Casablanca (Spanish for "white house" Moroccan Arabic: dar beďda) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region. With a population of 2.9 million (September 2004 census), Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port, and is thus considered its economic capital, while its political capital is Rabat. It is also the primary naval base for the Royal Moroccan Navy. Casablanca is home of the main Moroccan and international companies based in Morocco. It is considered the main industrial zone of the country. The Port of Casablanca is considered as Morocco's chief port and as one of the largest artificial ports in the
world. It is also the largest port of the Maghreb and North Africa. There was a Sephardic Jewish community in Anfa up to its destruction by the Portuguese in 1468. Jews were slow to return to the town, but by 1750 there seems to have been enough of them to warrant the building of the first synagogue in Casablanca, the Rabbi Elijah Synagogue, which was destroyed along with much of the town in the earthquake of 1755. Between the 1940s and 1960s, the Jewish population of Casablanca was around 70,000. Emigration to France, Canada, the United States and Israel from Casablanca has been substantial since then, however. Large numbers of expatriates retain Moroccan citizenship and a Moroccan identity. Fewer than 5,000 Jews remain in the city today.
The French period New Town of Casablanca was designed by the French architect Henri Prost and was a model of a new town at that time. The main streets of the New Town (Ville Nouvelle in French) radiate south and east from Place des Nations Unies, where the main market of Anfa had been. The New Town is possibly the most impressive in Morocco. Former admistrative buildings and modern hotels populate the area. Their style is a combination of Hispano-Mauresque and Art Deco styles. Casablanca is home to the Hassan II Mosque, designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau. It is situated on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210
metres. The city is served by Anfa Airport and Mohammed V International Airport, and its port is one of the largest artificial ports in the world.
