MOHAMMEDIA

formerly Fedala, port city, northwestern Morocco. It lies along the Atlantic Ocean 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Casablanca city. The harbour, at what is now Mohammedia, was frequented in the 14th and 15th centuries by merchant ships from Europe seeking cereals and dried fruits. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was intermittently an official grain-export entrept for Christian merchants. The modern port facilities were initially developed by French businessmen after 1913. The name of the city was changed from Fedala in 1959 to honour Muhammad V, the king (earlier sultan) of Morocco (ruled 192761). Contemporary Mohammedia is both a popular seaside resort with a casino and a major industrial port. Imported crude oil is refined at Morocco's largest refinery directly southwest of the city, and Mohammedia also has many fish canneries and a factory that produces chlorine and sodium carbonate. Pop. (1982) 105,120.