The Amazigh are the Indigenous Peoples of Northwest Africa, with a population exceeding 30 million in what is now Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Niger and Egypt.
The Amazigh are also known by the name “Berber”, a term that is derived from the Roman word for “barbarian”. Such a name was a given by Rome to anyone who did not speak Latin. Most Imazigen (plural of Amazigh) consider “Berber” to be extremely offensive. The term Amazigh, conversely, means “free man”.