Tamazgha

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Tamazgha (in tifinagh ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵖⴰ) is a recent Tamazight neologism for the area more often known as the Maghreb or North Africa, covering the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Niger River, from Siwa Oasis to the Atlantic Ocean. Although the root MZGH is very ancient, Tamazgha as a country name is modern. It appeared for the first time in Algeria in the seventies. It is not clear at all who invented it. Some say it was Mouloud Mammeri (1917-1989). According to others, it was Kateb Yacine (1929-1989).

The main inhabited areas of Tamazgha are northern Libya and the Atlas Mountains chain from Tunisia to Western Sahara. It corresponds roughly to Herodotus' Libya, and to the medieval European term Barbary.

The term is used by the Berber activists because there is no common word that refers to all the geographical territory inhabited by the Berbers, since the Berbers live in several countries, and they are politically not united. So, the name has been created to define an Amazigh/Berber Nation, even if the term is rarely used by the non-nationalist Berbers.

It has been translated into Spanish as Mazigia. It abbreviated as MZG and used as an alternative international license plate code for some people [1].