The Tamazgha, the territory traditionally populated by the Amazigh people spreads out from the Canary Islands in the West to Siwa (Egypt) to the East, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Senegal and Niger rivers in the south. The land has been repeatedly colonized and fragmented by several different states, and yet Amazighs have managed to keep their culture and their huge ethnic and linguistic diversity in spite of having been reduced to a minority by the Arabic populations in every country except in Morocco.

It is estimated that the Tamazgha is populated by about 22 to 30 million people. The largest groups live in Morocco -Middle Atlas and the Riff mountains- and Algeria -Kabyle, Mzab and Aures. There are significant pockets of Amazigh communities in Tunisia, Lybia and Egypt, whereas Guanche Imazighen from the Canary Islands became extinct after the Spanish colonization. Nomadic Amazighs or Tuareg live in Mali and Niger. However, they have been settling in towns bordering the Sahara desert (more information at Unescocat.org).

The Amazigh language

The Amazigh languages (Tamazight) are kept alive across the area despite the lack of official protection. It is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by about 16 to 27 million people. The most widely spread varieties are Tarifit and Tachelhit in Morocco, Kabyilian in Algeria and the Tuareg dialects in the Sahara desert. There are a considerable number of Tamazight speakers in Europe -possibly around 1 million-, since a great deal of Maghrebi people are Amazigh.

Despite the fact that it has its own writing system, referred to as the Tifinagh alphabet, Tamazight is still considered an oral language. According to LinguaMón, Algeria is the only state that recognizes it as a "national language" (not to be confused with official language). The situation of Tamazight in Morocco is encouraging as the language is being slowly introduced in the education system and the media. It has no legal recognition in any of the other African countries where it is spoken, and neither it is in Spain, where it is commonly used in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

The Kabylian Amazighs

The strongest movement in favour of Amazigh identity and self-government can be found in Kabyle, a strip of land in the Algerian Mediterranean coast. In 1980 and 2001, events known as the Black Spring broke out, when police repressed demonstrations with violence and provoked severe disturbances and killings. Kabyle has generated a political mass movement like MAK (Movement for Kabylian Autonomy) and cultural icons such as the great singer Matoub Lounes, who was assassinated in 1998.

The MAK strives for the setting up of a government and a parliament in Kabyle. Other organizations would settle for Algeria's acceptance of its Amazigh identity and heritage. See more on Kabyle at MónDivers.

The Amazigh movement is also gaining momentum in Morocco, where there have been some progress over the teaching of the language and respect for its culture. As regards the Tuareg, they are about to put an end to their war against Nigerian and Mali governments (see news at Nationalia).

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