Rabat The capital of Morocco

Rabat is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 1 million (2012). It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, the city's main commuter town. Together with Temara the cities account for a combined metropolitan population of 1.8 million. Silting problems have diminished the Rabat's role as a port; however, Rabat and Salé still maintain important textile, food processing and construction industries. In addition, tourism and the presence of all foreign embassies in Morocco serve to make Rabat one of the most important cities in the country. Rabat is accessible by train through the ONCF system and by plane through the nearby Rabat-Salé Airport. The Moroccan capital was recently awarded the second place in "Top Travel Destinations of 2013" by CNN. Rabat is an administrative city, it does not have many shopping districts, but many residential neighborhoods. Geographically spread out neighborhoods as follows: The heart of the city consists of three parts: the Medina (old town), the Oudayas and Hassan, both located to meet the Bou Regreg and the Atlantic Ocean. To the west, and along the waterfront, there is a succession of neighborhoods: First, around the ramparts, the old quarters of the ocean and orange (popular and middle class). Beyond that, a succession of mostly popular neighborhoods: Diour Jamaa, Akkari, Yacoub El Mansour, Massira and Hay el Fath are the main parts of this axis. Hay el Fath, which ends this sequence, evolves into a kind of middle class attendance. To the east, along the Bouregreg,the Youssoufia region Mabella,Taqaddoum, Hay Nahda, Aviation, Rommani (working and middle classes). Between these two axes, going from north to south, there are 3 main areas (middle class to very weatlhy): Agdal (Ward Building lively mixing residential and commercial functions, predominantly habitants are upper middle classes), Hay Riad (affluent villas which has been a surge of momentum since the 2000s), and Souissi (residential neighborhood ). On the outskirts of Souissi, as one goes further we get into less dense regions mainly constituted of large private houses to areas that seem out of the city