French North Africa (French:Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated toANF) is a term that is often applied to the three territories that were controlled byFrance in theNorth AfricanMaghreb during thecolonial era:Algeria,Morocco andTunisia. In contrast toFrench West Africa andFrench Equatorial Africa, which existed asfederations ofFrench colonies and administrative entities in their own right, French North Africa was never more than a term of convenience to refer to the three separately-governed territories, which had different forms of colonial regime.[1]
In the 19th century, thedecline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire, which had loosely controlled the area since the 16th century, left the region vulnerable to other forces. In 1830,French troopscaptured Algiers, and from 1848 to 1962, when Algerian independence occurred, France treatedAlgeria as an integral part of France, themétropole, orMetropolitan France.[2]
In subsequent decades, a substantialEuropeansettler population emerged in Algeria and was known as thepieds-noirs. Seeking to expand their influence beyond Algeria, the French establishedprotectorates to the east and the west of it. TheFrench protectorate of Tunisia was established in 1881, following aswift military invasion,[3] and theFrench protectorate in Morocco in 1912, following aprolonged military campaign. Both protectorates lasted until 1956, when they gained full independence, Tunisia on 20 March and Morocco on 7 April.
French rule in North Africa finally ended as a result of theAlgerian War (1954–1962) and the March 1962Évian Accords, which enabled theJuly 1962 Algerian independence referendum.[4] Algeria formally became independent the same month.
