View source for Casablanca

{{Short description|Largest city in Morocco}}{{Other uses}}{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Casablanca
| native_name        = {{native name|ar|الدار البيضاء}}<br>{{small|{{transliteration|ar|ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ}}}}
| nickname           = Casa
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities in Morocco|City]]
| motto              = <!-- images and maps ----------->
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  |border                = infobox
  |total_width           = 280
  |image_style           = border:1;
  |caption_align         = center
  |perrow                = 2/2/3
  | image1 = Hassan II mosque, Casablanca 2.jpg
  | caption1 = [[Hassan II Mosque]]
  | image2 = Casa finance city 3.jpg
  | caption2 = [[Casablanca Finance City]]
  | image3 = Downtown, Casablanca.jpg
  | caption3 = [[United Nations Square (Casablanca)|United Nations Square]]
  | image4 = Arab League Park, Casablanca; حديقة الجامعة العربية، الدار البيضاء.jpg
  | caption4 = [[Arab League Park]]
  | image5 = Königl Palast Tore 20111013 1.jpg
  | caption5 = [[Royal Palace of Casablanca]]
  | image6 = Cathédrale Casablanca.jpg
  | caption6 = [[Casablanca Cathedral]]
  | image7 = Twin Center 2.jpg
  | caption7 = [[Casablanca Twin Center]]
}}
| image_caption      = 
| image_seal         = Casablanca.svg
| seal_size          = 100px
| image_shield       = 
| shield_size        = 
| image_blank_emblem = Casablanca wordmark.svg
| blank_emblem_type  = [[Wordmark]]
| image_map          = 
| mapsize            = 
| map_caption        = 
| pushpin_map        = Morocco#Africa
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_relief     = yes
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Casablanca within Morocco
<!-- Location ------------------>| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Morocco]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Regions of Morocco|Region]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Casablanca-Settat]]
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| leader_title1      = Mayor
| leader_name1       = [[Nabila Rmili]]
| leader_title2      = 
| leader_name2       = 
| established_title  = First settled
| established_date   = 7th century BC
| established_title2 = Reconstructed
| established_date2  = 1756
| established_title3 = <!-- Incorporated (city) -->
| established_date3  = 
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_footnotes     = 
| area_total_km2     = 
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| area_total_sq_mi   = 148
| area_land_sq_mi    = 
| area_water_sq_mi   = 
| area_water_percent = 
| area_urban_km2     = 
| area_urban_sq_mi   = 
| area_metro_km2     = 
| area_metro_sq_mi   = 
| population_as_of   = 2024
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/morocco/cities/ |title=Morocco: Major Cities |website=Citypopulation.de |access-date=14 January 2025}}</ref>
| population_note    = 
| population_total   = 3218036
| population_density_km2 = 
| population_density_sq_mi = 22700
| population_metro   = 4,270,750<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aujourdhui.ma/societe/hcp-le-grand-casablanca-compte-4-270-750-habitants-118242 |title=HCP : Le Grand Casablanca compte 4.270.750 habitants |website=aujourdhui.ma |date=5 May 2015 |access-date=25 April 2020 |language=fr |archive-date=4 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104013515/http://aujourdhui.ma/societe/hcp-le-grand-casablanca-compte-4-270-750-habitants-118242 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| population_rank    = [[List of cities in Morocco|1st in Morocco]]
| population_density_metro_km2 = 
| population_density_metro_sq_mi = 
| population_urban   = 3,950,000
| population_density_urban_km2 = 
| population_demonyms = 
| demographics_type1 = [[Gross domestic product|GDP (PPP, constant 2015 values)]]
| demographics1_footnotes = 
| demographics1_title1 = Year
| demographics1_info1 = 2024
| demographics1_title2 = Total (Urban)
| demographics1_info2 = $22.1&nbsp;billion<ref name="TelluBase">{{cite web |title=TelluBase—Morocco Fact Sheet (Tellusant Public Service Series) |url=https://tellusant.com/repo/tb/tellubase-factsheet-mar.pdf |publisher=Tellusant |access-date=2025-07-11}}</ref>
| demographics1_title3 = Per capita
| demographics1_info3 = $12,300
| timezone           = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset         = +1
| coordinates        = {{coord|33|32|N|7|35|W|region:MA|display=inline}}
| elevation_footnotes = <!--for references: use <ref> </ref> tags-->
| elevation_m        = 0 to 150
| elevation_ft       = 0 to 492
| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 20000-20200
| area_code          = 
| website            = {{URL|http://www.casablancacity.ma}}
| footnotes          = 
| region             = 
| demographics2_title1 = 
| official_name      = 
| founder            = [[Mohammed ben Abdallah|Mohammed III]]
| population_demonym = Casablancan<br>Kazāwi ({{lang|ar|كازاوي}})<br> Biḍāwi ({{lang|ar|بيضاوي}})<br>{{lang|fr|casablancais}}
}}

'''Casablanca''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|æ|s|ə|ˈ|b|l|æ|ŋ|k|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|USalso|ˌ|k|ɑː|s|ə|ˈ|b|l|ɑː|ŋ|k|ə}}; {{langx|ar|الدار البيضاء|translit=ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ|lit=the White House}}, {{IPA|ar|adˈdaːru ɫbajdˤaːʔ|label=IPA:}}) is the largest city in [[Morocco]] and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast of the [[Chaouia (Morocco)|Chaouia plain]] in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a population of about 3.22 million in the [[urban area]], and over 4.27 million in [[Greater Casablanca]], making it the most populous city in the [[Maghreb]] region, and the [[List of largest cities in the Arab world|ninth-largest]] in the [[Arab world]].

Casablanca is Morocco's chief port, with the [[Port of Casablanca]] being one of the largest [[artificial]] ports in [[Africa]],<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Kjeilen |first=Tore |date=April 2020 |title=Casablanca |encyclopedia=LookLex Encyclopaedia |url=http://looklex.com/e.o/casablanca.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217164820/http://looklex.com/e.o/casablanca.htm |archive-date=17 December 2010 |access-date=14 April 2020}}</ref> and the third-largest port in [[North Africa]], after [[Tanger-Med]] ({{convert|40|km|abbr=on|disp=or}} east of [[Tangier]]) and [[Port Said]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=mystarco |date=2022-04-07 |title=Top 10 ports in Africa in 2019 (by volume in TEUs) and port projects in West Africa |url=https://africa-container-shipping.com/en/top-10-ports-africa-port-projects-in-west-africa/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=ACS Africa Container Shipping {{!}} Specialized logistic solutions provider |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219223148/http://africa-container-shipping.com/en/top-10-ports-africa-port-projects-in-west-africa/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Casablanca also hosts the primary [[naval base]] for the [[Royal Moroccan Navy]].

Casablanca is a significant [[financial centre]], ranking 54th globally in the September 2023 [[Global Financial Centres Index]] rankings, between [[Brussels]] and [[Rome]].<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=September 2023 |title=The Global Financial Centres Index 34 |url=https://www.longfinance.net/media/documents/GFCI_34_Report_2022.09.28_v1.0.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106231802/https://www.longfinance.net/media/documents/GFCI_34_Report_2022.09.28_v1.0.pdf |archive-date=2024-01-06 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=www.longfinance.net}}</ref> The [[Casablanca Stock Exchange]] is Africa's third-largest in terms of [[market capitalization]], as of December 2022.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last1=Garikai Bonga |first1=Wellington |last2=Chimwai |first2=Ledwin |last3=Choga |first3=Ireen |date=2022-12-23 |title=Investigating Stock Market Liquidity: Evidence from Zimbabwe Stock Exchange |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4310296 |journal=DRJ Journal of Economics and Finance |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=37|ssrn=4310296 }}</ref>

Major Moroccan companies and many of the largest American and European companies operating in the country have their headquarters and main industrial facilities in Casablanca. Recent industrial statistics show that Casablanca is the main industrial zone in the country.

== Etymology ==
=== Anfa ===
Before the 15th century, the settlement at what is now Casablanca had been called ''Anfa'', rendered in European sources variously as El-Anfa, Anafa or Anaffa, Anafe, Anife, Anafee, Nafe, and Nafee.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=André |first=Adam |title=Histoire de Casablanca '(des origines à 1914) '. |date=1969 |publisher=Ophrys |pages=14–17 |oclc=479295174 }}</ref> [[Ibn Khaldun]] ascribed the name to the ''Anfaça'', a branch of the [[Awraba]] tribe of the [[Maghreb]], though the sociologist [[André Adam (academic)|André Adam]] refuted this claim due to the absence of the third syllable.<ref name=":6" /> [[Nahum Slouschz]] gave a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] etymology, citing the ''Lexicon'' of [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]]: ''anâphâh'' (a type of bird) or ''anaph'' (face, figure), though Adam refuted this arguing that even a [[Berber Jews|Judaized population]] would still have spoken [[Berber languages|Tamazight]].<ref name=":6" /> Adam also refuted an [[Arabic]] etymology, {{Lang|ar|أنف}} (''anf'', "nose"), as the city predated the linguistic [[Arabization]] of the country, and the term ''anf'' was not used to describe geographic areas.<ref name=":6" /> Adam affirmed a Tamazight etymology—from ''anfa'' "hill", ''anfa'' "promontory on the sea", ''ifni'' "sandy beach", or ''anfa'' "threshing floor"—although he determined the available information insufficient to establish exactly which.<ref name=":6" />

The name "Anfa" was used in maps until around 1830—in some until 1851—which Adam attributes to the tendency of cartographers to replicate previous maps.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=André.|first=Adam|title=Histoire de Casablanca '(des origines à 1914) '.|date=1969|publisher=Ophrys|pages=67–68|oclc=479295174}}</ref>

=== Casablanca ===
[[File:ضريح علال القيرواني 1915.jpg|thumb|The [[Mausoleum of Allal al-Qairawani]], which local legend associates with the naming of Casablanca.<ref name=":7" />]]
When the [[Alawi dynasty|''ʿ''Alawi]] Sultan [[Mohammed ben Abdallah]] ({{circa|1710}}–1790) rebuilt the city after its destruction in the [[1755 Meknes earthquake|earthquake of 1755]], it was renamed "''ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ'' " ({{Lang|ar|الدار البيضاء}} ''The White House''), though in [[Moroccan Arabic|vernacular]] use it was pronounced "''Dar al-Baiḍā''" ({{Lang|ar|دار البيضاء}} literally ''House of the White,'' although in [[Moroccan Arabic]] vernacular it retains the original sense of ''The White House'').<ref name=":7" />

The origins of the name "Casablanca" are unclear, although several theories have been suggested. [[André Adam (academic)|André Adam]] mentions the legend of the [[Sufism|Sufi]] saint and merchant [[Allal al-Qairawani]], who supposedly came from [[Tunisia]] and settled in Casablanca with his wife Lalla al-Baiḍāʾ ({{Lang|ar|لالة البيضاء}} ''White Lady'').<ref name=":7" /> The villagers of [[Mediouna, Morocco|Mediouna]] would reportedly provision themselves at "Dar al-Baiḍāʾ" ({{Lang|ar|دار البيضاء}} ''House of the White'').<ref name=":7" />

In fact, on a low hill slightly inland above the [[ruins of Anfa]] and just to the west of today's city centre, it appears there was a [[white-washed]] structure, possibly a Sufi [[Zawiya (institution)|zawiya]] that acted as a landmark to sailors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deroy |first=Louis |title=Dictionnaire des noms de lieux |publisher=Dictionnaires Le Robert |year=1994 |isbn=2-85036-195-X |location=France |pages=94 |language=FR}}</ref> The Portuguese cartographer [[Duarte Pacheco Pereira|Duarte Pacheco]] wrote in the early 16th century that the city could easily be identified by a tower, and nautical guides from the late 19th century still mentioned a "white tower" as a point of reference.<ref name=":7" /> The Portuguese mariners [[calque]]d the modern Arabic name to "Casa Branca" ({{IPA|pt|kazɐ'bɾɐ̃kɐ|}} ''White House'') in place of Anfa.<ref name=":7" /> The name "Casablanca" was then a [[calque]] of the Portuguese name when the Spanish took over trade through the [[Iberian Union]].<ref name=":7" />

During the [[French protectorate in Morocco]], the name remained Casablanca ({{IPA|fr|kazablɑ̃ka|pron}}). Today, Moroccans still call the city Casablanca or ''Casa'' for short, or by its Arabic name, pronounced {{Transliteration|ary|d-Dār l-Biḍā}} in Moroccan Arabic or {{Transliteration|arb|ad-Dāru-l-Bayḍā'}} in [[Standard Arabic]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Hachimi |first=Atiqa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R_aSAgAAQBAJ |title=Arabic in the City: Issues in Dialect Contact and Language Variation |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-135-97876-1 |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Catherine |pages=100 |language=en |chapter=Becoming Casablancan: Fessis in Casablanca as a case study |quote=However, in the sixteenth century the Portuguese decided to come back to the area and settle in it permanently. They built the city and named it ''Casa Branca'' "the white house". In 1755, the Portuguese abandoned the city after an earthquake that destroyed it completely. After the departure of the Portuguese, Casablanca remained deserted until the Alaouite Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah rebuilt it near the end of the eighteenth century. He renamed it ''Addaru lbayḍaʔ'', which is the literal Arabic translation for ''Casa Branca''. The city acquired its Spanish name ''Casa Blanca'' when Spanish companies established themselves in the city in 1781. Today the city is known by its Standard Arabic name ''addaru lbayḍaʔ'', and ''d-dar(l)biḍa'' in Moroccan Arabic, as well as ''Casablanca'' or ''Casa'' for short. |editor-last2=Al-Wer |editor-first2=Enam |editor-last3=Caubet |editor-first3=Dominique |editor-last4=Watson |editor-first4=Janet C. E. |access-date=2023-03-09 |archive-date=2023-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402141829/https://books.google.com/books?id=R_aSAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of Casablanca}}

{{For timeline}}

=== Early history ===
The area that is today Casablanca was founded and settled by [[Berber people|Berbers]] by the seventh century BC.<ref name=JVL>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Casablanca.html |title=''Casablanca'' |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=17 April 2011 |archive-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717065408/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Casablanca.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It was used as a port by the Phoenicians, then the Romans.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} In his book ''[[Description of Africa (1550 book)|Description of Africa]]'', [[Leo Africanus]] refers to ancient Casablanca as "[[Anfa]]", a great city founded in the Berber kingdom of [[Barghawata]] in 744&nbsp;AD. He believed Anfa was the most "prosperous city on the Atlantic Coast because of its fertile land."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kennesaw.edu/historymuseum/creatingcommunity.shtml |title=Museum of History & Holocaust Education: Creating Community Collaboration |publisher=Kennesaw.edu |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719222242/https://www.kennesaw.edu/historymuseum/creatingcommunity.shtml |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> Barghawata rose as an independent state around this time, and continued until it was conquered by the [[Almoravid]]s in 1068. After the defeat of the Barghawata in the 12th century, [[Arab]] tribes of [[Banu Hilal|Hilal]] and [[Banu Sulaym|Sulaym]] descent settled in the region, mixing with the local Berbers, which led to widespread [[Arabization]].<ref>Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/place/Casablanca-Morocco Casablanca] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804112116/https://www.britannica.com/place/Casablanca-Morocco |date=2016-08-04 }}, britannica.com, USA, accessed on 7 July 2019</ref><ref name="Levy12">S. Lévy, ''Pour une histoire linguistique du Maroc'', in ''Peuplement et arabisation au Maghreb occidental: dialectologie et histoire'', 1998, pp.11–26 ({{ISBN|84-86839-85-8}})</ref> During the 14th century, under the [[Merinid]]s, Anfa rose in importance as a port. The last of the Merinids were ousted by a [[1465 Moroccan revolt|popular revolt]] in 1465.<ref name="VauchezDobson2000">{{cite book|last1=Vauchez|first1=André|last2=Dobson|first2=Richard Barrie|last3=Lapidge|first3=Michael|title=Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=om4olQhrE84C&pg=PA941|access-date=22 April 2012|year=2000|publisher=Editions du Cerf|isbn=978-1-57958-282-1|page=941}}</ref>

=== Portuguese conquest and Spanish influence ===
{{main|Anfa expedition (1468)}}
[[File:Braun Anfa UBHD.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Casablanca in 1572, still called "Anfa" in this coloured engraving, although the Portuguese had already renamed it "Casa Branca" – "White House" – later Hispanicised to "Casablanca".]]
In the early 15th century, the town became an independent state once again, and emerged as a safe harbour for pirates and [[privateers]]. The Portuguese consequently bombarded the town into ruins in 1468.<ref name="Britain)1987">{{cite book|title=Guide to places of the world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQ9dAAAAMAAJ|access-date=22 April 2012|date=April 1987|publisher=Reader's Digest Association|page=133|isbn = 9780276398261}}</ref> The town that grew up around it was called Casa Branca, meaning "white house" in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]].

