediterranean, Navigator | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  7. ↑ Kénitra depuis 1912 Archived 2003-10-03 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  8. ↑ In Morocco by Edith Wharton, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1920
  9. ↑ "المرصد الحضري لمدينة القنيطرة". kenitra.ma. Retrieved 2026-08-28.
  10. ↑ Port Lyautey, Chapter XX, The Mediterranean Area, Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corp, 1940-1946, Volume II, UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, p. 80
  11. ↑ "History of Port Lyautey". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020: Kenitra-60120" (CSV). ncei.noaa.gov (Excel). National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  13. ↑ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010". National Centers for Environmental Information. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "Kenitra Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Kenitra, Morocco Metro Area Population 1950-2020 – macrotrends.com". macrotrends.com.
  16. ↑ "Univesité Ibn Tofail – Univesité Ibn Tofail". 6 February 2006. Archived from the original on 6 February 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ↑ "'Africa's fastest train' steams ahead in Morocco".
  18. ↑ "Stade Municipal de Kénitra – StadiumDB.com". stadiumdb.com.
  1. ↑ Arabic: القُنَيْطَرَة, al-qunayṭara, [alqunajtˤira], lit. 'the little bridge'[2]
    Standard Moroccan Tamazight: ⵍⵇⵏⵉⵟⵕⴰ[3]
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