Agadir is one of the major urban centres of Morocco. The municipality of Agadir recorded a population of 421,844 in the 2014 Moroccan census.[1] According to the 2004 census, there were 346,106 inhabitants in that year[2] and the population of the Prefecture of Agadir-Ida Outanane was 487,954 inhabitants.[2]
Three languages are spoken in the city: Tashelhit (first language of the majority), Moroccan Arabic, and French.
The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1960; it has been completely rebuilt with mandatory seismic standards. It is now the largest seaside resort in Morocco, where foreign tourists and many residents are attracted by an unusually mild year-round climate. Since 2010 it has been well served by low-cost flights and a motorway from Tangier. The city attracts all walks of life; it has had an annual growth rate of over 6% per year in housing demand while housing production barely exceeds 3.4%[citation needed].
The mild winter climate (January average midday temperature 20.5 °C/69 °F)[3] and good beaches have made it a major "winter sun" destination for northern Europeans.
Etymology Edit
The name Agadir is a common Berber noun agadir meaning "wall, enclosure, fortified building, citadel". This noun is attested in most Berber languages,[4] and may be a loanword from Phoenician-Punic, a Semitic language spoken in North-Africa until the fifth century CE.[5]
There are many more towns in Morocco called Agadir. The city of Agadir's full name in Tashelhit is Agadir n Yighir, literally "the fortress of the cape", referring to the nearby promontory named Cape Rhir on maps (a pleonastic name, literally "Cape Cape").
A single male inhabitant or native of the town is known in Tashelhit as a gg ugadir (also a common surname, "Gougadir" in French spelling), plural ayt ugadir "men of Agadir" (also collective name, "men and women of Agadir, people of Agadir"); a single feminine inhabitant is a ult ugadir "woman of Agadir", plural ist ugadir "women of Agadir". In Moroccan Arabic, an inhabitant is a gadiri, plural gadiriyin, feminine gadiriya, plural gadiri