The town was finally rebuilt between 1756 and 1790 by [[Sultan]] [[Mohammed ben Abdallah]], the grandson of [[Moulay Ismail]]. The town was called ''ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʼ'' (الدار البيضاء), the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] translation of the Portuguese ''Casa Branca''.

=== Colonial struggle ===

In the 19th century, the area's population began to grow as it became a major supplier of wool to the booming textile industry in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and shipping traffic increased (the British, in return, began importing [[gunpowder tea]], used in Morocco's national drink, [[Maghrebi mint tea|mint tea]]).<ref name="Srhir2005">{{cite book|last=Srhir|first=Khalid Ben|title=Britain And Morocco During The Embassy Of John Drummond Hay, 1845–1886|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Wf_Av7-hIoC&pg=PA126|access-date=22 April 2012|date=19 April 2005|publisher=RoutledgeCurzon|isbn=978-0-7146-5432-4|page=126}}</ref> By the 1860s, around 5,000 residents were there, and the population grew to around 10,000 by the late 1880s.<ref>Pennel, CR: ''Morocco from Empire to Independence'', Oneworld, Oxford, 2003, p 121</ref> Casablanca remained a modestly sized port, with a population reaching around 12,000 within a few years of the French conquest and arrival of [[French colonial empires|French colonialists]] in 1906. By 1921, this rose to 110,000,<ref>Pennel, CR: ''Morocco from Empire to Independence'', Oneworld, Oxford, 2003, p 149.</ref> largely through the development of [[shanty town]]s.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

=== Bombardment of Casablanca ===
The [[Algeciras Conference|Treaty of Algeciras]] of 1906 formalized French preeminence in Morocco and included three measures that directly impacted Casablanca: that French officers would control operations at the customs office and seize revenue as collateral for loans given by France, that the French holding company ''[[Compagnie Marocaine|La Compagnie Marocaine]]'' would develop the [[port of Casablanca]], and that a French-and-Spanish-trained police force would be assembled to patrol the port.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adam |first=André |title=Histoire de Casablanca, des origines à 1914 |publisher=Éditions Ophrys |year=1968 |pages=107}}</ref>

To build the port's breakwater, [[narrow-gauge railway|narrow-gauge]] track was laid in June 1907 for a small [[Decauville]] locomotive to connect the port to a quarry in [[Roches Noires, Morocco|Roches Noires]], passing through the sacred Sidi Belyout graveyard. In resistance to this and the measures of the 1906 Treaty of Algeciras, tribesmen of the [[Chaouia (Morocco)|Chaouia]] attacked the locomotive, killing 9 [[Compagnie Marocaine]] laborers—3 French, 3 Italians, and 3 Spanish.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adam |first=André |title=Histoire de Casablanca, des origines à 1914 |publisher=Éditions Ophrys |year=1968 |pages=112}}</ref>

In response, the French [[Bombardment of Casablanca (1907)|bombarded the city]] in August 1907 with multiple gunboats and landed troops inside the town, causing severe damage and killing between 600 and 3,000 Moroccans.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hachim |first=Mouna |author-link=Mouna Hachim |date=April 2020 |title=Casablanca, mon amour: Il y a 100 ans, le bombardement... Par Mouna Hachim, écrivain-chercheur |url=http://www.leconomiste.com/article/casablanca-mon-amour-il-y-100-ans-le-bombardement-br-par-mouna-hachim-ecrivain-chercheur |access-date=7 November 2022 |website=L'Economiste |archive-date=7 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107151146/https://www.leconomiste.com/article/casablanca-mon-amour-il-y-100-ans-le-bombardement-br-par-mouna-hachim-ecrivain-chercheur |url-status=live }}</ref> Estimates for the total casualties are as high as 15,000 dead and wounded. In the immediate aftermath of the bombardment and the deployment of French troops, the European homes and the ''[[Mellah]]'', or Jewish quarter, were sacked, and the latter was also set ablaze.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adam |first=André |title=Histoire de Casablanca: des origines à 1914 |publisher=Ophrys |year=1968 |location=Aix-en-Provence |pages=133}}</ref>

As [[Oujda]] had already been occupied, the bombardment and military invasion of the city opened a western front to the [[French conquest of Morocco|French military conquest of Morocco]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} <gallery mode="packed">
File:Derailed locomotive in Casablanca 1907.jpg|A man inspects the derailed [[Decauville]] locomotive at the scene of the attack that served as the pretext for the French bombardment of Casablanca in 1907.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Jean-Louis |title=Casablanca: Colonial Myths and Architectural Ventures |date=2002 |author2=Monique Eleb |isbn=1-58093-087-5 |location=New York |publisher=Monacelli Press |oclc=49225856 }}</ref><ref name=":2" />
File:الدار البيضاء 1907 01.jpg|A postcard showing the French cruiser ''[[French cruiser Gloire (1900)|Gloire]]'' recoiling from firing artillery at the city during the [[Bombardment of Casablanca (1907)|bombardment of Casablanca]] August 1907.
File:قائد الدار البيضاء محتجز على متن سفينة فرنسية.jpg|The [[Qaid]] of Casablanca, [[Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Zaid as-Slawi|Si Boubker Ben Bouzid Slaoui]], captive on the French cruiser ''[[French cruiser Galilée|Galilée]]''.
File:الدار البيضاء 1907 مقبرة جماعية.jpg|Moroccan cadavers in a [[mass grave]] in 1907.
</gallery>

=== French rule and influence ===
{{Main|French protectorate of Morocco}}
[[File:Casa residenceFrance.jpg|thumb|{{lang|fr|Résidence}} or mansion erected for [[Hubert Lyautey]] in the Medina shortly after the establishment of the protectorate, designed by architect Pierre Bousquet<ref>{{citation |author=Jean-Louis Cohen & Monique Eleb |publisher=Institut Français d'Architecture |title=Portrait de ville : Casablanca |location=Paris |year=1999}}</ref>{{rp|49}}]]
[[File:ساحة فرنسا الدار البيضاء 1917.jpg|thumb|{{lang|fr|Place de France}} (now [[United Nations Square (Casablanca)|United Nations Square]]) in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Comité des foires du Maroc Auteur du texte |date=15 August 1917 |title=France-Maroc : revue mensuelle illustrée : organe du Comité des foires du Maroc / directeur Alfred de Tarde |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62124674 |access-date=17 October 2019 |website=Gallica |language=fr |archive-date=3 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003085046/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62124674 |url-status=live }}</ref> With its landmark [[Casablanca Clock Tower|Clock Tower]], this space became a contact point between what the colonists called the {{lang|fr|ville indigène}} to the left—comprising the {{lang|fr|[[Mellah]]}} and the Medina—and the European {{lang|fr|nouvelle ville}} to the right.]]
[[File:تخطيط الدار البيضاء من تصميم هنري بروست.jpg|thumb|[[Henri Prost]]'s plans to extend {{lang|fr|4ème Zouaves|italic=no}} Street (now {{lang|fr|Félix Houphouët-Boigny|italic=no}} Street) from the [[port of Casablanca|port]] to the {{lang|fr|Place de France}} (now [[United Nations Square (Casablanca)|United Nations Square]]), part of his redesigns of Casablanca's urban landscape.|alt=]]
French control of Casablanca was formalized March 1912 when the [[Treaty of Fez|Treaty of Fes]] established the [[French protectorate in Morocco|French {{lang|fr|Protectorat|nocat=y}}]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Susan Gilson |title=A history of modern Morocco |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-62469-5 |location=New York |oclc=855022840 }}</ref> Under French imperial control, Casablanca became a port of colonial extraction.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Bosa |first1=Miguel Suárez |title=The Port of Casablanca in the First Stage of the Protectorate |date=2014 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137327987_4 |work=Atlantic Ports and the First Globalisation, c. 1850–1930 |pages=70–89 |editor-last=Bosa |editor-first=Miguel Suárez |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9781137327987_4 |isbn=978-1-137-32798-7 |access-date=16 December 2022 |last2=Maziane |first2=Leila|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Right at the beginning of the twentieth century when [[Morocco]] was officially declared a French protectorate, the French decided to shift power to Morocco's coastal areas (i.e. [[Rabat]] and Casablanca) at the expense of its interior areas (i.e. Fez and Marrakech). Rabat was made the administrative capital of the country and Casablanca its economic capital.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/154677539 |title=Arabic in the city: issues in dialect contact and language variation |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-77311-9 |editor-last=Miller |editor-first=Catherine |series=Routledge Arabic linguistics series |location=London; New York |oclc=154677539 |quote=Rabat was made the administrative capital of the country and Casablanca its economic capital.}}</ref>

General [[Hubert Lyautey]] assigned the planning of the new colonial port city to [[Henri Prost]]. As he did in other Moroccan cities, Prost designed a European {{lang|fr|ville nouvelle}} outside the walls of the [[medina quarter|medina]]. In Casablanca, he also designed a new "{{lang|fr|[[Hubous (Casablanca)|ville indigène]]}}" to house Moroccans arriving from other cities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hodebert |first=Laurent |title="Laprade et Prost, du Maroc à Génissiat, du sol des villes aux édifices", journal de l'exposition "De la construction au récit" au CAUE 74 |url=https://www.academia.edu/26035381 |journal=Journal de l'exposition de la construction au récit, être de son temps et de son lieu pour l'architecture du XXe siècle |language=en |access-date=2019-07-06 |archive-date=2021-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003030718/https://www.academia.edu/26035381 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Europeans formed almost half the population of Casablanca.<ref name="A history of the Arab peoples">{{cite book |author1=Albert Hourani |author-link=Albert Hourani |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=egbOb0mewz4C&pg=PA323 |title=A history of the Arab peoples |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |page=323 |isbn=0-674-01017-5 }}</ref>

A 1937–1938 [[typhoid fever]] outbreak was exploited by colonial authorities to justify the appropriation of urban spaces in Casablanca.<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal |last=House |first=Jim |date=2012 |title=L'impossible contrôle d'une ville coloniale ? |journal=Genèses |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=78–103 |doi=10.3917/gen.086.0078 |issn=1155-3219|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 August 2018 |title=Casablanca 1952: Architecture For the Anti-Colonial Struggle or the Counter-Revolution |url=https://thefunambulist.net/history/casablanca-1952-architects-and-the-colonial-counter-revolution |access-date=18 October 2019 |website=THE FUNAMBULIST MAGAZINE |language=en-US |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190948/https://thefunambulist.net/editorials/casablanca-1952-architects-and-the-colonial-counter-revolution |url-status=live }}</ref> Moroccans residing in [[informal housing]] were cleared out of the center and displaced, notably to {{Lang|fr|[[Carrières Centrales]]}}.<ref name=":42" />

=== World War II ===
{{Further|Operation Torch}}
After [[Philippe Pétain]] of [[French Third Republic|France]] signed the [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|armistice]] with the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]], he ordered French troops in [[French colonial empire|France's colonial empire]] to defend French territory against any aggressors—[[Allies of World War II|Allied]] or otherwise—applying a policy of "asymmetrical neutrality" in favour of the Germans.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98JmAAAAMAAJ&q=%22neutralit%C3%A9+dissym%C3%A9trique%22+petain|title=Relations internationales Paris|date=2001|publisher=Société d'études historiques des relations internationales contemporaines|pages=358|language=fr}}</ref> French colonists in Morocco generally supported Pétain, while Moroccans tended to favour [[Charles de Gaulle|de Gaulle]] and the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of modern Morocco|last=Miller|first=Susan Gilson|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139624695|location=New York|pages=142|oclc=855022840}}</ref>

[[Operation Torch]], which started on 8 November 1942, was the British-American invasion of [[French North Africa]] during the North African campaign of [[World War II]]. The Western Task Force, composed of American units led by [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[George S. Patton]] and [[Rear Admiral]] [[Henry Kent Hewitt]], carried out the invasions of [[Kenitra|Mehdia]], [[Mohammedia|Fedhala]], and [[Safi, Morocco|Asfi]]. American forces captured Casablanca from Vichy control when France surrendered 11 November 1942, but the [[Naval Battle of Casablanca]] continued until American forces sank [[German submarine U-173]] on 16 November.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/wwii/wwii-north-africa-campaign/naval-battle-of-casablanca.html |title=1942: November 8–16: Naval Battle of Casablanca |publisher=U.S. [[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |language=en-US |access-date=13 July 2019 }}</ref>

Casablanca was the site of the Berrechid Airfield, a large American air base used as the staging area for all American aircraft for the [[European theatre of World War II]]. The airfield has since become [[Mohammed V International Airport]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

=== Anfa Conference ===
{{Main|Casablanca Conference}}
Casablanca hosted the [[Casablanca Conference (1943)|Anfa Conference]] (also called the Casablanca Conference) in January 1943. Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] and President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] discussed the progress of the war. Also in attendance were the [[Free France]] generals [[Charles de Gaulle]] and [[Henri Giraud]], though they played minor roles and didn't participate in the military planning.

It was at this conference that the Allies adopted the doctrine of "unconditional surrender", meaning that the [[Axis powers]] would be fought until their defeat. [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] also met privately with Sultan [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammad V]] and expressed his support for Moroccan independence after the war.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=A history of modern Morocco |last=Miller |first=Susan Gilson |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139624695 |location=New York |pages=144 |oclc=855022840 }}</ref> This became a turning point, as Moroccan nationalists were emboldened to openly seek complete independence.<ref name=":0" />

=== Toward independence ===
During the 1940s and 1950s, Casablanca was a major centre of anti-French rioting.

