The original population of Morocco was Berber, and about three-quarters of all present-day Moroccans are of Berber descent. Arabs, who constitute the bulk of the inhabitants of the larger cities, form the second largest ethnic group. Considerable intermarriage among Arabs, Berbers, and the nation’s small number of black Africans has broken down differences among ethnic groups. Morocco has about 100,000 Europeans, most of them French. The rural population in 1999 was 45 % of the nation’s total.