American Legation, Tangier

The Tangier American Legation, officially the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies, is a building in the medina of Tangier, Morocco, that formerly housed the United States diplomatic mission to Morocco. It was the first American public property abroad and is the only U.S. National Historic Landmark in a foreign country.

The legation was established on May 17, 1821, following decades of cordial relations between the U.S. and Morocco; Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah had issued a proclamation recognizing U.S. independence from Great Britain on December 20, 1777, making his nation the first to do so. The building was gifted by the sultan to the U.S. government to serve as a diplomatic post, for which it remained for the next 140 years.