On 7 April 1947, a [[Massacre of April 7, 1947|massacre]] of working class Moroccans, carried out by [[Senegalese Tirailleurs]] in the service of the [[Troupes coloniales|French colonial army]], was instigated just as Sultan [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammed V]] was due to make a speech in [[Tangier]] appealing for independence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atlasinfo.fr/Evenements-du-7-avril-1947-a-Casablanca-un-tournant-decisif-dans-la-lutte-pour-la-liberte-et-l-independance_a70631.html|title=Evènements du 7 avril 1947 à Casablanca, un tournant décisif dans la lutte pour la liberté et l'indépendance|website=Atlasinfo.fr: l'essentiel de l'actualité de la France et du Maghreb|date=6 April 2016|language=fr|access-date=29 August 2019|archive-date=29 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829112737/https://www.atlasinfo.fr/Evenements-du-7-avril-1947-a-Casablanca-un-tournant-decisif-dans-la-lutte-pour-la-liberte-et-l-independance_a70631.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Casablanca Uprisings of 1952|Riots]] in Casablanca took place from 7–8 December 1952, in response to the assassination of the Tunisian labor unionist [[Farhat Hached]] by ''[[La Main Rouge]]''—the clandestine militant wing of [[Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage|French intelligence]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/49006/decembre-1952-quand-casablancais-sont.html|title=7-8 décembre 1952 : Quand les Casablancais se sont soulevés contre l'assassinat de Ferhat Hached|website=www.yabiladi.com|language=fr|access-date=16 March 2019|archive-date=8 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208131932/https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/49006/decembre-1952-quand-casablancais-sont.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Then, on 25 December 1953 (Christmas Day), [[Muhammad Zarqtuni]] orchestrated a bombing of Casablanca's [[Central Market (Casablanca)|Central Market]] in response to the forced exile of Sultan [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammad V]] and the royal family on 20 August ([[Eid al-Adha]]) of that year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/12/25/archives/16-dead-in-casablanca-blast.html|title=16 Dead in Casablanca Blast|date=25 December 1953|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=4 October 2010|url-access=subscription|archive-date=5 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105145032/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C12FF3E59177B93C7AB1789D95F478585F9&scp=3&sq=casablanca+bomb&st=p|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Since independence ===
Morocco gained independence from France in 1956. The post-independence era witnessed significant urban transformations and socio-economic shifts, particularly in neighborhoods like Hay Mohammadi, which were deeply impacted by neoliberal policies and state-led urban redevelopment projects.<ref>Strava, C. (2021). Precarious modernities: Assembling State, Space and Society on the Urban Margins in Morocco. Bloomsbury Publishing. P. 3</ref>

=== Casablanca Group ===
On 4–7 January 1961, the city hosted an ensemble of progressive African leaders during the [[Casablanca Group|Casablanca Conference of 1961]]. Among those received by King [[Mohammed V of Morocco|Muhammad V]] were [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], [[Kwame Nkrumah]], [[Modibo Keïta]], and [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]], [[Ferhat Abbas]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://zamane.ma/fr/la-conference-de-casablanca/|title=La Conférence de Casablanca|date=30 November 2012|website=Zamane|language=fr-FR|access-date=1 June 2019|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422085149/https://zamane.ma/fr/la-conference-de-casablanca/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/49827/janvier-1961-conference-casablanca-prelude.html|title=4 au 7 janvier 1961 : La Conférence de Casablanca, prélude à la création de l'OUA|website=www.yabiladi.com|language=fr|access-date=28 May 2019|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528012201/https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/49827/janvier-1961-conference-casablanca-prelude.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100002995|title=African States of the Casablanca Charter {{!}} UIA Yearbook Profile {{!}} Union of International Associations|website=uia.org|access-date=28 May 2019|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528012210/https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100002995|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Jewish emigration ===
Casablanca was a major departure point for Jews leaving Morocco through [[Operation Yachin]], an operation conducted by [[Mossad]] to secretly migrate [[Moroccan Jews]] to [[Israel]] between November 1961 and spring 1964.<ref>{{cite web |first=Frédéric |last=Abécassis |title=Questions about jewish migrations from Morocco |date=June 2012 |location=Jerusalem, Israel |publisher=HAL Open Science |pages=73–82 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/778664/filename/NEW_DIASPORAS._THE_JERUSALEM_WORKSHOP._JUNE_2012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505154204/https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/778664/filename/NEW_DIASPORAS._THE_JERUSALEM_WORKSHOP._JUNE_2012.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-05}}</ref>

=== 1965 riots ===
The [[1965 Moroccan riots|1965 student protests]] organized by the [[National Union of Popular Forces]]-affiliated National Union of Moroccan Students, which spread to cities around the country and devolved into riots, started on 22 March 1965, in front of [[Lycée Mohammed V]] in Casablanca.<ref name="Brousky20052">Par Omar Brouksy, "[http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/LIN20035quesesramel0/ Que s'est-il vraiment passé le 23 mars 1965?]", ''Jeune Afrique'', 21 March 2005. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140810132950/http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/LIN20035quesesramel0/ Archived]}}.</ref><ref>"Il y avait au moins quinze mille lycéens. Je n'avais jamais vu un rassemblement d'adolescents aussi impressionnant" as quoted in Brousky, 2005.</ref><ref>Parker & Boum, ''Historical Dictionary of Morocco'' (2006), p. 213.</ref> The protests started as a peaceful march to demand the right to public higher education for Morocco, but expanded to include concerns of labourers, the unemployed, and other marginalized segments of society, and devolved into vandalism and rioting.<ref name="Miller2013">Miller, ''A History of Modern Morocco'' (2013), pp. 162–[https://books.google.com/books?id=peGyku_eREkC&pg=PA168 168]–169.</ref> The riots were violently repressed by security forces with tanks and armoured vehicles; Moroccan authorities reported a dozen deaths while the [[National Union of Popular Forces|UNFP]] reported more than 1,000.<ref name="Brousky20052"/> This violent suppression happened under the [[Ministry of Interior (Morocco)|minister of interior]] [[Mohamed Oufkir|Mohamed Oufkir's]] direction.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Derdzinski |first=Joseph L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HB03DAAAQBAJ&dq=oufkir%20400&pg=PA48 |title=Internal Security Services in Liberalizing States: Transitions, Turmoil, and (In)Security |date=2016-05-23 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-317-11446-8 |pages=48 |language=en}}</ref> He personally machine-gunned rioters from his helicopter.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maddy-Weitzman |first=Bruce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RTiUCgAAQBAJ&q=oufkir%20machine |title=The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States |date=2011-05-01 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=978-0-292-72587-4 |pages=93 |language=en}}</ref>

King [[Hassan II of Morocco|Hassan II]] blamed the events on teachers and parents, and declared in a speech to the nation on 30 March 1965: "There is no greater danger to the State than a so-called intellectual. It would have been better if you were all illiterate."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rollinde |first=Marguerite |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qrst5uqJTKEC&pg=PA123 |title=Le mouvement marocain des droits de l'homme: entre consensus national et engagement citoyen |date=2002-01-01 |publisher=KARTHALA Editions |isbn=978-2-84586-209-8 |pages=123 |language=fr |quote=Permettez-moi de vous dire qu'il n'y a pas de danger aussi grave pour l'Etat que celui d'un prétendu intellectuel. Il aurait mieux valu que vous soyez tous illettrés}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ossman |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6MwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |title=Picturing Casablanca: Portraits of Power in a Modern City |date=1994-12-14 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-08403-2 |pages=37 |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1981 riots ===
On 6 June 1981, the [[Casablanca Bread Riots]] took place,<ref name=":3" /> which were sparked by a sharp increase in the price of necessities such as butter, sugar, wheat flour, and cooking oil following a period of severe drought.<ref>{{Cite web |title=66 die in Morocco riot |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/23/66-die-in-Morocco-riot/8708362116800/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref> Hassan II appointed the French-trained interior minister [[Driss Basri]] as hardliner, who would later become a symbol of the [[Years of Lead (Morocco)|Years of Lead]], with quelling the protests.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A history of modern Morocco|last=Miller, Susan Gilson.|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-62469-5|location=New York|pages=185|oclc=855022840}}</ref> The government stated that 66 people were killed and 100 were injured, while opposition leaders put the number of dead at 637, saying that many of these were killed by police and army gunfire.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/08/25/a-black-saturday-shadows-the-future-of-hassans-morocco/8a5cb6ce-39b4-42b9-bb48-f3a196706961/|title=A 'Black Saturday' Shadows the Future Of Hassan's Morocco|last=Cooley|first=John K.|date=25 August 1981|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=22 January 2020|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818134111/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/08/25/a-black-saturday-shadows-the-future-of-hassans-morocco/8a5cb6ce-39b4-42b9-bb48-f3a196706961/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== ''Mudawana'' ===
In March 2000, more than 60 women's groups organized demonstrations in Casablanca proposing reforms to the legal status of women in the country.<ref name="ParkBoum2006">{{cite book|last1=Park|first1=Thomas Kerlin|last2=Boum|first2=Aomar|title=Historical Dictionary of Morocco|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KiCl5-MxMMC&pg=PA256|access-date=22 April 2012|year=2006|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5341-6|page=256|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331161624/https://books.google.com/books?id=8KiCl5-MxMMC&pg=PA256#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> About 40,000 women attended, calling for a ban on [[polygamy]] and the introduction of [[Talaq (Nikah)|divorce law]] (divorce being a purely religious procedure at that time). Although the counter-demonstration attracted half a million participants, the movement for change started in 2000 was influential on [[Mohammed VI of Morocco|King Mohammed VI]], and he enacted a new ''[[mudawana]]'', or family law, in early 2004, meeting some of the demands of women's rights activists.<ref name="MiliNewark2009">{{cite book|last=Mili|first=Amel|title=Exploring the Relation Between Gender Politics and Representative Government in the Maghreb: Analytical and Empirical Observations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YM1RcocOxugC&pg=PA161|access-date=22 April 2012|year=2009|isbn=978-1-109-20412-4|page=161 }}</ref>

===Further history===
On 16 May 2003, 33 civilians were killed and more than 100 people were injured when Casablanca was hit by a [[2003 Casablanca bombings|multiple suicide bomb attack]] carried out by Moroccans and claimed by some to have been linked to [[al-Qaeda]]. Twelve suicide bombers struck five locations in the city.<ref name="DakwarWatch2004">{{cite book|last1=Dakwar|first1=Jamil|last2=Goldstein|first2=Eric|title=Morocco: Human Rights at a Crossroads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OT9bK03HEZkC&pg=PA25|access-date=22 April 2012|year=2004|publisher=Human Rights Watch|page=25|id=GGKEY:WTWR4502X87|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331161626/https://books.google.com/books?id=OT9bK03HEZkC&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Another series of suicide bombings struck the city in early 2007.<ref name="McClellanDorn2006">{{cite book|last1=McClellan|first1=James Edward|last2=Dorn|first2=Harold|title=Science And Technology in World History: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YnqLfVRJ3AkC&pg=PP127|access-date=22 April 2012|date=14 April 2006|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8360-6|page=127|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331161644/https://books.google.com/books?id=YnqLfVRJ3AkC&pg=PP127#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1260317,00.html |title=Terror Cell: 'Police Hold Fifth Man' |publisher=News.sky.com |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013111743/http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0%2C%2C30000-1260317%2C00.html |archive-date=13 October 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=Independent Newspapers Online |url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070412144633223C139447 |title=Casablanca on alert after suicide bombings |date=12 April 2007 |access-date=17 April 2011 |archive-date=19 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619143631/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20070412144633223C139447 |url-status=live }}</ref> These events illustrated some of the persistent challenges the city faces in addressing poverty and integrating disadvantaged neighborhoods and populations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/africa/07iht-M07C-MOROCCO-SLUMS.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/africa/07iht-M07C-MOROCCO-SLUMS.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited|title=Creating a Children's Refuge in Morocco's Worst Slums|last=McTighe|first=Kristen|date=6 July 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=22 January 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> One initiative to improve conditions in the city's disadvantaged neighborhoods was the creation of the [[Sidi Moumen Cultural Center]].<ref name=":1" />

As calls for reform spread through the Arab world in 2011, Moroccans joined in, but concessions by the ruler led to acceptance.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} However, in December, thousands of people demonstrated in several parts of the city{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}, especially the city center near la Fontaine, desiring more significant political reforms. On 1 November 2023, Casablanca along with [[Ouarzazate]] joined UNESCO's [[Creative Cities Network]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-01 |title=Moroccan Cities Casablanca and Ouarzazate Join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network |url=https://en.hespress.com/73799-moroccan-cities-casablanca-and-ouarzazate-join-unescos-creative-cities-network.html |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=HESPRESS English - Morocco News |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111143422/https://en.hespress.com/73799-moroccan-cities-casablanca-and-ouarzazate-join-unescos-creative-cities-network.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CreativeCities2023">{{cite web |title=55 new cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/55-new-cities-join-unesco-creative-cities-network-world-cities-day |access-date=31 October 2023 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130042457/https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/55-new-cities-join-unesco-creative-cities-network-world-cities-day |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Bord de la mer de ville casablanca.jpg|thumb|Marine shoreline of Casablanca]]
Casablanca is located on the Atlantic coast of the [[Chaouia (Morocco)|Chaouia]] Plains, which have historically been the [[breadbasket]] of Morocco.<ref name="PellowMorsy1983">{{cite book|last1=Pellow|first1=Thomas|last2=Morsy|first2=Magali|title=La relation de Thomas Pellow: une lecture du Maroc au 18e siècle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mDpbAAAAMAAJ|access-date=22 April 2012|year=1983|publisher=Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations|isbn=978-2-86538-050-3|page=38|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331161651/https://books.google.com/books?id=mDpbAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Apart from the Atlantic coast, the [[Bouskoura]] forest is the only natural attraction in the city.<ref name="CohenEleb2002">{{cite book|last1=Cohen|first1=Jean-Louis|last2=Eleb|first2=Monique|title=Casablanca: colonial myths and architectural ventures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyLqAAAAMAAJ|access-date=22 April 2012|year=2002|publisher=Monacelli Press|isbn=978-1-58093-087-1|page=313|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331161627/https://books.google.com/books?id=CyLqAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The forest was planted in the 20th century and consists mostly of [[eucalyptus]], [[Arecaceae|palm]], and [[pine]] trees.<ref name="WordellSeiler2007">{{cite book|last1=Wordell|first1=Malcolm Taber|last2=Seiler|first2=Edwin Norton|last3=Ayling|first3=Keith|title="Wildcats" Over Casablanca: U.S. Navy Fighters in Operation Torch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YNxtCc6d13kC&pg=PA53|access-date=22 April 2012|date=10 July 2007|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=978-1-57488-722-8|page=53|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331161628/https://books.google.com/books?id=YNxtCc6d13kC&pg=PA53|url-status=live}}</ref> It is located halfway to the city's international airport.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

