Tanger

Tangier sits at the northwestern tip of Africa, commanding the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. Its name derives from the Berber word Tingis or Tinga, the ancient Mauritanian city-state at this strategic location — possibly related to Berber roots for 'swamp' or 'harbor.' Tangier was Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman (Tingi), Vandal, Byzantine, Arab, Portuguese, Spanish, and British at various points — one of the most fought-over cities on earth, owing to its position at the mouth of two seas. In 1662, Charles II of England received Tangier as part of the dowry when he married Catherine of Braganza.

The mandarin orange — Citrus reticulata — is native to Southeast Asia, with cultivation dating back thousands of years in China. The word 'mandarin' for these small, loose-skinned citrus fruits derives from their association with Chinese imperial culture: they were given as gifts at official celebrations and their color resembled the robes of Mandarin officials. Portuguese traders brought mandarins westward through their trading networks beginning in the 16th century. By the 18th century, loose-skinned citrus fruits were being cultivated in North Africa, particularly Morocco.

The tangerine as a distinct variety — smaller, darker, and more flattened than most mandarins — was developed through cultivation in North Africa and the Maghreb. The specific fruit that became known in European and American markets as the 'tangerine' was shipped out of the port of Tangier in significant quantities beginning in the early 19th century. French and British merchants receiving these small citrus fruits labeled them by their port of origin: mandarines de Tanger became tangerines in English. The fruits were not grown in Tangier — they came from the Moroccan interior and from southern Spain — but Tangier was the loading dock.

The first recorded English use of 'tangerine' as a fruit name dates to 1841. The American market distinguished tangerines from mandarins for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, though botanically they are the same species. The name 'tangerine' took on additional life when its distinctive orange color became 'tangerine' as a color descriptor — Pantone, paint manufacturers, and designers use it specifically for the warm, reddish-orange of the fruit. A city on the Strait of Gibraltar, named by Berber-speaking Mauritanians, now gives its name to a color in graphic design studios worldwide.