The precolonial population history of Morocco has been characterized by continually shifting patterns of human settlement and uprooting of sedentary and (semi-) nomadic groups. Centuries-old seasonal and circular rural-to-rural migration patterns existed between marginal rural areas and relatively prosperous regions and towns in western Morocco.
Following the Arab-Islamic conquests beginning in the seventh century, mostly Arabic-speaking population groups migrated to present-day Morocco. Large numbers of Muslims and Jews migrated from Spain to Morocco after the reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. Far into the 20th century, the slave trade constituted an important form of forced migration within and towards Morocco.