The only watercourse in Casablanca is ''oued Bouskoura'',<ref name="Pierre2002">{{cite book|last=Pierre|first=Jean-Luc|title=Casablanca et la France: XIXe-XXe siècles : mémoires croisées|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UojVkyplkR0C&pg=PA23|access-date=22 April 2012|year=2002|publisher=Eddif|isbn=978-9981-09-086-6|page=23|archive-date=2024-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162215/https://books.google.com/books?id=UojVkyplkR0C&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> a small seasonal creek that until 1912 reached the [[Atlantic Ocean]] near the actual port. Most of oued Bouskoura's bed has been covered due to urbanization and only the part south of [[El-Jadida|El Jadida]] road can now be seen. The closest permanent river to Casablanca is [[Oum Er-Rbia River|Oum Rabia]], {{convert|70|km|2|abbr=on}} to the south-east.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

=== Neighborhood ===
The list of neighborhoods is indicative and not complete:
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[2 Mars]]
* [[Ain Chock]]
* [[Ain Diab]]
* [[Ain Sebaa]]
* [[Attacharouk]]
* [[Belvedere (Casablanca)|Belvédère]]
* [[Beauséjour, Casablanca|Beauséjour]]
* [[Bouchentouf]]
* [[Bouskoura]]
* [[Bourgogne, Casablanca|Bourgogne]]
* [[Californie, Casablanca|Californie]]
* [[Centre Ville, Casablanca|Centre Ville]]
* [[CIL (Casablanca)|C.I.L.]]
* [[La Colline]]
* [[Derb Ghallef]]
* [[Derb Sultan]]
* [[Derb Tazi]]
* [[Gauthier, Casablanca|Gauthier]]
* [[Ghandi (Casablanca)|Ghandi]]
* [[Habous, Casablanca|Habous]]
* [[El Hank, Casablanca|El Hank]]
* [[Hay Dakhla]]
* [[Hay El Baraka]]
* [[Hay El Hanaa]]
* [[Hay El Hassani]]
* [[Hay Mohammadi|Hay El Mohammadi]]
* [[Hay Farah]]
* [[Hay Moulay Rachid]]
* [[Hay Salama]]
* [[Hubous]] 
* [[Inara (Casablanca)|Inara]]
* [[Laimoun]] (Hay Hassani)
* [[Lamkansa, Casablanca-Settat|Lamkansa]]
* [[Lissasfa]]
* [[Maârif]]
* [[Mers Sultan]]
* [[Nassim, Morocco|Nassim]]
* [[Oasis (Casablanca)|Oasis]]
* [[Old Madina]]
* [[Oulfa]]
* [[Palmiers]]
* [[Polo, Casablanca|Polo]]
* [[Racine (Casablanca)|Racine]]
* [[Riviera, Morocco|Riviera]]
* [[Roches Noires, Morocco|Roches Noires]]
* [[Salmia 2 (Casablanca)|Salmia 2]]
* [[Sbata]]
* [[Sidi Bernoussi]]
* [[Sidi Maârouf]]
* [[Sidi Moumen]]
* [[Sidi Othmane]]
{{div col end}}

=== Climate ===

Casablanca has a [[hot-summer Mediterranean climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Csa''). The cool [[Canary Current]] off the Atlantic coast moderates temperature variation, which results in a climate remarkably similar to that of coastal [[Los Angeles]], with similar temperature ranges. The city has an annual average of 72 days with significant precipitation, which amounts to {{convert|412|mm|1|abbr=on}} per year. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in the city are {{convert|40.5|°C|1|abbr=on}} and {{convert|-2.7|°C|1|abbr=on}}, respectively. The highest amount of rainfall recorded in a single day is {{convert|178|mm|1|abbr=on}} on 30 November 2010.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

{{Weather box
|location = Casablanca (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1941–present)
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 31.3
|Feb record high C = 35.3
|Mar record high C = 37.3
|Apr record high C = 37.0
|May record high C = 38.6
|Jun record high C = 40.5
|Jul record high C = 42.2
|Aug record high C = 40.8
|Sep record high C = 40.6
|Oct record high C = 37.8
|Nov record high C = 35.0
|Dec record high C = 30.3
|year record high C = 42.2
|Jan high C = 17.6
|Feb high C = 18.1
|Mar high C = 19.7
|Apr high C = 20.6
|May high C = 22.7
|Jun high C = 24.6
|Jul high C = 26.1
|Aug high C = 26.7
|Sep high C = 25.9
|Oct high C = 24.3
|Nov high C = 21.0
|Dec high C = 18.9
|year high C = 22.2
|Jan mean C = 13.3
|Feb mean C = 13.9
|Mar mean C = 15.7
|Apr mean C = 17.0
|May mean C = 19.4
|Jun mean C = 21.7
|Jul mean C = 23.3
|Aug mean C = 23.9
|Sep mean C = 22.7
|Oct mean C = 20.6
|Nov mean C = 17.0
|Dec mean C = 14.7
|year mean C = 18.6
|Jan low C = 8.9
|Feb low C = 9.7
|Mar low C = 11.6
|Apr low C = 13.3
|May low C = 15.9
|Jun low C = 18.7
|Jul low C = 20.5
|Aug low C = 21.0
|Sep low C = 19.5
|Oct low C = 16.8
|Nov low C = 12.8
|Dec low C = 10.5
|year low C = 14.9
|Jan record low C = -1.5
|Feb record low C = 0.3
|Mar record low C = 2.8
|Apr record low C = 5.0
|May record low C = 7.2
|Jun record low C = 10.0
|Jul record low C = 12.0
|Aug record low C = 13.0
|Sep record low C = 10.8
|Oct record low C = 7.0
|Nov record low C = 2.0
|Dec record low C = 1.0
|year record low C = -1.5
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 61.9
|Feb precipitation mm = 49.7
|Mar precipitation mm = 42.5
|Apr precipitation mm = 33.5
|May precipitation mm = 13.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 2.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 0.5
|Aug precipitation mm = 0.4
|Sep precipitation mm = 11.7
|Oct precipitation mm = 45.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 84.4
|Dec precipitation mm = 62.2
|year precipitation mm = 408.2
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 6.5
|Feb precipitation days = 6.1
|Mar precipitation days = 6.0
|Apr precipitation days = 4.7
|May precipitation days = 2.2
|Jun precipitation days = 0.7
|Jul precipitation days = 0.1
|Aug precipitation days = 0.0
|Sep precipitation days = 1.8
|Oct precipitation days = 5.1
|Nov precipitation days = 6.7
|Dec precipitation days = 6.5
|year precipitation days = 46.4
|Jan humidity = 83
|Feb humidity = 83
|Mar humidity = 82
|Apr humidity = 80
|May humidity = 79
|Jun humidity = 81
|Jul humidity = 82
|Aug humidity = 83
|Sep humidity = 83
|Oct humidity = 82
|Nov humidity = 82
|Dec humidity = 84
|year humidity = 82
|Jan sun = 203.0
|Feb sun = 200.0
|Mar sun = 246.8
|Apr sun = 269.4
|May sun = 305.4
|Jun sun = 296.0
|Jul sun = 305.1
|Aug sun = 297.2
|Sep sun = 263.1
|Oct sun = 240.8
|Nov sun = 208.0
|Dec sun = 195.2
|year sun = 3030.0
|source 1 = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]] (sun 1981–2010),<ref name=WMOCLINO>{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231004222919/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Morocco/CSV/CASABLANCAANFA_60155.csv
| archive-date = 4 October 2023
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-1-WMO-Normals-9120/Morocco/CSV/CASABLANCAANFA_60155.csv
| title = Casablanca Anfa Normals 1991–2020
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = 4 October 2023}}</ref><ref name=WMOCLINOOld>{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-I/Morocco/WMO_Normals_ASCII_60155.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = 10 November 2021
| archive-date = 11 November 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211111001949/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-I/Morocco/WMO_Normals_ASCII_60155.csv
| url-status = live
}}</ref> (April, June record high)<ref name="wmo">{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1757832752391729260 |title= Morocco: Highest Temperature |publisher=Ogimet |access-date=19 October 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100616051245/https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1757832752391729260?t=ORjl4wG7QWMvdq1jNNSa1A&s=19 |archive-date=2010-06-16 |df= mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=60155&ndays=31&ano=2025&mes=06&day=30&hora=12&ord=REV&enviar=Ver|title= 60155: Omidieh (Morocco)|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 30 June 2025|website=ogimet.com |publisher=OGIMET |access-date= 26 August 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
|source 2 = [[Deutscher Wetterdienst]] (humidity 1949–1993, extremes 1941–1993)<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_601550_kt.pdf
|title = Klimatafel von Casablanca (Dar el Beida) / Marokko
|language = de
|publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst
|access-date = 6 October 2023
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231006055138/https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_601550_kt.pdf
|archive-date = 6 October 2023}}</ref> 
}}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Casablanca mean sea temperature<ref name="Seatemperature.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.seatemperature.org/africa/morocco/casablanca-may.htm|title=Monthly Dakar water temperature chart|publisher=Seatemperature.org|access-date=5 May 2016|archive-date=1 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601121226/http://www.seatemperature.org/africa/morocco/casablanca-may.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
!Jan
!Feb
!Mar
!Apr
!May
!Jun
!Jul
!Aug
!Sep
!Oct
!Nov
!Dec
|-
|{{convert|17.5|°C}}
|{{convert|17.0|°C}}
|{{convert|17.1|°C}}
|{{convert|18.4|°C}}
|{{convert|19.5|°C}}
|{{convert|21.8|°C}}
|{{convert|22.7|°C}}
|{{convert|23.3|°C}}
|{{convert|23.1|°C}}
|{{convert|22.5|°C}}
|{{convert|20.4|°C}}
|{{convert|18.5|°C}}
|}

=== Climate change ===
A 2019 paper published in [[PLOS One]] estimated that under [[Representative Concentration Pathway#4.5|Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5]], a "moderate" scenario of [[climate change]] where global warming reaches ~{{convert|2.5-3|C-change|F-change}} by 2100, the climate of Casablanca in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of [[Tripoli, Libya]]. The annual temperature would increase by {{convert|1.7|C-change|F-change}}, and the temperature of the warmest month by {{convert|1.6|C-change|F-change}}, while the temperature of the coldest month would actually decrease by {{convert|0.2|C-change|F-change}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bastin |first1=Jean-Francois |last2=Clark |first2=Emily |last3=Elliott |first3=Thomas |last4=Hart |first4=Simon |last5=van den Hoogen |first5=Johan |last6=Hordijk |first6=Iris |last7=Ma |first7=Haozhi |last8=Majumder |first8=Sabiha |last9=Manoli |first9=Gabriele |last10=Maschler |first10=Julia |last11=Mo |first11=Lidong |last12=Routh |first12=Devin |last13=Yu |first13=Kailiang |last14=Zohner |first14=Constantin M. |last15=Thomas W. |first15=Crowther |title=Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues |journal=PLOS ONE |date=10 July 2019 |volume=14 |issue=7 |at=S2 Table. Summary statistics of the global analysis of city analogues. |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0217592 |pmid=31291249 |pmc=6619606 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1417592B |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://crowtherlab.pageflow.io/cities-of-the-future-visualizing-climate-change-to-inspire-action |title=Cities of the future: visualizing climate change to inspire action |at=Current vs. future cities |access-date=8 January 2023 |archive-date=8 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108082440/https://crowtherlab.pageflow.io/cities-of-the-future-visualizing-climate-change-to-inspire-action |url-status=live }}</ref>

Moreover, according to the 2022 [[IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]], Casablanca is one of 12 major African cities ([[Abidjan]], [[Alexandria]], [[Algiers]], [[Cape Town]], Casablanca, [[Dakar]], [[Dar es Salaam]], [[Durban]], [[Lagos]], [[Lomé]], [[Luanda]] and [[Maputo]]) which would be the most severely affected by future [[sea level rise]]. It estimates that they would collectively sustain cumulative damages of US$65 billion under RCP 4.5 and US$86.5 billion for the high-emission scenario RCP 8.5 by the year 2050. Additionally, RCP 8.5 combined with the hypothetical impact from [[marine ice sheet instability]] at high levels of warming would involve up to US$137.5 billion in damages, while the additional accounting for the "low-probability, high-damage events" may increase aggregate risks to US$187 billion for the "moderate" RCP4.5, US$206 billion for RCP8.5 and US$397 billion under the high-end ice sheet instability scenario.<ref>Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter09.pdf Chapter 9: Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206082533/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter09.pdf |date=2022-12-06 }}. In [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228114918/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/ |date=2022-02-28 }} [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2043–2121</ref> Since sea level rise would continue for about 10,000 years under every scenario of climate change, future costs of sea level rise would only increase, especially without adaptation measures.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |title=Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |date=August 2021 |publisher=IPCC |page=TS14 |access-date=12 November 2021 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809080054/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Economy ==
[[File:Casa finance city 4.jpg|thumb|right|A view of the completed towers of [[Casablanca Finance City]], along with those under construction.]]
[[File:Downtown, Casablanca.jpg|thumb|right|Casablanca City Centre]]
[[File:CFC Casa Tower.jpg|thumb|right|[[Casablanca Finance City]]]]
{{Main|Economy of Casablanca}}

The [[Grand Casablanca]] region is considered the locomotive of the development of the [[Economy of Morocco|Moroccan economy]]. It attracts 32% of the country's production units and 56% of [[industrial labor]]. The region uses 30% of the national electricity production. With MAD 93&nbsp;billion, the region contributes to 44% of the industrial production of the kingdom. About 33% of national industrial exports, MAD 27&nbsp;billion, comes from the Grand Casablanca; 30% of the Moroccan banking network is concentrated in Casablanca.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casainvest.ma/casainvest/tabid/55/Default.aspx |title=Les bonnes raisons d'investir à Casablanca |publisher=Casainvest.ma |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722170400/https://www.casainvest.ma/casainvest/tabid/55/Default.aspx |archive-date=22 July 2011 }}</ref>

One of the most important exports of Casablanca is phosphate. Other industries include fishing, fish canning, sawmills, furniture production, building materials, glass, textiles, electronics, leather work, processed food, spirits, soft drinks, and cigarettes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topbladi.com/villes/casablanca.htm |title=Casablanca, capitale economique du Maroc |publisher=Topbladi.com |access-date=17 April 2011 |archive-date=28 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128143806/http://topbladi.com/villes/casablanca.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Port of Casablanca|Casablanca]] and [[Mohammedia]] seaports activity represent 50% of the international commercial flows of Morocco.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} Almost the entire Casablanca waterfront is under development, mainly the construction of huge entertainment centres between the port and Hassan II Mosque, the Anfa Resort project near the business, entertainment and living centre of Megarama, the shopping and entertainment complex of [[Morocco Mall]], as well as a complete renovation of the coastal walkway. The Sindbad park was also renewed with rides, games and entertainment services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casainvest.ma/ |title=votre partenaire pour investir à Casablanca au Maroc |publisher=CasaInvest.ma |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903030342/http://www.casainvest.ma/ |archive-date=3 September 2011 }}</ref>

Casablanca is a significant [[financial centre]], ranking 54th globally in the September 2023 [[Global Financial Centres Index]] rankings, between [[Brussels]] and [[Rome]].<ref name=":9" /> The [[Casablanca Stock Exchange]] is Africa's third-largest in terms of [[market capitalization]], as of December 2022.<ref name=":10" />

[[Royal Air Maroc]] has its head office at the previous [[Casablanca-Anfa Airport]] location.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalairmaroc.com/Marchand/Us/index.jsp?rub=1801&rubid=1803 |title=Non-airline partners |publisher=Royalairmaroc.com |date=23 September 2009 |access-date=17 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715205105/http://www.royalairmaroc.com/Marchand/Us/index.jsp?rub=1801&rubid=1803 |archive-date=15 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2004, it announced that it was moving its head office from Casablanca to a location in [[Province of Nouaceur]], close to [[Mohammed V International Airport]].<ref>"[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-22062524_ITM Royal Air Maroc.(Africa/Middle East)(Brief Article)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529085308/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-22062524_ITM |date=2014-05-29 }}." ''[[Air Transport World]]''. 1 July 2004. Retrieved on 19 October 2009.</ref> The agreement to build the head office in Nouaceur was signed in 2009 but was never implemented.<ref>"[http://www.leconomiste.com/article.html?a=53387 Casablanca: Nouaceur abritera le futur siège de la RAM]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." ''[[L'Économiste]]''. 18 August 2009. Retrieved on 19 October 2009.</ref>

== Administration and Politics ==
Casablanca is a [[municipality]] that is part of the [[Casablanca-Settat]] region.

