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Map of North Africa

• 31.197529.89251 Alexandria — Egypt's major Mediterranean city is a pale shadow of its former glorious self but remains a major tourism site
• 36.7763893.0586112 Algiers — the capital of Algeria with a notable medieval casbah
• 30.04444431.2358333 Cairo — the largest city in North Africa with major monuments of Ancient Egypt nearby
• 33.599167-7.624 Casablanca — the largest city in Morocco is of sparse interest to the traveller, but is a major transit point
• 27.15-13.25 El Aaiún — the capital city of the disputed territory of Western Sahara
• 31.62947-7.981086 Marrakech — this historic Moroccan city close to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains is an extraordinary meeting of the ancient and modern
• 35.696944-0.6330567 Oran — this historic Algerian city is full of French, Ottoman, Moorish, and Algerian architecture like churches and mosques and parks. It also has a beautiful seashore and buildings.
• 32.8751913.187468 Tripoli — Libya's capital was long off-limits to most travellers but is experiencing a real resurgence of interest
• 36.80083310.189 Tunis — the capital of Tunisia is a relatively small and sleepy city but is the gateway to the remains of Carthage and other very notable historical sites.

• 22.33694431.6255561 Abu Simbel — a very remote area in far south Egypt, with some beautiful ancient temples
• 36.85255810.3234612 Carthage — Phoenician colony in Tunisia and the biggest trade metropolis of the antique world; famously razed by the Romans and the remnants are now encased in a museum
• 33.3683336.86753 El-Oued — in Algeria with its domed architecture & nearby Grand Erg Oriental — the Sahara's second largest dune field
• 24.96111110.1754 Ghat - an ancient settlement in southwest Libya with prehistoric rock paintings and very challenging desert trekking
• High Atlas — hiking, skiing and Berber culture amongst these peaks and valleys in Morocco.
• 32.63833214.2904965 Leptis Magna — extensive Roman ruins in Libya
• 33.5426399.9668066 Matmata — desert village in Tunisia of cave abodes, where Star Wars's Tatooine was filmed
• 31.099167-4.0116677 Merzouga and M'Hamid — from either of these two settlements in Morocco at the edge of the Sahara, ride a camel or 4x4 into the desert for a night (or a week) among the dunes and under the stars
• 25.7402532.6023588 Valley of the Kings — the great site of Ancient Egypt

North Africa, as a region, is very different from the countries to the South. The people and culture are Arabic, the food is different, and Islam is the dominant religion. Many organizations now group North Africa and the Middle East together as MENA (Middle East North Africa) because North Africa has much more in common with countries like Syria or Jordan than countries like Mali or Ivory Coast.

Arabic is without a doubt the dominant language, and is the official language in every North African country. However Arabic dialects are mutually unintelligible, so there's no way a tourist speaking standard Arabic could understand a Moroccan speaking their dialect. However, standard Arabic is always the official language, and well-educated people will be able to speak it.

French is the most widely known second language in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, due to much of the area's history as a French colony. In Libya and Egypt, English is the dominant second language (except among older Libyans, where Italian is more prevalent).

Many people in North Africa, especially in Algeria and Morocco, speak an Amazigh language (also known as Berber, although that term should be avoided) as their mother tongue.

The North African cuisine has a lot in common with the Middle Eastern cuisine.

Arabic coffee, which involves adding cardamom to flavour the coffee, is popular throughout North Africa.

Avoid drinking untreated ground water. Avoid Libya, southern Algeria, the Sahrawi areas of Western Sahara, and southern Tunisia due to the risk of armed conflict or insurgent violence.