Region | Description | Number of people | |
Nord et Nord-Est | (5 communautès de quelques villages au Rif) | 9550 | |
Ouest | (10 ports et 4 localitès s'y rattachant) | 34020 | |
Centre | (Règion de Fez, Taza, Debdou, 6 communautès) | 22220 | |
Sud | (Règion de Marrakech, 1 grande communautè) | 15700 | |
Sud | (64 petites localitès) | 10952 | |
Extrême-Sud | (Vallèe du Sous, Drâ, Tafilelt) 128 petites localitès) | 17270 | |
Total | 109712 |
The best census data of Morocco were collected in the census op 1936. France was in control of most of the Maghreb. Of the present area of Morocco a small part in the North was controlled by Spain. The rest was in control of France. The census of 1936 included a part in the south that was previously not covered in a French national census. It did not cover the complete southern part of Morocco.
If we compare the Jews in the 1936 census with that of 1906 in the regions that are covered in both (Ouest, Centre and Sud), we see an increase in population of 81%. The largest growth is in the coastal cities in the west (102%) and the smallest growth is in the center (47%). This is a large increase in 30 years, and is probably similar as the population growth of the Islamic Moroccans in this period. It is a period of strong increase of urban population in Morocco.
By comparing the numbers of Mogador on the Recensement and the Jewish namelist in 1942 it is confirmed that the census of 1936 is a recent definition of a census: counting all living people. One can see that out of the 6506 Jewish people in Mogador in 1942 about 200 persons did not have a Moroccan nationality. This was probably the result of Jews escaping the Ashkenazi countries near the start of WW II.
Census documentation of 1936 in Morocco
City | Jews | Total people in census | |
Azadir | 503 | 4007 | |
Azemmour | 459 | 7745 | |
Casablanca | 38806 | 184668 | |
Elksar | 1500 | in Spanish Protectorate, approx. | |
Fez | 10507 | 134801 | |
Larache | 1200 | in Spanish Protectorate, approx. | |
Marrakesh | 25646 | 183465 | |
Mazagan | 3525 | 22597 | |
Meknes | 9521 | 63392 | |
Mogador | 6151 | 14399 | |
Oujda | 2048 | 19246 | |
Rabat | 6698 | 57123 | |
Safi | 3634 | 23328 | |
Sale | 2600 | 30733 | |
Sefrou | 4382 | 11680 | |
Tangier | 10000 | in Spanish Protectorate, approx. | |
Tetuan | 6000 | in Spanish Protectorate, approx. | |
Rest in census | 49510 | 5142148 | |
Southern area | ? | ? | |
Total in census | 161942 | 5880086 |
Below is an overview of the report in the census with an emphasis on the language.
The table reports the names of the census regions and the number of Jews and Muslims, and those that speak monolingual Berber.
The census data counted in total 24462 (15%) of the Jews in Morocco as monolingual Berber. One area (Marrakech) is the main contributing area that is indicated as Berber monolingual. This is also the region that has the highest monolingual Muslims (60%). The region of Marrakech has 49054 Jews. 16853 lived in the rural areas and 32201 in the cities and villages. These villages included small villages of size of 200-300 people (Muslims and Jews). The largest group lived in the city of Marrakech (25646 Jews, which was 14% of the population of Marrakech). In Marrakech the report gives 13235 Jews who spoke Berber monolingual and 12411 who were bilingual. The numbers for the Muslims were 80495 and 77324 respectively.
The Jews in the Marrakech region outside the city of Marrakech spoke 5033 Arab monolingual, 7778 Berber monolingual and 10597 bilingual. In the census one can see that a tribe in a rural environment or village is often categorized as "Arab language", "Berber language" or "bilingual". The Jews who had their home in those villages are often reported in the same language as the Muslims in those villages.
One question is sometimes raised: what is the accuracy of the language registration of the Jews in the rural areas, and how was it determined? Was it registered by people who could speak Arab, Berber (or a Jewish language) or were they French without knowledge of these languages? The region of high percentage of the Berber languages among the Islamic Moroccans in the census is still the region of the high percentage of Berber languages in present Morocco, which gives confidence in a correct registration of the language in the census data.
Small reports of Judeo-Berber speaking Jews were reported in Israel after the migration to Israel. It is likely that the language disappeared (2020).
