Riffian people

Riffians
Irifiyyen

Total population
Riffians between 4,730,000 and 6,630,000
Regions with significant populations
Morocco 4,800,000 France 379,952 Netherlands 314,517 Belgium 226,095 Germany 108,654
Languages
Riffian, Moroccan Arabic, Spanish, French
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Berber groups, Guanches

The Riffians are a Berber ethnic group who inhabit the Rif in northern Morocco. The mother tongue of the Riffians is called Riffian. Many speak Moroccan Arabic, Spanish or French as second or third languages.

Riff languages

Main articles: Riffian language and Senhaja de Srair language

Riffian is a Northern Berber language of the Zenati subgroup, spoken mainly in the Rif region located in North Morocco and in various other cities by about 4 million people. There are also Riffian-speaking peoples in Europe. The language itself is divided in several dialects , all and intelligible specific to each clans composing the Rifian region.

In neighbouring Algeria , It was spoken by Rif clans who have settled in some areas such as Bethioua. The Berber dialect spoken in Tlemcen (Beni Snouss) is often seen as an eastern variety of the language.

Regional distribution

Riffian is spoken mainly in the Moroccan Rif by about 4 million people, with a few speakers across the border in Algeria and a large minority in the Spanish Autonomous city of Melilla. There are also speakers of Riffian in Morocco outside the Rif, among significant communities in Tangiers, Tetouan, Oujda, Larache and Fes. A substantial Riffian-speaking community exists in the Netherlands as well as to a lesser extent in other European countries. Its own speakers simply call it Thamazight, or Tamazight, a term also often applied in a broader sense to Berber languages in general.

Physical anthropology

Distribution of hair and eye colors according to Carleton S. Coon’s Races of Europe. Northern Morocco is an area of mixed (dark and light) hair and eye colours, in a higher percertage than that found in Sicily, Sardinia or even Spain, despite having an warmer climate. The Nordic presence in Morocco is contemporary, or even earlier, to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

Riffian Berbers are predominantly of Nordic race, with about two thirds of them being pinkish-white skinned with mixed and light eyes, strong blondism, and some also featuring rutilism.

A Riffian Nordic could be mistaken for an Irishman or an Englishman, less easily for a Scandinavian.

Nordics are ancient in Northern Africa as the Egyptian monuments of the Middle Kingdom (circa 2000 B.C.), and perhaps older. They survive today mostly in the mountains of the Rif, but others are found in the Canary Islands, and the Djurdjura and Aures Mountains of Algeria.

Tribes

Rif mountain ranges are located in (orange).

Traditionally, the principal Riffian tribes of the region are:

• Aith Ouriaghel near Ajdir, around Wed Ghis (Abd el-Krim's tribe)
• Gzennaya, around Aknoul, west of the Metalsa.
• Iqeriyen, in the region of Nador and Melilla.
  • Mazuza
  • Aith Shisher / Ait Shiker
  • Aith Sidal
  • Aith Bu Ifrur
  • Aith Buyafar
• Kebdana, along the coast next to Wed Moulouya near the Algerian border.
• Aith Said, west of Wed Kert .
• Metalsa, east of the Aith Bu Yahi.
• Aith Ulishk, southwest of Temsaman.
• Tafersit, southeast of Temsaman.
• Aith Tuzin, south of Temsaman.
• Temsaman, around the town of that name.
• Aith Amart, south of Aith Ouriaghel.
• Targuist, southeast of Aith Ouriaghel.
• Bokoya, in the west of Aith Ouriaghel.
• Aith Itteft, east of Bades.
• Aith Bu Frah, east of Aith Itteft.
• Mestassa, east of Aith Bu Frah.
• Mtiwa, between Mestassa and Oued Ouringa.
• Beni Guemil, west of Aith Bu Frah.

Rifian territories highlighted in yellow.