Oujda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oujda (Arabic: وجدة‎) is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of half a million inhabitants. The city is located about 15 kilometers west of Algeria and about 60 kilometers south of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Oriental Region. It is the birthplace of the current Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Oujda is home to Angads Airport, which receives many international flights coming from Europe.

Oujda is also home to Mohammed I University, a French, English and Arabic language and technology university.

The city was founded in the 10th century and was the capital of a tribe called Zenata. The city was rebuilt in 13th century by sultan Abou Youssef. The French twice occupied it (in 1844 and again in 1859). Also to the west is Isli, which saw a major Franco-Moroccan battle in 1844. Once Morocco was occupied by the French, Oujda was used as a military base to control eastern Morocco.

The city grew up along the roads that were built and owes much of its present form to the French.

Since 2006, the city has been twinned with Trowbridge in England due to the huge number of diasporans most of whom originate from villages close to Oujda. Trowbridge has the largest Moroccan community in the UK outside London.