The [[municipality]] is divided into 16 districts (arrondissements).{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

=== Municipality ===
The responsibilities of the Casablanca municipality include :

* Economic and social development
* Traffic, Roads, Sidewalks, Bike Lanes
* Parking
* Public Transit
* The environment 
* Parks
* Beaches
* Public Safety
* Hygiene 
* Libraries
* Museums
* Cultural Events
* Kindergartens
* Cemeteries

==== Mayor ====
The Mayor of Casablanca is the head of the Casablanca municipality.  He controls the Casablanca municipality administration.

The Mayor :

* '''Represents''' the city'''<ref name=":03">{{cite book |author1=Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement |language=fr |title=Loi relative aux communes |url=http://www.sgg.gov.ma/Portals/0/lois/loi_org_113-14_fr.pdf?ver=2016-06-16-144720-997 |archive-date=2024-01-27 |access-date=2025-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127182234/http://www.sgg.gov.ma/Portals/0/lois/loi_org_113-14_fr.pdf?ver=2016-06-16-144720-997 |url-status=dead }}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>''' 
* '''Sits''' on the board of public development societies (''SDL'')<ref name=":03" />
* '''Must''' execute the budget voted by the city ouncil<ref name=":03" />
* '''Must''' answer questions from the council members<ref name=":03" />
* '''Must''' ask the council for approval before signing any partnership with the private sector<ref name=":03" />
* '''Meets''' the leader of the 16 districts to receive suggestion<ref name=":03" />
* '''Can''' sue on behalf of the Municipality of Casablanca<ref name=":03" /> 
* '''Can''' create a police force that focuses on public hygiene and public order'''<ref name=":03" />''' 
* '''Can''' be removed by the majority of the council<ref name=":03" />

=== City Council ===
[[File:Nabila Rmili (cropped).jpg|thumb|338x338px|Nabila Rmili, current mayor of Casablanca]]
The Mayor is accountable to the City Council, who represents a total of 100 to 130 elected citizens from every Casablanca neighborhood.

The City Council meets each year during the months of February, may and October.<ref name=":03" />  These 3 meetings are mandatory according to Moroccan law.<ref name=":03" />

The council members are informed 10 days before the meetings.<ref name=":03" />

Apart from these 3 sessions, the council can also be summoned by:

* The Mayor<ref name=":03" /> 
* The Wali of Casablanca<ref name=":03" />
* 1/3 of the council members<ref name=":03" />

At the end of every council session, a record of the votes must be preserved by a Secretary.<ref name=":03" />

=== 16 Districts (arrondissements) ===
The municipality of Casablanca is divided into 16 local districts (''arrondissements'').
{| class="wikitable"
|1. [[Anfa (arrondissement)|Anfa]] (أنفا)
|[[Hay Mohammadi|5. Hay Mohammadi]] (الحي المحمدي), 
|9. [[Aïn Sebaâ]] (عين السبع)
|10. [[Hay Hassani]] (الحي الحسني).
|-
|2. [[Maârif]]  (المعاريف)
|6. [[Roches Noires, Morocco|Roches Noires]] (الصخور السوداء)
|10. [[Mers Sultan]] (مرس السلطان).
|14. [[Sidi Othmane]] (سيدي عثمان).
|-
|3. [[Sidi Belyout]] (سيدي بليوط).
|8. [[Sidi Moumen]] (سيدي مومن).
|11. [[Hay Mohammadi]] (الحي المحمدي), 
|15. [[Sbata]] (سباتة)
|-
|4. [[Sidi Bernoussi (arrondissement)|Sidi Bernoussi]] (سيدي برنوصي)
|8. [[Moulay Rachid (district)|Moulay Rachid]] (مولاي رشيد)
|12. [[Ben M'Sick|Ben Msick]] (بن مسيك)
|16. [[Aïn Chock|Ain Shock]]  (عين الشق)
|}
According to Moroccan law, the main responsibilities of the districts include:

* Local parks<ref name=":03" />
* Local green spaces<ref name=":03" />
* Local cultural events<ref name=":03" />
* Maintaining any cultural asset given to the district by the municipality<ref name=":03" />

Each year, the 16 districts all receive a small budget from the municipality of Casablanca. However, they each determine how to use that budget.  Each district has a President who is accountable to 15 to 20 district council members.

'''''Example:''''' ''The President of Anfa is accountable to the Council of Anfa. Only people living in Anfa can vote for the Anfa council.''

Each of the 16 local councils meets 3 times a year, in January, June, and September.<ref name=":03" />

These 3 meetings are mandatory and generally open to the public.<ref name=":03" />

The President of the 16 Districts can ask the Mayor of Casablanca to give them special powers.<ref name=":03" />

=== Prefectures ===
Casablanca is divided into 8 prefectures.  Each prefecture is led by a Governor who is appointed by the Moroccan government.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
[[File:Préfectures de Casablanca.png|none|thumb|615x615px|8 prefectures, 8 governors]]
A governor typically oversees 2 or 3 districts.

'''''Example:''' The Governor of Prefecture de Casablanca-Anfa oversees [[Anfa]], [[Sidi Belyout]] and [[Maârif|Maarif]].''

Governors can cancel decisions voted by a council if the proper legal procedures were not respected. They can also ask a judge to remove a District President from office if there is evidence he doesn't show up at council meetings.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

== Demographics ==
[[File:Casablanca, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.jpg|thumb|right|[[Notre-Dame de Lourdes Church (Casablanca)|Notre-Dame de Lourdes Church]] in Casablanca]]
The commune of Casablanca recorded a population of 3,359,818 in the [[2014 Moroccan census]].<ref name=census2014>{{cite web |url=http://rgph2014.hcp.ma/file/166326/ |title=POPULATION LÉGALE DES RÉGIONS, PROVINCES, PRÉFECTURES, MUNICIPALITÉS, ARRONDISSEMENTS ET COMMUNES DU ROYAUME D'APRÈS LES RÉSULTATS DU RGPH 2014 |language=ar, fr |publisher=High Commission for Planning, Morocco |date=8 April 2015 |access-date=29 September 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010160550/http://rgph2014.hcp.ma/file/166326/ |url-status=live }}</ref> About 98% live in urban areas. Around 25% of the population are under 15 years old, and 9% are over 60 years old. The population of the city is about 11% of the total [[Demographics of Morocco|population of Morocco]]. [[Grand Casablanca]] is the largest [[urban area]] in the [[Maghreb]]. 99.9% of the population of Morocco are Arab and Berber Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|title=Religious Composition by Country|website=Pewforum.org|date=2012|url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf|access-date=28 March 2016|archive-date=19 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219024554/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[French protectorate in Morocco]], [[European Moroccans|European]] [[Christians]] formed almost half the population of Casablanca.<ref name="A history of the Arab peoples"/> Since [[Moroccan independence]] in 1956, the European population has decreased substantially. The city also is still home to a small community of [[Christianity in Morocco|Moroccan Christians]], as well as a small group of foreign [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Protestant]] residents.<ref name="state.gov">{{cite web| url = https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MOROCCO-2018-INTERNATIONAL-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-REPORT.pdf| title = MOROCCO 2018 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT| access-date = 2020-05-22| archive-date = 2021-04-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210402105510/https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MOROCCO-2018-INTERNATIONAL-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOM-REPORT.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/world/africa/pope-francis-morocco-christians.html| title = Pope Francis' Visit to Morocco Raises Hopes for Its Christians| website = [[The New York Times]]| date = 29 March 2019| last1 = Alami| first1 = Aida| access-date = 22 May 2020| archive-date = 1 October 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191001050723/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/world/africa/pope-francis-morocco-christians.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Judaism in Casablanca ===
[[File:Inside Bet El synagogue Casablanca (926173377).jpg|thumb|left|Inside [[Temple Beth-El (Casablanca)|Temple Beth-El]] in Casablanca]]
Jews have a [[History of Moroccan Jews|long history]] in Casablanca. A [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic Jewish]] community was in [[Anfa]] up to the destruction of the city by the Portuguese in 1468. Jews were slow to return to the town, but by 1750, the Rabbi Elijah [[synagogue]] was built as the first Jewish synagogue in Casablanca. It was destroyed along with much of the town in the [[1755 Lisbon earthquake]].<ref name=JVL/>

In the mid-19th century, with commercial development through European economic penetration, industrial imports from Europe drove traditional Jewish crafts out of the market, costing many Jews in the interior their traditional livelihoods.<ref>Jean-Louis Miège, ''L'ouverture'', vol. 2 of ''Le Maroc et l'Europe'', Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1961, 569</ref><ref>Mohammed Kenbib, ''Juifs et musulmans au Maroc, 1859–1948'', Rabat: Université Mohammed V, 1994, 431-33</ref> [[Moroccan Jews]] started migrating from the interior to coastal cities such as [[Essaouira]], [[Mazagan]], [[Asfi]], and later Casablanca for economic opportunity, participating in trade with Europeans and the development of those cities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gottreich, Emily R. |title=Jewish space in the Morroccan city : a history of the mellah of Marrakech, 1550-1930 |pages=54 |oclc=77066581}}</ref>

Casablanca's ''[[mellah]]'' was ravaged in the [[bombardment of Casablanca]] of 1907, the beginning of the [[French conquest of Morocco|French invasion of Morocco]] from the West.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Adam |first=André |title=Histoire de Casablanca, des origines à 1914 |publisher=Éditions Ophrys |year=1968 |isbn= |location= |pages=}}</ref>

[[File:Immeuble Lévy-Bendayan.jpg|thumb|right|Lévy-Bendayan Building]]

[[Jean-Louis Cohen]] highlights the role of Jewish patrons in the [[Architecture of Casablanca|architecture and urban development]] of Casablanca, particularly in construction of the overwhelming majority of the city's tallest buildings during the interwar period.''<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Jean-Louis |date=2021-10-05 |title=Casablanca la juive: Public and Private Architecture 1912-1960 |url=https://www.quest-cdecjournal.it/casablanca-la-juive-public-and-private-architecture-1912-1960/ |journal=Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History |language=en-US |issue=19 |doi=10.48248/issn.2037-741x/12572 |access-date=2023-03-07 |archive-date=2023-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307052907/https://www.quest-cdecjournal.it/casablanca-la-juive-public-and-private-architecture-1912-1960/ |url-status=live }}</ref>'' One notable example of this trend is the [[Lévy-Bendayan Building]] designed by Marius Boyer.''<ref name=":18" />''

Approximately 28,000 [[Moroccan Jews]] [[Migration of Moroccan Jews to Israel|immigrated]] to the [[Israel|State of Israel]] between 1948 and 1951, many through Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2009|title=IMMIGRANTS, BY PERIOD OF IMMIGRATION, COUNTRY OF BIRTH AND LAST COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE|url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton60/st04_04.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610113013/http://www.cbs.gov.il/shnaton60/st04_04.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=live|journal=CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel|publisher=Government of Israel}}</ref> Casablanca then became a departure point in [[Operation Yachin]], the covert [[Mossad]]-organized migration operation from 1961 to 1964. In 1956 there were 100,000 Jews registered in Casablanca.<ref>{{cite web| url =https://www.sfarad.es/los-judios-de-casablanca/|  title = Los judíos de Casablanca| access-date = 2025-05-06}}</ref> In 2018 it was estimated that there were only 2,500 [[Moroccan Jews]] living in Casablanca,<ref name="state.gov"/> while according to the [[World Jewish Congress]] there were only 1,000 [[Moroccan Jews]] remaining.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/MA| title = Jewish in Morocco| access-date = 2020-05-22| archive-date = 2019-04-02| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190402004157/http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/communities/MA| url-status = live}}</ref>

Today, the [[Jewish cemetery of Casablanca]] is one of the major cemeteries of the city, and many synagogues remain in service, but the city's Jewish community has dwindled. The [[Moroccan Jewish Museum]] is a museum established in the city in 1997.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Arab World's Sole Jewish Museum Attests to Moroccan Tolerance|last=Sauvagnargues|first=Philippe|date=15 February 2011|work=Daily Star Beirut}}</ref>

== Education ==
=== Colleges and universities ===
Public: 
*[[École Centrale Casablanca]]<ref>{{cite web |language=fr-FR |title=Casablanca: Ecole centrale pour accélération industrielle |url=https://www.lereporter.ma/casablanca-ecole-centrale-pour-acceleration-industrielle/ |website=Le Reporter.ma |date=2014-11-01 |access-date=2023-04-13 |archive-date=2023-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412172133/https://www.lereporter.ma/casablanca-ecole-centrale-pour-acceleration-industrielle/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[University of Hassan II Casablanca]]

Private:

*[[HEM Business School]]
*[[Université Mundiapolis]]
*[[Université Internationale de Casablanca]]

=== Primary and secondary schools ===
International schools:

* Belgium: [[École Belge de Casablanca]]
* French:
**[[Collège Anatole France (Casablanca)|Collège Anatole France]]
**[[Lycée Lyautey (Casablanca)|Lycée Lyautey]]
**[[Groupe Scolaire Louis Massignon]]
**[[Lycée La Résidence (Casablanca)|Lycée La Résidence]]
**[[Lycée Maïmonide (Casablanca)|Lycée Maïmonide]]
**[[Lycée Léon l'Africain (Casablanca)|Lycée Léon l'Africain]]
**[[École Normale Hébraïque]]
**[[École Al Jabr]]
* Italian: [[Scuola "Enrico Mattei" (Morocco)|Scuola "Enrico Mattei"]]
* Spanish: [[Instituto Español Juan Ramón Jiménez]]
* American:
**[[Casablanca American School]]
**[[American Academy Casablanca]]
**[[George Washington Academy]]
*Montessori:
**École Montessori Casablanca

