[6] Rabat is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg, opposite Salé, the city's main commuter town.

This name is short for رباط الفتح (Ribāṭu al-Fatḥ) meaning the ribat of conquest or stronghold of victory—a title given by the Almohads when they established the city as a naval base in 1170.

The port of Sala (now disappeared) was used by commercial Roman ships as a way station on their southwestward passages to Anfa and the Insula Purpuraria (Mogador island).

[17][18] One of the last Almoravid emirs, Tashfin ibn Ali (r. 1143–1145) built a new ribat on the site of the current kasbah as part of his efforts to hold back the Almohads.

[19] Abd al-Mu'min also had an underground canal dug to divert a water source to this location, allowing for future settlement and urbanization in the area.

[20] The Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur (r. 1184–1199) embarked on an ambitious project to construct a new fortified imperial capital, called al-Mahdiyya or Ribat al-Fath, on the site of what is now the medina (old city) of Rabat, with new walls extending over a vast area beyond the kasbah.

[citation needed] The Marinids did build a Great Mosque in what is now the medina of Rabat and on the nearby site of Chellah (ancient Sala) they built a royal necropolis for their dynasty.

About 2000 of these refugees, originally from the town of Hornachos near Badajoz, Spain, settled around Salé and occupied the kasbah, attracting between 5000 and 14,000 other Moriscos to join them.

[24] This autonomous republic became a base for corsairs: pirates, also known as the "Salé Rovers", who preyed on merchant ships around the shores of Western Europe.

[citation needed] During the early part of the 'Alawi period (17th–18th centuries), the sultans took some interest in the city of the south bank and carried out constructions and repairs to the kasbah.

[23] Moulay Isma'il (r. 1672–1727) expanded the kasbah southward and built a royal residence within it towards the end of the 17th century (it serves as a museum today).

[20][25]: 230  Under Sidi Muhammad ibn 'Abdallah (r. 1757–1790), a new royal palace, the Dar al-Makhzen, was established in the southwest part of the Almohad walled area towards the end of the 18th century.

[23] The old Almohad walls and gates were still retained and the Almohad-era enclosure remained a more privileged district containing the city's major monuments and its imperial residence.

[26]: 114 The French invasion of Morocco began in the east with General Hubert Lyautey's occupation of Oujda in March 1907 and in the west with the Bombardment of Casablanca in August 1907.

[26]: 138–139  In 1913, Lyautey hired Henri Prost to design the Ville Nouvelle (Rabat's modern quarter) as an administrative sector, as he did in other major Moroccan cities.

SAC felt the Moroccan bases were much less critical with the long range capability of the B-52 Stratofortresses that were replacing the B-47s and with the completion of the USAF installations in Spain in 1959.

The fifth Arab League summit took place in Rabat in 1969 to discuss the arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Australian citizen Denis Michael Rohan.

[32][33][34] In the same year, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, an organization that aims to protect the interests of the Muslim world, was founded at a summit in Rabat.

[41] On 28 February 2024, Asmaa Rhlalou declared her resignation, months after she sparked a controversy that called into doubt her authority and validity within the City Council.

The geographically spread out neighbourhoods are 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.

The prefecture is divided administratively into the following:[2] Rabat features a Mediterranean climate (Csa) with warm to hot, dry summers and mild, damp winters.

Located along the Atlantic Ocean, Rabat has a mild, temperate climate, shifting from cool in winter to warm days in the summer months.

L'appartement 22, which is the first independent space for visual arts created by Abdellah Karroum, opened in 2002 and introduced international and local artists.

Musicians such as Scorpions,[58] The Weeknd,[59] Jennifer Lopez,[60] Kanye West,[61] Pitbull,[62] Rihanna,[63] Elton John,[64] Stromae[65] and many others have performed at the festival.

However, while most areas are free, there are those that require payment, specifically the smaller stages being the historical site of Chellah, the Mohammed V National Theater, and the Renaissance Cultural Center.

This includes a collection of ancient Roman bronze and marble statuary from sites such as Lixus, Volubilis, and Chellah, as well as coins, ceramics, and architectural fragments from the Islamic period.

Its main exhibits include a collection of coins and currency from ancient times to the modern era, as well as a gallery of Orientialist art.

[87]: 44–55 [90][91][26]: 199 [92] Overlooking the shores of the river is the Hassan Tower, a monumental unfinished minaret constructed by Ya'qub al-Mansur in the late 12th century.

Rabat-Ville and Rabat Agdal are the two main inter-city stations, from which trains run south to Casablanca, Marrakech and El Jadida, north to Tangier, or east to Meknes, Fez, Taza and Oujda.

The contract covers a 15-year period, renewable for seven years, and promises approximately 10 billion MAD investment into the bus transport system in the region.