About Taroudant
Taroudant (in Arabic: تارودانت) is a city in south-western Morocco located in the Souss plain, the capital of the province of the same name. In 2005, it had 63,000 inhabitants.
Taroudant (in Arabic: تارودانت) is a city in south-western Morocco located in the Souss plain, the capital of the province of the same name. In 2005, it had 63,000 inhabitants.
The city is located 80 km east of Agadir (60 km from Agadir Al Massira International Airport), and about 250 km south-west of Marrakech, along the Souss wadi (or assif).
Taroudant (or Taroudannt, [pronounced "Taroudannte"]) is situated in the Souss valley, surrounded by two mountain ranges, the High Atlas to the north and east, and the Anti-Atlas to the south; to the west, the plain opens onto the Atlantic. This fertile valley is crossed by the Souss wadi which runs alongside the city. The province of Taroudant contains the highest mountain in North Africa, Mount Toubkal, in Arabic Jebel Toubkal, in Berber Adrar N' Dern, at 4,167 metres.
The origin of the Berber name Taroudant is enigmatic: some legends associate it with a Syrian princess who settled in the region and who bore the name "Queen Roudana", others explain it through the Berber phrase "Taroua ddante" which means "The children were carried away (by the water)" which a Berber woman who was doing her laundry by the riverbank shouted when the floods carried away her children!
