In Morocco, the majority of the population considers Arabic their mother tongue. Amazigh, also known as Tamazight, has been an official language since 2011. While 80.6% of the nearly 37 million inhabitants declare that Arabic (Darija, or Moroccan dialect) is their first language. , only 18.9% consider Tamazight, with its three variants, as their mother tongue.
By examining the statistics of the general population and housing census (RGPH) of 2024, unveiled by the High Commission for Planning of Morocco (HCP), Yabiladi offers a linguistic catography of Morocco.
In total, Arabic takes the lion’s share in terms of data collected on native languages. Of the 80.6% of the population who consider Arabic their mother tongue, 86.7% are in urban areas. In rural regions, this share represents 70.4%. Overall, men constitute 80.7% and women 80.5%. But in the countryside, fewer women (69.7%) than men (71.1%) consider Arabic as their first language.
Most native Tamazight speakers live in rural areas (29.5%) rather than urban areas (12.7%). In the villages, however, more women consider themselves as such, with a share of 30.2% compared to 28.8% for men.
Tamazight vs. Arabic by region
Which region of Morocco has the largest number of native Amazigh speakers among its inhabitants? According to data collected by the HCP, Draa-Tafilalet is in the lead with 64%, including 73% in rural areas. It is followed by Souss-Massa (56.4%), of which the city of Agadir is the historic capital. Among the inhabitants, 48% live in the city and 69% in the countryside.
In other regions of southern Morocco, Guelmim-Oued Noun also has a large number of native Amazigh speakers, with 40.2%. Among them, 75.3% are located in rural areas. Beni Mellal-Khénifra and Oriental come in fourth and fifth position, with 34.3% and 32.3% respectively.
Populations in regions with large urban centers and cities such as Marrakech, Tangier, Casablanca and Rabat have the lowest number of native Amazigh speakers.
In this sense, Casablanca-Settat brings together only 3.6% of inhabitants considering Tamazight as their mother tongue. They present 5.2% in Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, 7.3% in Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma and 8.9% in Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra.
However, in these regions, the majority of populations consider Arabic as their mother tongue, starting with Casablanca-Settat with 95.5%, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra with 94.2%, Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma with 92, 4%, then Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra with 90.8%.
The numbers of Arabic and Tamazight speakers differ from those who use both languages to communicate. According to the HCP, nearly nine out of ten people (91.9%) opt for Moroccan darija, mainly in urban areas.
The proportion of the population opting for Amazigh as a functional language stands at 24.8% in 2024, with 19.9% in urban areas and 33.3% in rural areas.
Note that Tamazight includes many variations. Tachelhit is most used among Amazigh speakers in Morocco (14.2%), followed by Tamazight (7.4%) and Tariffit (3.2%). Hassani, in the southern provinces, is spoken by 0.8% of the population.
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