Moroccan Arabs in North America

The majority of the Moroccans in the North American diaspora arrived after 1990. Those who settled in the US or Canada before 1990 typically came for educational opportunities. New arrivals tend to settle in places where a large population of Moroccans already live, with metro New York City and greater Montreal having the largest populations in North America. Moroccans typically enter the United States with higher education and job skills than other Arab groups. Common vocations include professions such as banking, engineering, computer science, medicine, architecture, journalism, research, and teaching.
In Moroccan culture, families are often large, and extended families often live together. The family’s father is the leader, and the mother typically takes on domestic responsibilities. In the past, women stayed at home, but it is becoming more common for them to work outside the home.
The Moroccan dialect of Arabic, known as Darija, is the most widely used language in homes. Berber is the other official language of Morocco but is generally only spoken by Berbers. Schools, government, and mosques use Standard Arabic. Minority languages include Hassaniya Arabic, French, and Spanish.
There are well over 312,000 Moroccan Arabs in North America today. in addition to New York City and Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC also have sizable communities of Moroccan Arabs.

Religious Life
Religion strongly influences the Moroccan culture. Most Moroccan Arabs are Muslim and follow the follow the Maliki rite of Sunni Islam. There are a small minority of Shia followers and small numbers of followers of the Christian or Jewish faiths. As an example of the societal influence, Moroccans refer to their king as ‘Amir El Mouminin,’ or leader of the faithful, an Islamic term. Moroccan Muslim women enjoy a higher level of freedom compared to much of the Islamic world.
The Moroccan government has tried to help Moroccans living in the diaspora maintain their cultural and religious identity through associations that reach out to communities in other countries. Therefore, much of the Moroccan Arab population in North America continues to identify closely with Islam, and there is a great need for work among these unreached people.
These are the Moroccan Arab communities in North America most in need of gospel witness
People Group | Metropolitan Area | Population Size | Concentrated Area | Priority Score |
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