The Rif has been inhabited by
Berbers since prehistoric times. As early as the
11th century BC, the
Phoenicians began to establish trading posts and then cities such as
Tetouan,
Rusadir (now
Melilla) and (in the
5th century BC)
Tingi (now
Tangier). After the
Third Punic War, the coast of North Africa came under the control of
Rome, and the Rif became part of the Kingdom of
Mauretania. When Mauretania was divided during the rule of Emperor
Claudius, Tangier became the capital of
Mauretania Tingitana. In the
5th century AD, Roman rule came to an end, and the region was later conquered and partly controlled by the
Byzantine Empire. In 710,
Salih I ibn Mansur founded the
Emirate of Nekor in the Rif, and the
Berbers started converting to
Islam. By the 15th century, many
Muslims who had converted to Christianity were expelled from Spain, and most of them settled in the western Rif and brought their culture with them, such as
Andalusian music, and established the city of
Chefchaouen. Afterwards the Rif was the site of numerous battles with Spain and Portugal. In 1415,
Portugal invaded Ceuta, and in 1490
Spain conquered Melilla. The
Hispano-Moroccan War broke out in 1859 in
Tetouan, and Morocco was defeated. The Spanish-Moroccan conflicts continued in the 20th century, under the leadership of
Abd el-Krim, the Berber
guerrilla leader who proclaimed the
Republic of the Rif in 1921. The Riffian Berbers won several victories over the Spanish in the
Rif War in the 1920s before they were eventually defeated; the war saw
extensive use of chemical weapons by Spanish forces. The
Spanish region was decolonised and restored to Morocco by Spain in April 1956, a month after the
French region gained its independence from France. Shortly afterward, the
1958 Rif riots broke out in the north, led by Riffian insurgents. The Moroccan government suppressed the uprising, an event that foreshadowed the broader state repression of the
Years of Lead. ==Economy==