=== Libraries ===

* {{Interlanguage link|Hassan II Mosque Foundation Multimedia Library|ar|المكتبة الوسائطية لمسجد الحسن الثاني بالدار البيضاء}}
* [[King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Human Sciences and Islamic Studies (Casablanca)|King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Human Sciences and Islamic Studies]]
* Dar America
* Institut Français
* Instituto Cervantes

== Places of worship ==
[[File:Cathédrale Casablanca.jpg|thumb|[[Casablanca Cathedral|Casablanca Cathedral Sacré-Cœur]]]]
Most of the city's [[places of worship]] are [[Islam|Muslim]] mosques.<ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1959</ref> Some of the city's [[Moroccan Jews|synagogues]], such as [[Ettedgui Synagogue]], also remain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/24805/plus-belles-synagogues-maroc.html|title=Les 10 plus belles synagogues du Maroc|website=www.yabiladi.com|language=fr|access-date=11 October 2019|archive-date=11 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011013857/https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/24805/plus-belles-synagogues-maroc.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There are also [[Christianity|Christian]] churches; some remain in use — particularly by the West African migrant community — while many of the churches built during the colonial period have been repurposed, such as [[Casablanca Cathedral|Church of the Sacred Heart]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fr.le360.ma/culture/video-la-musique-electronique-sinvite-au-sacre-coeur-53543|title=Vidéo. La musique électronique s'invite au Sacré-Coeur|website=fr.le360.ma|language=fr|access-date=11 October 2019|archive-date=11 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011015050/http://fr.le360.ma/culture/video-la-musique-electronique-sinvite-au-sacre-coeur-53543|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Sports ==

=== Association football ===
[[File:Wydad Casablanca vs Raja de Casablanca, April 10 2011-4.jpg|thumb|Players from [[Raja Casablanca|Raja]] (left) and [[Wydad AC|Wydad]] (right) during a [[Casablanca derby]] match in 2010]]
Casablanca is home to two popular football clubs: [[Wydad Casablanca]]<ref name="African concord">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUsuAQAAIAAJ|title=African Concord|publisher=Concord Press of Nigeria|year=1989|page=43|access-date=22 April 2012|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162148/https://books.google.com/books?id=BUsuAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Raja Casablanca]]<ref name="West Africa">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V310AAAAMAAJ|title=West Africa|publisher=West Africa Publishing Company, Limited|year=2003|page=38|access-date=22 April 2012|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162149/https://books.google.com/books?id=V310AAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>—which are [[Casablanca derby|rivals]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/12/20/the-soccer-politics-of-morocco/|title=The Soccer Politics of Morocco|last=Alami|first=Aida|date=20 December 2018|website=The New York Review of Books|language=en|access-date=8 October 2019|archive-date=6 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306191635/https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/12/20/the-soccer-politics-of-morocco/|url-status=live}}</ref> Raja's symbol is an eagle and Wydad's symbol is a star and crescent, a symbol of Islam. These two popular clubs have produced some of Morocco's best players, such as: [[Salaheddine Bassir]], [[Abdelmajid Dolmy]], [[Baddou Zaki]], [[Aziz Bouderbala]], and [[Noureddine Naybet]]. Other football teams on top of these two major teams based in the city of Casablanca include [[Rachad Bernoussi]], [[TAS de Casablanca]], [[Majd Al Madina]], and [[RAC Casablanca|Racing Casablanca]].

[[Raja CA]], founded in 1949, compete in [[Botola]] and play their home games at the [[Stade Mohammed V]]. The club is known for their supporters and is one of the most supported teams in Africa. [[Wydad AC]], founded in 1937, also compete in Botola and play their home games at the [[Stade Mohammed V]]. Both have a strong reputation on continental competitions, having both won the [[CAF Champions League]] three times.

Casablanca hosted eight African Champions League finals, all eight at the Stade Mohammed V. The Stade also hosted the [[2018 African Nations Championship Final|2018 CHAN Final]] (which [[Morocco national football team|Morocco]] won) and [[1988 African Cup of Nations final]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=African Nations Cup 1988 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tables/88a.html |access-date=14 January 2023 |website=[[RSSSF]] |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203033739/https://rsssf.org/tables/88a.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=African Nations Championship 2018 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tables/2018anch.html |access-date=14 January 2023 |website=[[RSSSF]] |archive-date=29 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929185637/https://www.rsssf.org/tables/2018anch.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It could potentially host matches for the [[2030 FIFA World Cup]] including the final.

=== Tennis ===
Casablanca hosts The [[Grand Prix Hassan II]], a professional men's tennis tournament of the ATP tour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marrakech {{!}} Overview {{!}} ATP Tour {{!}} Tennis |url=http://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/marrakech/360/overview |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=ATP Tour |language=en}}</ref>

=== Hosting ===
Casablanca staged the [[1961 Pan Arab Games]], the [[1983 Mediterranean Games]], and games during the [[1988 Africa Cup of Nations]]. Morocco was scheduled to host the [[2015 Africa Cup of Nations|2015 African Nations Cup]], but decided to decline due to [[Ebola virus disease|Ebola]] fears.<ref>{{cite web|title=Equatorial Guinea to host 2015 Cup|date=14 November 2014|publisher=[[BBC]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30059022|access-date=12 February 2018|archive-date=11 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011204741/http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30059022|url-status=dead}}</ref> Morocco will host the [[2025 Africa Cup of Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |date=21 February 2024 |title=AFCON 2025 gets summer dates in Morocco |url=https://www.afrik-foot.com/en-ng/afcon-2025-gets-summer-dates-in-morocco |access-date=10 March 2024 |website=Afrik Foot}}</ref>

=== Venues ===

*[[Stade Larbi Zaouli]]
*[[Stade Mohamed V]]
*[[Stade Sidi Bernoussi]]
*[[Complexe Al Amal|Complexe Al Amal de Casablanca]]

The [[Hassan II Stadium]] is the planned football stadium to be built in the city. Once completed in 2025, it will be used mostly for football matches and will serve as the home of [[Raja Casablanca]], [[Wydad Casablanca]], and the [[Morocco national football team]]. The stadium was designed with a capacity of 93,000 spectators, making it one of the highest-capacity stadiums in Africa. Once completed, it will replace the [[Stade Mohamed V]]. The initial idea of the stadium was for the [[2010 FIFA World Cup]], for which Morocco lost their bid to [[South Africa]]. Nevertheless, the Moroccan government supported the decision to go ahead with the plans. It will be completed in 2025. The idea of the stadium was also for the [[2026 FIFA World Cup]], for which Morocco lost their bid to [[Canada]], [[Mexico]] and [[United States]]. It will now host the [[2030 FIFA World Cup]] which Morocco will co-host with two European nations [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]. It is expected to be complete by 2028.<ref>{{cite web|title=Morocco joins Portugal and Spain in transcontinental bid to host 2030 World Cup|date=15 March 2023|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/15/football/morocco-joint-bid-portugal-spain-2030-world-cup-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=24 March 2023|archive-date=24 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324111619/https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/15/football/morocco-joint-bid-portugal-spain-2030-world-cup-intl-hnk/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Road Racing ===
The city is host to the International Casablanca Marathon, a 26.2-mile road race that draws international competition. The race was founded in 2008 and is a member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marathon International de Casablanca – AIMS race information |url=https://aims-worldrunning.org/races/859.html |access-date=2025-09-03 |website=aims-worldrunning.org}}</ref>

== Culture ==
=== Music ===
[[Haja El Hamdaouia]], one of the most iconic figures in [[Aita (Morocco)|aita]] music, was born in Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.febrayer.com/653890.html|title=الحاجة الحمداوية.. صوت "العيطة" المغربية الذي يرفض الاعتزال|date=25 July 2019|website=فبراير.كوم {{!}} موقع مغربي إخباري شامل يتجدد على مدار الساعة|language=fr-FR|access-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210122330/https://www.febrayer.com/653890.html|archive-date=10 December 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Nass El Ghiwane]], led by [[Larbi Batma]], came out of [[Hay Mohammadi]] in Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zamane.ma/fr/nass-el-ghiwane-un-patrimoine-historique-2/|title=Nass El Ghiwane : Un patrimoine historique|date=19 August 2011|website=Zamane|language=fr-FR|access-date=18 September 2019|archive-date=22 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122154332/http://zamane.ma/fr/nass-el-ghiwane-un-patrimoine-historique-2/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Naima Samih]] of Derb Sultan gained prominence through the program ''Mawahib'' ({{Lang|ar|مواهب}}).<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 July 2019|title=نعيمة سميح.. الطرب المغربي التي تحدث كل الصعاب|url=https://www.febrayer.com/651726.html|access-date=9 March 2021|website=فبراير.كوم {{!}} موقع مغربي إخباري شامل يتجدد على مدار الساعة|language=en-US|archive-date=2 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402134900/https://www.febrayer.com/651726.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Abdelhadi Belkhayat]] and [[Abdelwahab Doukkali]] are musicians specializing in traditional Moroccan [[Arabic music|Arabic]] popular music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://2m.ma/fr/culture/abdelhadi-belkhayat-revient-sur-scene-avec-une-chanson-patriotique-20180725/|title=Abdelhadi Belkhayat revient sur scène avec une chanson patriotique !|website=2M|language=fr|access-date=1 February 2020|archive-date=1 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201224731/http://2m.ma/fr/culture/abdelhadi-belkhayat-revient-sur-scene-avec-une-chanson-patriotique-20180725/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Zina Daoudia]], [[Abdelaziz Stati]], [[Abdellah Daoudi]], and [[Said Senhaji]] are notable [[Chaabi (Morocco)|Moroccan chaabi]] musicians.

[[Abdelakabir Faradjallah]] founded [[Attarazat Addahabia]], a Moroccan funk band, in 1968.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Moore|first=Marcus J.|date=17 September 2019|title=The Making of Moroccan Funk|journal=The Nation|language=en-US|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/morocco-faradjallah-attarazat-addahabia-habibi-funk-album-review/|access-date=2 May 2020|issn=0027-8378|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727090705/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/morocco-faradjallah-attarazat-addahabia-habibi-funk-album-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Fadoul]], another funk band, formed in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Arabic Funk Of Fadoul, "Morocco's Answer To James Brown," Finally Released|url=https://www.okayafrica.com/arabic-funk-fadoul-morocco-james-brown/|date=4 January 2016|website=OkayAfrica|language=en|access-date=2 May 2020|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727090617/https://www.okayafrica.com/arabic-funk-fadoul-morocco-james-brown/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Hoba Hoba Spirit]] also formed in Casablanca, and is still based there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137150753/despite-regional-upheaval-moroccans-flock-to-festival|title=Despite Regional Upheaval, Moroccans Flock To Festival|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=29 September 2019|archive-date=29 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929133721/https://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137150753/despite-regional-upheaval-moroccans-flock-to-festival|url-status=live}}</ref> Casablanca has a thriving [[Moroccan hip hop|hiphop scene]], with artists such as [[ElGrandeToto]], [[Don Bigg]], [[7liwa]], [[Dizzy DROS]] and [[Issam Harris]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/culture/the-gritty-rise-of-issam|title=The Gritty Rise Of Issam|website=Gentlemen's Quarterly|language=en|access-date=18 September 2019|archive-date=12 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012234905/https://www.gqmiddleeast.com/culture/the-gritty-rise-of-issam|url-status=live}}</ref> Casablanca hosts numerous music festivals, such as [[Jazzablanca]] and [[L'Boulevard]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/06/276439/14th-annual-jazzablanca-set-to-open-july-2/|title=14th Annual Jazzablanca Set to Open July 2|last=Hekking|first=Morgan|date=21 June 2019|website=Morocco World News|language=en-US|access-date=18 September 2019|archive-date=22 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622121151/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/06/276439/14th-annual-jazzablanca-set-to-open-july-2/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/83271/casablanca-tremplin-l-boulevard-devoile-vainqueurs.html|title=Casablanca : Le Tremplin L'Boulevard dévoile ses six vainqueurs|website=www.yabiladi.com|language=fr|access-date=18 September 2019|archive-date=22 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922154435/https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/83271/casablanca-tremplin-l-boulevard-devoile-vainqueurs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as a museum dedicated to [[Andalusian classical music|Andalusi music]], ''[[Dar ul-Aala]]''.<ref>{{Citation|title=Visite guidée au musée Dar Al Ala|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnKiNPi-mi8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/TnKiNPi-mi8| archive-date=28 October 2021|language=en|access-date=1 December 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
[[Francesco Cavalli]]'s ''[[L'Ormindo]]'' is a 17th-century [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] opera set between Anfa and [[Fes]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ledesk.ma/culture/lopera-baroque-ormindo-de-francesco-cavalli-le-30-septembre-a-rabat/ | title=L'Opéra baroque " Ormindo " de Francesco Cavalli, le 30 septembre à Rabat | access-date=2022-12-23 | archive-date=2022-12-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223221606/https://ledesk.ma/culture/lopera-baroque-ormindo-de-francesco-cavalli-le-30-septembre-a-rabat/ | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Driss Chraïbi]]'s novel ''The Simple Past'' takes place in Casablanca. [[Mohamed Zafzaf]] lived in [[Maârif|Maarif]] while writing and teaching at a high school.<ref>{{Cite web|title=محمد زفزاف و"صنعة الكاتب"|url=https://www.addustour.com/articles/1001618?s=14eb56b718bd9ef49fea6c539948b165|access-date=21 March 2021|website=جريدة الدستور الاردنية|language=ar|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331183009/https://www.addustour.com/articles/1001618?s=14eb56b718bd9ef49fea6c539948b165|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Lamalif]], a radical leftist political and cultural magazine, was based in Casablanca.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

[[Casablanca International Book Fair|Casablanca's International Book Fair]] is held at the fair grounds opposite [[Hassan II Mosque]] annually in February.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

