Tangier the years leading up to the First World War, Tangier had a population of about 40,000, about half Muslim, a quarter Jewish, and a quarter European Christians. Of the Europeans, about three-quarters were Spanish artisans and labourers. In 1912, Morocco was effectively partitioned between France and Spain; Spanish Morocco covered the country's far north and far south while the French protectorate covered the central remainder. The last Sultan of independent Morocco, Moulay Hafid, was exiled to the Sultanate Palace in the Tangier kasbah after his forced abdication in favour of his brother Moulay Yusef. Tangier was made an international zone
Tangier Tanger-Ville railway station with Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh in the south, and with Fes and Oujda in the east. The service is operated by ONCF. In November 2018 Africa's first high-speed train, the Kenitra–Tangier high-speed rail line, was inaugurated, linking Tangier to Casablanca in 2 hours and 10. By 2020 improvements between Casablanca and Kenitra are planned to further reduce the journey to 1 hour and 30 minutes. The Rabat–Tangier expressway connects Tangier to Fès via Rabat , and Settat via Casablanca and Tanger-Med port. The Ibn Batouta International Airport (formerly known as Tangier-Boukhalef) is south-west of the city centre.