Census Region | Present region | Muslims | Jews | Muslims Berber monolingual | Jews Berber monoligual |
Casablanca | 6 | 883226 | 41576 | 31602 | 0 |
Fes | 3 | 641203 | 16879 | 37911 | 262 |
Marrakech | 7 | 1649277 | 49054 | 1004084 | 21013 |
Meknes | 3 | 258166 | 10855 | 96262 | 9 |
Oujda | 2 | 192987 | 4904 | 9544 | 0 |
Rabat | 4 | 307665 | 9385 | 16187 | 0 |
l' Atlas central | 5 | 210960 | 3258 | 135270 | 901 |
Confine de Dra | 8 | 78019 | 616 | 22339 | 0 |
Mazagan | 6 | 372269 | 3993 | 0 | 0 |
Port-Lyauley | 4 | 258396 | 974 | 602 | 0 |
Sali | 4 | 489938 | 9949 | 89334 | 2083 |
Tafilalt | 8 | 181263 | 5830 | 76123 | 184 |
Taza | 3 | 325609 | 1749 | 39152 | 10 |
Total in census | 5880086 | 161942 | 155850 | 24462 |
Jews | Jews | Jews | Muslims | Muslims | Muslims | |||
Region | Arab | Berber | bilingual | Arab | Berber | bilingual | ||
Ville Marrakech | 0 | 13235 | 12411 | 0 | 80495 | 77324 | ||
I.- Ville Marrakech | 0 | 13235 | 12411 | 0 | 80495 | 77324 | ||
1e Marrakech-Banlieue | 161 | 0 | 1090 | 4119 | 66211 | 42427 | ||
2e Rehamna | 421 | 0 | 0 | 119949 | 0 | 0 | ||
3e Srartna-Zemrane | 1987 | 0 | 0 | 146717 | 0 | 465 | ||
4e Chichaoua | 29 | 0 | 96 | 6223 | 0 | 34827 | ||
II.- Territoire Civil de Marrakech | 2598 | 0 | 1186 | 277008 | 66211 | 77719 | ||
1e Ville d'Agadir | 503 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3504 | 0 | ||
2e Agadir-Banlieux | 0 | 68 | 0 | 34574 | 73775 | 0 | ||
3e Ida-ou-Tanane | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25883 | 0 | ||
4e Cercle de Tiznit | 0 | 483 | 652 | 360 | 177584 | 10324 | ||
5e Cercle de Taroudannt | 679 | 159 | 1339 | 20663 | 121551 | 21000 | ||
III.-Territoire d'Agadir | 1182 | 710 | 1991 | 55597 | 402297 | 31324 | ||
1e Ouarzazate | 563 | 2593 | 1657 | 8675 | 83279 | 17532 | ||
2e Cercle de Dades-Todrha | 0 | 149 | 990 | 69 | 51515 | 7492 | ||
3e Cercle de Zagora | 690 | 237 | 716 | 40362 | 47366 | 5896 | ||
IV.-Territoire du Ouarzazate | 1253 | 2979 | 3363 | 49106 | 182160 | 30920 | ||
1e Bureau Aït-Ourir | 0 | 2063 | 493 | 0 | 79865 | 20084 | ||
2e Bureau Demnate | 0 | 376 | 3423 | 8 | 52219 | 15574 | ||
V.- Annexe Aït-Ourir | 0 | 2439 | 3916 | 8 | 132084 | 35658 | ||
1e lmi'-n-Tanoute | 0 | 354 | 0 | 0 | 73424 | 3645 | ||
2e Argana | 0 | 123 | 0 | 0 | 16906 | 0 | ||
VI.- Annexe lmi'-n-Tanoute | 0 | 477 | 0 | 0 | 90330 | 3645 | ||
Amizmiz | 0 | 1173 | 141 | 1073 | 50527 | 5811 | ||
VII.- Amizmiz | 0 | 1173 | 141 | 1073 | 50527 | 5811 | ||
Total in Marrakech region | 5033 | 21013 | 23008 | 382792 | 1004104 | 262401 |
The movie on Tinghir - Jérusalem: Les echos du mallah goes back to Tinghir, which is in 2e Cercle de Dades-Todrha in the Territoire du Ouqrzazate. The census reports 477 bilingual Jews in this region; they lived in the villages of Ait-Igourtane and Tinerhir (Tinghir). In the total area (about 12000 people) the main language was monolingual Berber. All Jews were bilingual (477) and a small group Muslims were bilingual (456).