=== Theater ===
[[Tayeb Saddiki]], described as the father of Moroccan theater, grew up in Casablanca and made his career there.<ref>{{Citation|title=قصة الطيب الصديقي|url=https://www.facebook.com/Joojmedia/videos/655302328329675/?v=655302328329675|language=en|access-date=1 February 2020|archive-date=26 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826205949/https://www.facebook.com/Joojmedia/videos/655302328329675/?v=655302328329675|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Hanane el-Fadili]] and [[Hassan El Fad]] are popular comedians from Casablanca. [[Gad Elmaleh]] is another comedian from Casablanca, though he has made his career abroad.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.h24info.ma/videos/video-du-jour/video-du-jour-gad-elmaleh-enflamme-le-lycee-lyautey/|title=Vidéo du jour. Gad Elmaleh enflamme le lycée Lyautey |website=H24info|language=fr-FR|access-date=1 February 2020|archive-date=1 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201225130/https://www.h24info.ma/videos/video-du-jour/video-du-jour-gad-elmaleh-enflamme-le-lycee-lyautey/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Visual art ===
The [[École des Beaux-Arts of Casablanca]] was founded in 1919 by a French [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] painter named [[Édouard Brindeau de Jarny]], who started his career teaching drawing at [[Lycée Lyautey (Casablanca)|Lycée Lyautey]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Marcilhac|first1=Félix|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_JGwGBe1XO0C&q=edouard+brindeau+casablanca&pg=PA125|title=La vie et l'œuvre de Jacques Majorelle: 1886-1962|last2=Majorelle|first2=Jacques|date=1988|publisher=www.acr-edition.com|isbn=978-2-86770-031-6|language=fr|access-date=2020-10-02|archive-date=2024-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162156/https://books.google.com/books?id=_JGwGBe1XO0C&q=edouard+brindeau+casablanca&pg=PA125#v=snippet&q=edouard%20brindeau%20casablanca&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Irbouh, Hamid.|title=Art in the Service of Colonialism : French Art Education in Morocco 1912-1966.|date=2013|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-036-0|oclc=994563861}}</ref> The [[Casablanca School]]—a [[Modernism|Modernist]] art movement and collective including artists such as [[Farid Belkahia]], [[Mohamed Melehi]], and [[Mohammed Chabâa]]—developed out of the [[École des Beaux-Arts of Casablanca]] in the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Basciano|first=Oliver|date=12 April 2019|title=Give us a swirl: How Mohamed Melehi became Morocco's modernist master|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/12/mohamed-melehi-casablanca-art-school-mosaic-rooms-london|access-date=1 December 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=15 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115101400/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/12/mohamed-melehi-casablanca-art-school-mosaic-rooms-london|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Academy of Traditional Arts]], part of the [[Hassan II Mosque]] complex, was founded 31 October 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lematin.ma/express/2018/laat-recompense-laureats-2016-2017/286852.html|title=L'Académie des arts traditionnels fête ses lauréats |website=Le Matin|language=fr|access-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125214845/https://lematin.ma/express/2018/laat-recompense-laureats-2016-2017/286852.html|archive-date=25 November 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[L'Uzine]] is a community-based art and culture space in Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/musiques/article/2017/11/27/le-folk-social-tout-en-douceur-de-yuma_5220828_1654986.html|title=Le folk social tout en douceur de Ÿuma|date=27 November 2017|access-date=28 November 2019|language=fr|archive-date=28 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128143739/https://www.lemonde.fr/musiques/article/2017/11/27/le-folk-social-tout-en-douceur-de-yuma_5220828_1654986.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Rebel Spirit (artist)|Rebel Spirit]] published ''[[Casablanca Guide|The Casablanca Guide]]'' ({{Lang|ar|الدليل البيضاوي}}, {{Lang|fr|Le Guide Casablancais}}) a comic book about life in Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ahdath.info/45601|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421060700/http://ahdath.info/45601|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2019|title=افتتاح معرض "دليل الدار البيضاء" بالعاصمة الاقتصادية – أحداث.أنفو|date=21 April 2019|access-date=18 September 2019}}</ref> [[Sbagha Bagha]] is a street art festival during which murals are created on the sides of apartment buildings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/23/street-art-brings-a-pop-of-colour-to-casablanca|title=Street art brings a pop of colour to Casablanca|date=23 July 2019|website=euronews|language=en|access-date=18 September 2019|archive-date=24 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724021426/https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/23/street-art-brings-a-pop-of-colour-to-casablanca|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Photography ===
Postcard companies such as [[Léon & Lévy]] were active in Casablanca. [[Gabriel Veyre]] also worked and eventually died in Casablanca.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

[[Marcelin Flandrin]] (1889–1957), a French military photographer, settled in Casablanca and recorded much of the early colonial period in Morocco with his photography.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Casablanca: de 1889 à nos jours : album de photographies rétrospectives et modernes montrant le développement de la ville|last1=Goulven|first1=Joseph|last2=Flandrin|first2=Marcelin|date=1928|publisher=Editions photographiques Mars|location=Casablanca|language=fr|oclc=470477579}}</ref> With his staged nude postcard photos taken in Casablanca's [[Bousbir|colonial brothel quarter]], Flandrin was also responsible for disseminating the [[Orientalism|orientalist]] image of Moroccan women as sexual objects.<ref name="tibb">{{cite web|url=http://www.tlbbmagazine.com/bousbir-colonie-prostituees-dantan/|title=Bousbir: Colonie des prostituées d'antan|last=Nawny|first=Amine|date=24 January 2017|website=Tibb Magazine|language=fr|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012045731/http://www.tlbbmagazine.com/bousbir-colonie-prostituees-dantan/|archive-date=12 October 2017|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Casablanca has a thriving [[street photography]] scene.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/africa/morocco/casablanca/street-photography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025150255/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/africa/morocco/casablanca/street-photography/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2018|title=Surprising photos of real life in Casablanca|date=23 October 2018|website=Travel|language=en|access-date=18 September 2019}}</ref> [[Yoriyas]] is prominent among photographers capturing the economic capital's street scenes, and has attracted international attention.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/casablanca-a-city-nothing-like-the-film-yoriyas-alaoui-ismaili/|title=Casablanca: A City Nothing Like the Film|last=Teicher|first=Jordan G.|date=26 April 2017|website=New York Times|access-date=17 September 2019|archive-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930165619/https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/casablanca-a-city-nothing-like-the-film-yoriyas-alaoui-ismaili/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Film ===
[[File:سينما لينكس في الدار البيضاء 28.jpg|thumb|Ceiling and mezzanine of [[Cinema Lynx]] in [[Mers Sultan]].]]
In the first half of the 20th century, Casablanca had many movie theaters, such as [[Cinema Rialto]], [[Cinema Lynx]] and [[Cinema Vox (Casablanca)|Cinema Vox]], the largest in Africa when it was built.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rol-benzaken.centerblog.net/15663-les-cin-mas-de-epoque-a-casablanca|title=LES CINÉMAS DE L'EPOQUE A CASABLANCA.6/6.|date=2 March 2014|website=Centerblog|language=fr|access-date=8 December 2019|archive-date=23 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923144247/http://rol-benzaken.centerblog.net/15663-les-cin-mas-de-epoque-a-casablanca|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavieeco.com/culture/cinema-245-salles-fermees-entre-1980-et-2017/|title=Cinéma : 245 salles fermées entre 1980 et 2017|date=16 February 2019|website=La Vie éco|language=fr-FR|access-date=8 December 2019|archive-date=8 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208002752/https://www.lavieeco.com/culture/cinema-245-salles-fermees-entre-1980-et-2017/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtBazz0I7uYC&q=cinema+vox+casablanca+africa&pg=PA237|title=Morocco Since 1830: A History|last=Pennell|first=C. R.|date=2000|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-85065-426-1|language=en|access-date=2020-10-02|archive-date=2024-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162214/https://books.google.com/books?id=QtBazz0I7uYC&q=cinema+vox+casablanca+africa&pg=PA237|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1942 American film [[Casablanca (film)|''Casablanca'']] is set in Casablanca and has had a lasting impact on the city's image although it was filmed in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://legation.ipower.com/blog/?p=270|title=When Tangier Was Casablanca: Rick's Café & Dean's Bar|date=21 October 2011|website=Tangier American Legation|language=en-US|access-date=7 December 2019|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727090633/https://legation.ipower.com/blog/?p=270|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Rick's Café Casablanca]], which opened in 2004, was inspired by the film.

''[[Salut Casa!]]'' was a propaganda film brandishing France's purported colonial triumph in its [[civilizing mission|''mission civilisatrice'']] in the city.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://pagesmagazine.net/en/articles/contact-zones/58cbd1fabf07dc00b19b0b8c|title=Contact Zones|last1=Von Osten|first1=Marion|last2=Müller|first2=Andreas|website=Pages Magazine|language=en|access-date=18 October 2019|archive-date=14 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914002811/https://pagesmagazine.net/en/articles/contact-zones/58cbd1fabf07dc00b19b0b8c|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Mostafa Derkaoui]]'s revolutionary independent film ''[[About Some Meaningless Events]]'' (1974) took place in Casablanca.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last=Kenny|first=Glenn|date=18 March 2021|title='Before the Dying of the Light' Review: Moroccan Cinema's Attempted Revolution|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/movies/before-the-dying-of-the-light-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/movies/before-the-dying-of-the-light-review.html |archive-date=28 December 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=21 March 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It was the main subject of [[Ali Essafi]]'s documentary ''[[Before the Dying of the Light]]''.<ref name=":4" />

''[[Love in Casablanca]]'' (1991), starring [[Abdelkarim Derqaoui]] and [[Muna Fettou]], is one of the first Moroccan films to deal with Morocco's complex realities and to depict life in Casablanca with verisimilitude. [[Nour-Eddine Lakhmari]]'s [[Casanegra (film)|''Casanegra'']] (2008) depicts the harsh realities of Casablanca's working classes.<ref>{{cite web|title=" Casa Negra " remporte la médaille de bronze|url=http://www.aujourdhui.ma/culture-details72137.html|agency=[[Aujourd'hui le Maroc]]|website=aujourdhui.ma|date=9 November 2009|access-date=23 September 2011|archive-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207031933/http://aujourdhui.ma/culture-details72137.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nari, nari, Casanegra|url=http://www.telquel-online.com/archives/350/arts2_350.shtml|author=Karim Boukhari|agency=[[Telquel (magazine marocain)|TelQuel]]|website=telquel-online.com|date=12 December 2008|access-date=23 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191309/http://www.telquel-online.com/archives/350/arts2_350.shtml|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The films ''[[Ali Zaoua]]'' (2000), ''[[Horses of God]]'' (2012), and [[Razzia (2017 film)|''Razzia'']] (2017) of [[Nabil Ayouch]], a French director of Moroccan heritage, deal with street crime, terrorism and social issues in Casablanca, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/268179/screen-morocco-nabil-ayouch/|title=Behind the Silver Screen: A Conversation with Morocco's Nabil Ayouch|last=Goodman|first=Sarah|date=17 March 2019|website=Morocco World News|language=en-US|access-date=8 December 2019|archive-date=8 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208002756/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/268179/screen-morocco-nabil-ayouch/|url-status=live}}</ref> The events in [[Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi]]'s 2018 film [[Sofia (2018 film)|Sofia]] revolve around an illegitimate pregnancy in Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2019/08/24/sofia-le-recit-d-un-delit-de-grossesse-au-maroc_5502517_3246.html|title=" Sofia " : le récit d'un délit de grossesse au Maroc|date=24 August 2019|access-date=10 December 2019|language=fr|archive-date=12 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112171906/https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2019/08/24/sofia-le-recit-d-un-delit-de-grossesse-au-maroc_5502517_3246.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ahmed El Maanouni]], [[Hicham Lasri]] and [[Said Naciri]] are also from Casablanca.

=== Architecture ===
{{Main|Architecture of Casablanca}}
[[File:L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui December 1954.jpg|thumb|GAMMA's ''[[Nid D'Abeille]]'' of [[Carrières Centrales]] on the December 1954 cover of ''[[L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui]]''.]]
Casablanca's architecture and urban development are historically significant. The city is home to many notable buildings in a variety of styles, including traditional Moroccan architecture, various colonial architectural styles, [[Art Nouveau]], [[Art Deco]], [[Moorish Revival architecture|Neo-Mauresque]], [[Streamline Moderne]], [[Modern architecture|Modernism]], [[Brutalist architecture|Brutalism]], and more. During the [[French Protectorate in Morocco|French Protectorate]], the French government described Casablanca as a "laboratory of urbanism".<ref>{{Cite web|work=Pages Magazine|title=Contact Zones|url=https://pagesmagazine.net/en/articles/contact-zones/58cbd1fabf07dc00b19b0b8c|access-date=3 July 2020|language=en|archive-date=14 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914002811/https://pagesmagazine.net/en/articles/contact-zones/58cbd1fabf07dc00b19b0b8c|url-status=live}}</ref>

The work of the ''[[Groupe des Architectes Modernes Marocains]]'' (GAMMA) on public housing projects—such as [[Carrières Centrales]] in [[Hay Mohammadi]]—in a style described as [[vernacular modernism]] influenced [[Modern architecture|modernist architecture]] around the world.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Adaptations of Vernacular Modernism in Casablanca|url=https://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/07/adaptations-of-vernacular-modernism.html|access-date=3 July 2020|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824131639/https://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/07/adaptations-of-vernacular-modernism.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Folkers|first1=Antoni S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKCkDwAAQBAJ&q=1953+team+x+casablanca&pg=PA27|title=Modern Architecture in Africa: Practical Encounters with Intricate African Modernity|last2=Buiten|first2=Belinda A. C. van|date=22 July 2019|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-030-01075-1|language=en|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162150/https://books.google.com/books?id=nKCkDwAAQBAJ&q=1953+team+x+casablanca&pg=PA27#v=snippet&q=1953%20team%20x%20casablanca&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Casamémoire]] and [[MAMMA.]] are two organizations dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of the city's architectural heritage.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

== Transport ==
[[File:Casabusway-L6-23062022.jpg|thumb|[[Casablanca Busway]]]]
=== Rapid transit ===
{{See also|Al Bidaoui|label1=Casablanca RER|Casablanca Metro|Casablanca Tramway|Casablanca Busway}}

The [[Casablanca tramway|Casablanca Tramway]] is the [[rapid transit]] tram system in Casablanca. As of 2024, the network consists of four lines covering {{convert| 74 |km|0|abbr=on}}, with 110 stops.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/casablanca-tram-contracts-awarded.html|access-date=17 November 2011|publisher=Railway Gazette|title=Casablanca tram contracts awarded|archive-date=14 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114213905/http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/casablanca-tram-contracts-awarded.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|date=23 January 2019|title=Inauguration Officielle De La Ligne T2 Du Tramway De Casablanca Et De L'extension De La Ligne T1|trans-title=Official Inauguration of Line T2 of the Casablanca Tramway and the Extension of Line T1|url=http://casa-tram.ma//uploads/press/fichier/5c4b51f0d71e3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204010942/http://casa-tram.ma/uploads/press/fichier/5c4b51f0d71e3.pdf |archive-date=4 February 2019 |url-status=live|language=fr|location=Casablanca|agency=Casa Transport SA|access-date=20 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Boujnane |first=Imane |year=2024 |orig-date=29 Mar, 2024 |title=Transport en commun : voici le réseau du tramway et busway à Casablanca |url=https://medias24.com/2024/03/29/transport-en-commun-voici-le-reseau-du-tramway-et-busway-a-casablanca/ |access-date=25 Sep 2024 |work=Medias24}}</ref>

Casablanca has also implemented a rapid bus transit system known as the [[Casablanca Busway]], a high-level bus network serving the city. As of 2024, the network consists of two lines, BW1 and BW2.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Casabusway BW1 & BW2 {{!}}{{!}} CASA Transports SA |url=https://casatransport.ma/pages/voir/1-bhns-l5-l6 |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=casatransport.ma |archive-date=2023-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121231552/https://casatransport.ma/pages/voir/1-bhns-l5-l6 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Le busway de Casablanca est enfin entré en service ce vendredi 1er mars |url=https://fr.le360.ma/societe/le-busway-de-casablanca-est-enfin-entre-en-service-ce-vendredi-1er-mars_W7OXXEMZGBEBPPLPNRKTL6UCK4/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Le 360 Français |language=fr }}</ref>

