Safi

The origin of the name Safi is likely derived from the Berber language. According to the scholar and historian Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Abdi al-Kanuni, the earliest mention of the city of Safi was in the book Geography by Claudius Ptolemy in the first section of the second part of the known world, referred to as "Taisapha." It appears that the name has Berber roots from the word "Asfo," pronounced by some as "Asfi," meaning light or bright. The city may have been named due to the lighthouses built on the shores to guide ships in their navigation. The first mention of the city in Islamic sources is found in the book Routes and Realms by the geographer Abu Ubayd al-Bakri. He explicitly states that the name of the city Safi is derived from the Berber word "Asif," meaning a temporary watercourse. Indeed, a stream known as Wadi Shaaba still runs through the city and flows into it. …

According to historians Henri Basset and Robert Ricard, Safi was not a very ancient city. It was mentioned in the writings of al-Bakri in the 11th century and of al-Idrisi in the 12th century. According to Moroccan historian Mohammed al-Kanuni, Safi can be identified with the ancient Thymiaterium or Carcunticus that was founded by the Carthaginian admiral Hanno during his Periplus, as related by Pliny the Elder. Al-Idrisi mentions Safi as a busy port in the 12th century. At this time it served as a port for Marrakesh, the capital of the Almoravids and the subsequent Almohads, replacing the port of Ribat Kuz (present-day Souira Kedima) that had served as the main port for Aghmat in the previous century. Safi was part of the Barghawata state, a confederation of Berber tribes with a distinct religious and political structure. …

Safi has a hot semi-arid climate according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, classified as BSh.

In the early 20th century, the Moroccan potter Boujemâa Lamali established a pottery school in Safi, supported by the colonial administration. Since then pottery has been a mainstay of Safi's economy. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there were 2,000 registered artisans working in the city's 212 workshops, and thousands more unregistered artisans.

According to the 2024 Moroccan census, 98.9% of the population of Safi spoke Arabic as their native language, whereas 1% spoke Berber languages natively. Historically, the population of the Safi region included both Amazigh and Arab tribal groups. Historian Yassir Benhima describes the medieval population of the region as originally Amazigh, and notes the gradual settlement of Arab tribal groups from the late 12th century. Early 16th-century Portuguese records also mention the Arabs of the Abda in Safi's hinterland. Safi also had an important Jewish community. On the eve of World War I, the city had approximately 2,500 Jewish inhabitants out of no more than 25,000 people. The community numbered more than 3,600 in 1936 and about 4,500 in 1951, before declining after Moroccan independence because of emigration to Europe, Canada and Israel.