Group

Berber people (also called Amazigh people or Imazighen, "free men", singular Amazigh)

Nation Active 909 BCE – present

Berbers (Berber: Imazighen) are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley.

They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River.

Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family.

Today, varieties of Maghrebi colloquial Arabic are spoken by a large portion of Berbers besides the Berber language itself.

Foreign languages like French are used by the educated in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

Spanish is also known by some Berbers in Morocco and in the annexed Western Sahara.

This presence of European languages was due to European brief occupation or colonization of the Berber world.

Today, most Berber-speaking people live in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mali and Niger.

The presence of the Arabic language and dialects is due to the spread of Islam and to the immigration of some Arab tribes centuries ago.

A Berber is not necessarily only someone who happens to speak Berber.

The Berber identity is usually wider than language and race, and ecompassed the entire history and geography of North Africa.

Berbers are not a homogenous ethnic or racial group.

Many Berbers look identical to South-Europeans, others look identical to Arabs or Jews for example, while many others are brown or black.

All residents of modern North Africa, excluding Egypt, could be considered Berbers.Many Berbers call themselves some variant of the word Imazighen (singular: Amazigh), possibly meaning "free people" or "free and noble men" (the word has probably an ancient parallel in the Roman name for some of the Berbers, "Mazices").The best known of the ancient Berbers are the Numidian king Masinissa, the Berber-Roman author Apuleius, Saint Augustine of Hippo, and the Roman general Lusius Quietus, who was instrumental in defeating the major wave of Jewish revolts of 115–117.

Famous Berbers of the Middle Ages include Tariq ibn Ziyad, a general who conquered Hispania; Abbas Ibn Firnas, a prolific inventor and early pioneer in aviation; Ibn Battuta, a medieval explorer who traveled the longest known distances in pre-modern times; and Estevanico, an early explorer of the Americas.

Well-known modern Berbers in Europe include Zinedine Zidane, a French-born international football star, and Ibrahim Afellay, a Dutch-born footballer of Moroccan Berber descent.

Member Cities

Moran, J. (n.d.). Berber people (also called Amazigh people or Imazighen, "free men", singular Amazigh). History Atlas. Retrieved 13 November 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/berber-people-also-called-amazigh-people-or-imazighen-free-men-singular-amazigh/

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