Since the 1970s, Casablanca had planned to build a [[Casablanca Metro|metro system]] to offer some relief to the problems of traffic congestion and poor air quality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://maghrebemergent.com/actualite/maghrebine/item/38911-le-metro-fantome-de-casablanca-disparait-de-nouveau-au-profit-du-tramway.html|title=Le métro ''fantôme'' de Casablanca disparaît de nouveau...au profit du Tramway|last=Korso|first=Merouane|date=7 July 2014|publisher=Maghreb Emergent|language=fr|trans-title=The ''ghost'' metro of Casablanca disappears again... for the benefit of the tramway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125051333/http://maghrebemergent.com/actualite/maghrebine/item/38911-le-metro-fantome-de-casablanca-disparait-de-nouveau-au-profit-du-tramway.html|archive-date=25 November 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=24 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.afrik.com/maroc-le-metro-de-casablanca-tombe-a-l-eau|title=Maroc : le métro de Casablanca tombe à l'eau...|last=Baldé|first=Assanatou|date=4 July 2014|publisher=Afrik.com|language=fr|trans-title=Morocco: The Casablanca Metro falls overboard...|access-date=24 November 2015|archive-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909150500/https://www.afrik.com/maroc-le-metro-de-casablanca-tombe-a-l-eau|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the city council voted to abandon the metro project in 2014 due to high costs, and decided to continue expanding the already operating [[Casablanca Tramway|tram system]] instead.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/2014/07/03/97002-20140703FILWWW00030-1-tram-mais-pas-de-metro-aerien-a-casablanca.php|title=Le tram, mais pas de métro aérien à Casablanca|date=3 July 2014|newspaper=Le Figaro|language=fr|trans-title=Tram yes, but no elevated metro in Casablanca|access-date=23 November 2015|archive-date=22 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722041233/http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/2014/07/03/97002-20140703FILWWW00030-1-tram-mais-pas-de-metro-aerien-a-casablanca.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[Compagnie de Transports au Maroc]]'' ([[Compagnie de Transports au Maroc|CTM]]) offers private intercity coach buses on various lines run servicing most notable Moroccan towns, as well as a number of European cities. These run from the CTM Bus Station on Leo Africanus Street near the [[Central Market (Casablanca)|Central Market]] in downtown Casablanca. Supratours, an affiliate of [[ONCF]], also offers coach bus service at a slightly lower cost, departing from a station on Wilad Zian Street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.supratours.ma/en/|title=Page d'accueil|website=www.supratours.ma|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226093026/http://www.supratours.ma/en/|url-status=live}}</ref> There is another bus station farther down on the same street called the [[Wilad Zian Bus Station]]; this station is the country's largest bus station, serving over 800 buses daily, catering more to Morocco's lower income population.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco/casablanca/transport/getting-there-away/land|title=Land transport in Casablanca|last=Planet|first=Lonely|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301093209/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco/casablanca/transport/getting-there-away/land|archive-date=1 March 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hespress.com/regions/445016.html|title=مشاكل "محطة أولاد زيان" تشغل جماعة البيضاء|website=Hespress|date=22 September 2019|language=ar|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-date=1 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301093206/https://www.hespress.com/regions/445016.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Tourism ==
Although [[Mohammed V International Airport]] receives most international flights into Morocco,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/08/281165/moroccan-airports-2-million-passengers/|title=ONDA: Moroccan Airports Received Over 2.3 Million Passengers in July|last=Hekking|first=Morgan|date=26 August 2019|website=Morocco World News|language=en-US|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727092338/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/08/281165/moroccan-airports-2-million-passengers/|url-status=live}}</ref> international tourism in Casablanca is not as developed as it is in cities<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/05/272864/tourism-observatory-tourist-arrivals-in-morocco/|title=Tourist Arrivals in Morocco Rose by 4.1% in March 2019|date=12 May 2019|website=Morocco World News|language=en-US|access-date=1 March 2020|archive-date=1 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301094313/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/05/272864/tourism-observatory-tourist-arrivals-in-morocco/|url-status=live}}</ref> such as [[Fes, Morocco|Fes]] and [[Marrakech]].

The [[Hassan II Mosque]], which is the second largest mosque in Africa and the seventh-largest in the world, is the city's main tourist attraction.<ref name="Reference">Kingfisher Geography encyclopedia. {{ISBN|1-85613-582-9}}. Page 137</ref><ref name="Hassan">{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/morocco/casablanca-hassan-ii-mosque|title=Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca|publisher=Sacred Destinations|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005052807/http://www.sacred-destinations.com/morocco/casablanca-hassan-ii-mosque|archive-date=5 October 2012|access-date=2 October 2012}}</ref> Visitors also come to see the city's rich architectural heritage.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Blondeau, Mathilde Auteur.|title=Casablanca courts-circuits|date=2016|publisher=Editions Ethnic attitude|isbn=978-9954-37-750-5|oclc=1049194278}}</ref>

Popular sites for national tourism include shopping centers such as [[Morocco Mall]], [[Anfa Place]], the [[Marina Shopping Center]], and the [[Tachfine Center]]. Additional sites include the Corniche and the beach of [[Ain Diab]], and parks such as the [[Arab League Park]] or the Sindibad theme park.<ref name="LaQuotidienne 12-2016">{{cite web|url=http://www.laquotidienne.ma/article/societe/maroc-le-parc-sindibad-reamenage-ses-tarifs|title=Le parc Sindibad réaménage ses tarifs|date=8 December 2016|publisher=La Quotidienne|language=fr|access-date=27 April 2019|archive-date=27 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427163137/http://www.laquotidienne.ma/article/societe/maroc-le-parc-sindibad-reamenage-ses-tarifs|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ParcSindibad">{{cite web|url=http://parcsindibad.ma/afrique-sauvage/|title=Afrique Sauvage|publisher=Parc Sindibad|language=fr|access-date=9 July 2019|archive-date=20 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720013633/http://parcsindibad.ma/afrique-sauvage/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.journaldunet.com/economie/actualite/depeche/afp/24/864782/le_plus_grand_centre_commercial_d_afrique_le_morocco_mall_ouvre_ses_portes.shtml|title=Le plus grand centre commercial d'Afrique, le Morocco Mall ouvre ses portes|publisher=Le journal du net|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207022325/http://www.journaldunet.com/economie/actualite/depeche/afp/24/864782/le_plus_grand_centre_commercial_d_afrique_le_morocco_mall_ouvre_ses_portes.shtml|archive-date=7 December 2011|access-date=6 December 2011}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
غسق الليل في رمضان من على شاطئ عين الذئاب في مدينة الدار البيضاء المغربية.jpg|Sunset at [[Ain Diab]]
Касабланка - panoramio (3).jpg|Casablanca Beach
مبنى بأسلوب استعماري فرنسي شارع الحسن الثان.jpeg|Colonial architecture near [[United Nations Square (Casablanca)|UN Square]]
Hassan 2 Mosque (cropped).jpeg|[[Hassan II Mosque]]
Arab League Park, Casablanca; حديقة الجامعة العربية، الدار البيضاء.jpg|[[Arab League Park]]
</gallery>

== Notable people ==
[[File:Merieme Chadid.jpg|thumb|[[Merieme Chadid]] led an international scientific program to install a major astronomical observatory in Antarctica.]]
{{See also|Category:People from Casablanca}}
*[[Lahcen Abrami]] – former Moroccan footballer
*[[Saida el Alami]] – Moroccan human rights activist 
*[[Amine Atouchi]] – Moroccan footballer
*[[Khalil Azmi]] – former Moroccan goalkeeper
* [[Amal Ayouch]] – Moroccan stage and film actress
* [[Wissam Baraka]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Salaheddine Bassir]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Laarbi Batma]] – Moroccan musician and artist, founding member of [[Nass El Ghiwane|Nas El Ghiwan]]
* [[Larbi Benbarek]] – Moroccan footballer
*[[Badr Benoun]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Miriem Bensalah-Chaqroun]] – Moroccan businesswoman
* [[Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes]] – French footballer
* [[Frida Boccara]] – French singer, winner of the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1969]]
* [[Aziz Bouderbala]] – former Moroccan footballer
* [[Merieme Chadid]] – Moroccan astronomer
*[[Mustapha Chadili]] – former goalkeeper
*[[Achraf Dari]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Jean-Charles de Castelbajac]] – Moroccan/French fashion designer
* [[Nabil Dirar]] – Moroccan footballer
*[[Abdelmajid Dolmy]] – former Moroccan footballer
*[[Don Bigg]] – Moroccan rapper and songwriter
* [[Dizzy DROS]] – Moroccan rapper and producer
*[[Issam El Adoua]] – Moroccan footballer
*[[Badr El Kaddouri]] – former Moroccan footballer
*[[Talal El Karkouri]] – former Moroccan footballer
* [[Gad Elmaleh]] – French/Canadian/Moroccan comedian
* [[Bouchaib El Moubarki]] – former Moroccan footballer
* [[Youssef Fertout]] – Moroccan manager
* [[La Fouine]] – Moroccan/French rapper
*[[Khalid Fouhami]] – former Moroccan goalkeeper
*[[Mohamed Fouzair]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Divina Frau-Meigs]] – Moroccan sociologist and professor
* [[El Haqed]] – Moroccan rapper
* [[Serge Haroche]] – French physicist, awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physics
* [[Shatha Hassoun]] – Moroccan/Iraqi singer and actress
* [[Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann]] – Israeli Olympic fencer
* [[Mouhcine Iajour]] – Moroccan footballer 
* [[Driss Joumad]] – former Morocco international footballer
* [[Nadir Lamyaghri]] – former Moroccan goalkeeper
*[[Hamza Mendyl]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Hicham Mesbahi]] – Moroccan boxer
* [[French Montana]] – Moroccan/American rapper
* [[Nawal El Moutawakel]] – Moroccan Olympic champion
* [[Hakim Mouzaki]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Abderrahim Najah]] – Moroccan international basketball player
* [[Noureddine Naybet]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Mostafa Nissaboury]] – Moroccan poet
* [[Hakim Noury]] – Moroccan film director
* [[Maurice Ohana]] – French composer
* [[Faouzia|Faouzia Ouihya]] – Moroccan-Canadian singer
* [[Azzedine Ounahi]] – Moroccan footballer
* [[Jean Reno]] – Hollywood actor
* [[Youssef Rossi]] – former Moroccan footballer
* [[Abdelilah Saber]] – Moroccan former footballer
* [[Youssef Safri]] – Moroccan football manager
* [[Jamal Sellami]] – Moroccan football manager
* [[Daniel Sivan]] – Israeli professor
* [[Alain Souchon]] – French songwriter
* [[Frank Stephenson]] – Moroccan/British/American award-winning automobile designer
* [[Hassan Saada]] – Moroccan boxer arrested for alleged rape before Olympic match<ref name="straitstimes">{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/world/morocco-boxer-held-over-alleged-sex-attack-in-olympic-village|publisher=straitstimes.com|title=Morocco boxer held over alleged sex attack in Olympic Village, World News & Top Stories – The Straits Times|date=5 August 2016|access-date=15 July 2017|archive-date=8 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208074736/http://www.straitstimes.com/world/morocco-boxer-held-over-alleged-sex-attack-in-olympic-village|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Tagne (rapper)|Tagne]] – rapper
* [[Sidney Taurel]] – naturalized American CEO of Eli Lilly and Company from 1998 to 2008
* [[Richard Virenque]] – French cyclist
* [[Muhammad Zarqtuni]] – Moroccan nationalist and resistance leader
* [[Abdallah Zrika]] – Moroccan poet

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Morocco}}
Casablanca is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref name=Jumelages>{{cite web|title=Jumelages|url=http://casablanca.ma/Page_Centrale.aspx?Id_Page=5277|website=casablanca.ma|publisher=Casablanca|language=fr|access-date=5 December 2022|archive-date=23 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023120146/http://casablanca.ma/Page_Centrale.aspx?Id_Page=5277|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Bordeaux]], France
*{{flagicon|KOR}} [[Busan]], South Korea<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Sister Cities|url=https://www.busan.go.kr/eng/SisterCities|website=busan.go.kr|publisher=Busan Metropolitan City|access-date=5 December 2022|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205070135/https://www.busan.go.kr/eng/SisterCities|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Chicago]], United States
*{{flagicon|SEN}} [[Dakar]], Senegal
*{{flagicon|UAE}} [[Dubai]], United Arab Emirates
*{{flagicon|IDN}} [[Jakarta]], Indonesia
*{{flagicon|MYS}} [[Kuala Lumpur]], Malaysia
*{{flagicon|OMN}} [[Muscat]], Oman
*{{flagicon|MTN}} [[Nouadhibou]], Mauritania
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Shanghai]], China
{{div col end}}

Casablanca also has cooperation agreements with:<ref name=Jumelages/>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|NGR}} [[Abuja]], Nigeria
*{{flagicon|JOR}} [[Amman]], Jordan
*{{flagicon|NED}} [[Amsterdam]], Netherlands
*{{flagicon|ESP}} [[Barcelona]], Spain
*{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Buenos Aires]], Argentina
*{{flagicon|PSE}} [[Hebron]], Palestine
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Istanbul]], Turkey
*{{flagicon|KEN}} [[Kajiado]], Kenya
*{{flagicon|BFA}} [[Koudougou]], Burkina Faso
*{{flagicon|CAN}} [[Montreal]], Canada
*{{flagicon|COM}} [[Moroni, Comoros|Moroni]], Comoros
*{{flagicon|MTN}} [[Nouakchott]], Mauritania
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Paris]], France
*{{flagicon|PSE}} [[Ramallah]], Palestine
*{{flagicon|NED}} [[Rotterdam]], Netherlands
* {{flagicon|Belgium}} [[City of Brussels|Brussels]], Belgium<ref>{{cite web |title=Brussels |url=https://efus.eu/about-us/brussels/ |website=efus.eu |date=21 January 2012 |publisher=European Forum for Urban Security |access-date=2022-02-15 |archive-date=8 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808183020/https://efus.eu/about-us/brussels/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|ESP}} [[Madrid]], Spain
*{{flagicon|GBR}} [[London]], United Kingdom
*{{flagicon|ESP}} [[San Sebastián]], Spain
{{div col end}}
*{{flagicon|ROU}} [[Bucharest]], Romania 
*{{flagicon|CZE}} [[Prague]], Czech Republic

== See also ==
* [[Royal Palace of Casablanca]]
* [[Rabat Zoo]]

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikivoyage|Casablanca}}
* [http://www.casablanca.ma/ Official web site of Casablanca]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512050930/http://www.visitcasablanca.ma/ |date=2011-05-12 }}.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110512050930/http://www.visitcasablanca.ma/ Official Casablanca Tourism Website]}} {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www.casamemoire.org/index.php?id=29 Casablanca photo gallery (buildings and other landmarks with a history dating back to the French Protectorate)]
* [http://www.sun-trails.com/morocco-travel-blog/casablanca-more-than-a-movie/ Open Air Museum of 20th century architecture]
* {{osmrelation-inline|4072985}}
{{Coord|33|32|N|7|35|W|region:MA_type:city(3500000)|display=title}}
{{Casablanca}}
{{Prefectures and provinces of Morocco}}
{{Mediterranean Games}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Casablanca| ]]<!--please leave the empty space as standard-->
[[Category:Prefectural capitals in Morocco]]
[[Category:Regional capitals in Morocco]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Morocco]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 7th century BC]]