Agadir, City

   Agadir is a major seaport on the Atlantic Coast, and it is the capital of the Sous-Massa-Drâa administrative region. It has a population of 610,600. Agadir is located on a bay eight kilometers north of the Sous River and 29 kilometers southeast of Cap Ghir. The Portuguese built a fort in the area in 1505, perhaps in connection with fishing activities, that was then purchased by the king of Portugal on 25 January 1513. The Sous area had already had a port for some time. Arab geographers of the 9th, 11th, and 12th centuries mention the Massa port between Tiznit and Agadir. The Sa`diyin conquered the Agadir fort in 1541, and Agadir, within 30 years, became an important Moroccan port until, with the construction of Mogador (Essaouira) in 1765, it was closed to trade. It remained closed until 1930.

   In 1911, the naval destroyer Panther arrived in Agadir to make a case to Morocco for German claims, based on commercial ties, and pressure the French into making territorial concessions elsewhere. The German posturing led to the Franco-German Treaty of 4 November 1911, in which France provided concessions in Congo to Germany in return for abandonment of claims in Morocco. On 29 February 1960, a powerful earthquake devastated much of Agadir and killed about 15,000 people, but it has since been rebuilt into one of Morocco's major urban centers and seaside resorts.