Berber People - Contemporary Demographics

Contemporary Demographics

The Maghreb today is home to large Arabized Berber populations. Berber form the major and largest indigenous ancestry in the Maghreb the Semitic ethnic presence in the region is mainly due to the Phoenicians and Arab Bedouin Hilallians migratory movements (3rd century BC and 11th century, respectively) which mixed in. However, the majority of Arabized Berbers claim an Arab heritage, which is particularly in Morocco and Algeria, a consequence of the Arab nationalism of the early 20th century.

Regarding the remaining populations that speak a Berber language in the Maghreb, they account for about half of the Moroccan population and a third of the Algerian, besides smaller communities in Libya and Tunisia and very small groups in Egypt and Mauritania.

Outside the Maghreb, the Tuareg in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso number some 600,000; 400,000 and 120,000 respectively, although Tuaregs are often seen as a distinct group.

Prominent Berber groups include the Kabyles of northern Algeria, who number about 6 million and have kept, to a large degree, their original language and culture; and the Shilha or Chleuh (French, from Arabic Shalh and Shilha ašəlḥi) in High and Anti-Atlas regions of Morocco, numbering about 8 million. Other groups include the Riffians of northern Morocco, the Chaoui people of Eastern Algeria, the Chenouas in West and Central Algeria and the Tuareg of the Sahara.

Though stereotyped in the West as nomads, most Berbers were in fact traditionally farmers, living in mountains relatively close to the Mediterranean coast, or oasis dwellers; but the Tuareg and Zenaga of the southern Sahara were almost wholly nomadic. Some groups, such as the Chaouis, practiced transhumance.

Political tensions have arisen between some Berber groups (especially the Kabyle) and North African governments over the past few decades, partly over linguistic and cultural issues; for instance, in Libya and Morocco, giving children Berber names was banned. The regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya also banned the teaching of Berber languages, and the dictator warned Berber leaders in a 2008 diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks "You can call yourselves whatever you want inside your homes – Berbers, Children of Satan, whatever – but you are only Libyans when you leave your homes." As a result of the persecution suffered under Gaddafi's rule, many Berbers joined the Libyan opposition in the 2011 Libyan civil war.