<P> In 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from North Africa led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania . The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic as Al - Andalus, which at its peak included most of Septimania and modern - day Spain and Portugal . </P> <P> In 827, the Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port . They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy . Differences in religion and culture led to a centuries - long conflict with the Christian kingdoms of Europe, which tried to reclaim control of Muslim areas; this conflict was referred to as the Reconquista . In 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300 . </P> <P> The fall of Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia, although a Muslim minority persisted until their expulsion in 1609 . </P> <P> During the classical period, the Romans interacted with, and later conquered, parts of Mauretania, a state that covered modern northern Morocco, western Algeria, and the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla . The Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as "Moors" in English and in related variations in other European languages . Mauri (Μαῦροι) is recorded as the native name by Strabo in the early 1st century . This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii (Μαυρούσιοι). The Moors were also mentioned by Tacitus as having revolted against the Roman Empire in 24 AD . </P>

When were the moors pushed out of spain
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