Tangier (Tangiers) is a port and city of the province of the same name in northern Morocco, at the west end of the Strait of Gibraltar, 17miles (27 km.) from the southern tip of Spain. Tangier province has an area of 141 sq. mi. (365 sq, km.) and a population of 240,000. The town has a population of 190,000. Fishing and a textile industry supplement Tangier?s role as a tourist center. ,Tangier began as a 15th century B.C. Phoenician trading post, later becoming a Carthaginian and then a Roman settlement called Tingis. After five centuries of Roman rule, it was captured successively by the Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs. It was occupied when sovereignty was transferred to the crown. It was returned to Morocco in 1684 and was the diplomatic capital of Morocco during the 19th century. In 1923 it became an international zone governed by representatives from Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden, and later, the United States. It remained an international zone except for a period of Spanish occupation during World War II and then again until 1956, when it became a part of the Kingdom of Morocco.,, Rulers:,,, ,French, 1912-1923,, ,International Zone, 1923-1940, 1945-1956,, ,Spanish, 1940-1945,, ,Morocco, 1956-,,