Tangier

Tangier , ancient Tingis, city (1994 pop. 497,147), N Morocco, on the Strait of Gibraltar. The city has a busy port and building, fishing, and textiles industries. Tourism is also important. The walled Moorish town adjoins a European suburb. Tangier was probably founded by the Phoenicians. It was a free city under the Romans and the chief port and commercial center of Morocco until the founding (808) of Fès. It was captured from the Moors by the Portuguese in 1471 and was transferred to England as part of the dowry that Catherine of Braganza brought to Charles II. The English abandoned the city to the Moroccans in 1684. By the mid-19th cent. it had become the diplomatic center of Morocco. When the rest of the country was divided between Spanish and French protectorates in 1912, the status of Tangier remained vague. Finally, in 1923-24, an international zone administered by France, Spain, and Britain (Italy joined in 1928), was set up. The city was included in the zone as a duty-free port. During World War II, Spain controlled the zone. In 1945 it was returned to international control by agreement of Britain, France, the United States, and the USSR. Tangier remained under international control until 1956 when it was returned to Morocco.

Tangier The northernmost and most ancient city of Morocco, opposite Gibraltar. Traditionally the only Moroccan city in which foreigners could reside, its international status was confirmed at the conference of Algeciras in 1906. Its status was enhanced by the Tangier Statute of 1923, when it became a free port without customs barriers, and an international, neutral administration. Occupied by Spain (1944–6), with the excuse of preventing German occupation, it was finally returned to full Moroccan sovereignty upon independence in 1956.

Tangier was an international zone, and port, within Spanish Morocco. In June 1940, when it appeared that Italy might take the zone over, Spain occupied it and dismantled the international administration. The port of Tangier soon became a centre of German espionage (see also spies) until Allied diplomatic pressure forced the closure of the German consulate in May 1944. After the war it reverted to international control.