Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen, Former administrative region in northwestern Morocco
Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen was a former administrative region in northwestern Morocco, situated between the Atlantic coast and the Rif Mountains. The territory covered wide coastal plains with fertile farmland and hillier terrain toward the south.
The region was created in 1997 as one of Morocco's sixteen administrative divisions. In 2015, a national reorganization dissolved it and merged it into the newly formed Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region.
The name of this former region brings together three communities: Gharb, Chrarda, and Béni Hssen, each with its own local traditions. Travelers passing through small towns here can still notice the distinct ways people gather and trade on weekly markets across these communities.
The area is best reached through Rabat, which connects to the main towns of this former region by road. Those planning to explore rural parts should be prepared for unpaved tracks and limited services away from larger towns.
The Gharb Basin has held natural gas deposits underground since the 1960s, making this farming plain one of the few areas in Morocco with subsurface energy resources. This combination of agriculture and energy extraction gave the area an economic profile unlike most other Moroccan regions.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
