- Mayor : Jaouad Bahaji
- Population : 519 296 inhabitants
- Region : Meknès-Tafilalet
- Site web : NC
Meknes is a city benefiting from a strategic geographic situation on the plateau of Saïs, at an altitude of around 500m, between the Mount Atlas in the South and pre-Rif hills of Zerhoun in the North. It is a crossroad between North and South, East and West. Meknes and its region is known for its cultural wealth and its heritage, for its few great emblems of the history and culture of the country: the archaeological site of Volubilis, the city of Moulay Driss Zerhoun and then Fez with which Meknes always had good relationships of neighbourhood, concurrence and rivalry.
The climate is semi-continental of Mediterranean type: its winters are cool and rainy and summers hot and dry. The seventh city in Morocco, it has 687 575 inhabitants, according to the last census in 2014. It is located in a region known for its potential in terms of agriculture, food-processing industry, tourism, handcraft as well as its mining industry. With its rolling landscape, Meknes is crossed by the Boufekrane wadi, which separates the new city (“Hamria”) from the medina.
Although the city has known large urban extensions since the independence, it remained limited because of its topography as well as the presence of large military zones in the South East. But one should note that the medina (the original heart of the Meknes) is still the centre of the city, thus offering practical access facilities for its citizens.
This medina, the third in Morocco by its size after that of Fez and Marrakech, has around 50 000 inhabitants. However, it has known a strong decrease, with a diminishing rate of 3.7% since 1994. In its general context, the medina is essentially residential (91% housing, 6% activities, 3% equipments), where industries of tourism, handcraft and commerce are the kernel of the local economy. The fourth imperial city of the Kingdom, it differentiates from other town with its historical centre, with its core, the medina, and the imperial city, edified between the 17th century and the 18th century by the sovereign My Ismail (1672-1727) who made Meknes the capital of its reign. The medina and the imperial city are on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage since December 1996.
This historical make-up occupies a privileged situation in the heart of Meknes, in front of the new city built up by the protectorate, separated by a valley (that of Boufekrane), constituting a green valley that enlivens the town and its urban landscapes. The medina spreads in North-West/South-East direction. It is crossed by two structuring axis and has 8 main accesses. It appears as a site that is easily accessible from all its entrances. Running along the South-West side of the Boufekrane wadi, the medina of Meknes spreads over around 100 ha and is next to the imperial city, which has still an important surface area, with its 275 ha.
This historical site has a great potential heritage, material and immaterial, rich of its monuments, buildings, classified sites, vivid cultural traditions, food etc.
Economic trends
- An intense activity of 5800 companies (at different levels) and 10 400 permanent jobs
- A vivid traditional handcraft that gathers a few specific branches in Meknes (Damascene iron, wood, carpet, pottery, embroidery, ceramics, jewellery, iron-making etc.)
- A few of these jobs are dynamic while some others are endangered
- A typical public space that safeguard the specificities of the medina
- Numerous equipments of daily life
- A tourism sector that has some difficulties and that needs to be boosted.