MOGADOR (Es-Sueira), the most southern seaport on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in 31° 5o' N., 9° 20' W., chief town of the controle civil of Chiadma. The town stands from io to 20 ft. above high water on a projecting ridge of calcareous sand stone. In certain states of wind and sea it is turned almost into an island, and a sea-wall protects the road to Saffi. On the land side stretch miles of sand-dunes studded with broom, and beyond, the argan forests, distinctive of southern Morocco. Approached from this side the city bursts on the view like a mirage between sky and sea. It is the best planned and cleanest town in the empire. The harbour is well sheltered from all winds except the south-west, but escape is difficult with the wind from that quarter, as the channel between the town and Mogador Island is narrow and hazardous. Pop. 14,636, of whom 8,116 are Muslims, 5,468 Jews, 1,052 Europeans. It is one of the towns of Morocco in which Jews are most numerous. Trade reaches 121 millions of francs
(imports 59 millions, exports 62 millions). The share of France is 7o millions, that of Great Britain 31 millions, that of the United States 5 millions.
A place called Mogador is marked in the 1351 Portulan of the Laurentian library, and the map in Hondius's Atlas minor shows the island of Mogador, I. Domegador ; but the origin of the present town is much more recent. Mogador was founded by Mohammed ben Abd Allah in 1760, and completed in 1770. The Portuguese called it after the shrine of Sidi Megdul, which lies towards the south half-way to the village of Diabat, and forms a striking landmark for seamen. In 1844 the citadel was bombarded by the French.
See A. H. Dye, "Les Ports du Maroc," in Bull. Soc. Geog. Comm. Paris (1908), xxx. 313 sqq., and British Consular reports.