Morocco

Capital: Rabat Population: 32,644,370 Official Languages: Arabic Time Zone: +0 Summer +1 Dialing Code: +212

Government: Unitary parliamentary Area: 446,550 km2 largest city: Rabat Currency : Moroccan dirham ISO 3166 code: MA

Basic Info

Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco. Arabic name al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiyyah (Arabic: المملكة المغربية‎) translates to "The Western Kingdom". Al-Maghrib (Arabic: المغرب‎), or Maghreb, meaning "The West", is commonly used. The Kingdom of Morocco is the most westerly of the North African countries. It has Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, and a rugged mountain interior.

Geography

Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with three small Spanish-controlled exclaves, Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera), Algeria to the east, and Western Sahara to the south. Since Morocco controls most of Western Sahara, its de facto southern boundary is with Mauritania.

Climate

The climate is Mediterranean in the North and in some mountains (West of Atlas), which becomes more extreme towards the interior regions. The terrain is such that the coastal plains are rich and accordingly, they comprise the backbone for agriculture, especially in the North. Forests cover about 12% of the land while arable land accounts for 18%; 5% is irrigated. In the Atlas (Middle Atlas), there are several different climates: Mediterranean (with some more humid and fresher variants), Maritime Temperate (with some humid and fresher variants too) that allow different species of oaks,

moss carpets, junipers, atlantic cedars and many other plants, to form extensive and very rich humid cloud forests. The climate changes when moving east of the Atlas mountains due to the barrier/shelter effect of the mountain system, becoming very dry and extremely warm during the long summer, especially on the lowlands and on the valleys facing the Sahara. The Sahara Desert begins here, and it is perfectly visible, for example, on the Draa Valley, where it is possible to find oases, sand dunes and rocky desert landscapes.

Religion

The population of Morocco is 98.7% muslim, 1.1% Christian, and 0.2% Jewish. According to Jewish community leaders, there are an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Jews, approximately 2,500 of whom reside in Casablanca and are the remnants of a much larger community that has mostly emigrated. The most recent estimates put the size of the Rabat and Marrakesh Jewish communities at about 100 members each. The remainder of the Jewish population is dispersed throughout the country. This population is mostly elderly, with a decreasing number of young persons

Administrative divisions

Morocco is divided into 16 regions, and subdivided into 62 prefectures and provinces

1 Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira 2 Laayoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra 3 Guelmim-Es Semara 4 Souss-Massa-Draa 5 Gharb-Chrarda-Beni Hssen 6 Chaouia-Ouardigha 7 Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz 8 Oriental 9 Grand Casablanca 10 Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer 11 Doukkala-Abda 12 Tadla-Azilal 13 Meknes-Tafilalet 14 Fes-Boulemane 15 Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate 16 Tangier-Tetouan

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