v. Muslim Berber people who live in El-Rif in northern Morocco. Their culture is based on cultivation, herding, and fish processing. They speak a dialect of Berber, but Arabic and Spanish are also widely used. They have traditionally flouted central-government control and have often instigated uprisings and attempted coups. Led by Abd el-Krim, they declared a short-lived independent republic, the Republic of the Rif (1921-26), which was quashed by a French-Spanish alliance
or Rif Hilly coastal region, northern Morocco. Constituting the central and eastern parts of former Spanish Morocco, the hills extend from east of Melilla to Ceuta, both Spanish enclaves. For the greater part of its length, the mountains hug the Mediterranean Sea, leaving only a few narrow coastal valleys suitable for agriculture or urban settlement. The loftier peaks are snowcapped in winter. In the 1920s Berber tribes inhabiting the region rose in revolt under Abd al-Krim to resist Franco-Spanish occupation