Sister cities of El Jadida

El Jadida (Berber: ⵎⴰⵣⵖⴰⵏ Mazaghan, Arabic: الجديدة Al-Jadida) is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in the province of El Jadida. It has a population of 144,440 (2004 census). From the sea, El Jadida's old city; has a very "un-Moorish" appearance; it has massive Portuguese walls of hewn stone.

El Jadida, previously known as Mazagan (Portuguese: Mazagão), was seized in 1502 by the Portuguese and controlled until 1769, when they abandoned Mazagão, their last territory in Morocco. Upon their forced departure, the Portuguese destroyed the Governor's Bastion and evacuated to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, where they founded new settlement Nova Mazagão (now in Amapá). The city was then taken over by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah in 1769 and remained uninhabited, having been dubbed al-Mahdouma (The Ruined). Eventually, Sultan Abd al-Rahman of Morocco ordered that a mosque be built and the destroyed portions of the city rebuilt. The reinvigorated city was renamed al-Jadida, or The New.

The Portuguese Fortified City of Mazagan was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, on the basis of its status as an "outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures" and as an "early example of the realisation of the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction technology".

According to UNESCO, the most important buildings from the Portuguese period are the cistern, and the Manueline Church of the Assumption.

At present, the city's main exports are beans, almonds, maize, chickpeas, wool, hides, wax and eggs. It imports cotton, sugar, tea and rice. The presence of nearby ports and factories is responsible for the pollution of El Jadida's beaches.

The modern city of Essaouira (containing some of the earliest recorded Phoenician settlement history of Morocco: the archaeological ruins of Mogador) connects to El Jadida from the south via the R301 road.