Casablanca

For the 1942 film, see Casablanca (movie).

Casablanca (population 3,5 million, estimated Arabic: الدار البيضاء--pronounced Dar-al-Baida) is a city in western Morocco. A port on the Atlantic Ocean, Casablanca is Morocco's biggest city and chief port, and is thus considered the economic capital, although Morocco's official capital and seat of government is at Rabat.

The town of Casablanca was founded in 1515 by the Portuguese, who had destroyed the town of Anfa located at the same site just years earlier. It was an important strategic port during World War II and hosted the Anglo-American Summit in 1943.

Since then Casablanca has focused on a tourism industry, which is increasingly difficult to maintain with recent terrorist attacks.

The city is served by Mohammed V International Airport.

Its port is one of the largest artificial ports in the world.

See also: Casablanca Attacks.