Morocco (Arabic: al-Maghrib ; Berber: or [7] Ameuk or Lmarib; French: Maroc), officially the Kingdom of Morocco.

.[2] Arabic name al-Mamlakat alMaghribiyyah ( ) translates to "The Western Kingdom". Al-Maghrib ( ,)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. It has a population of over 32 million and an area of 446,550 km (710,850 km with Western Sahara). The political capital is Rabat, although the largest city is Casablanca; other major cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Sal, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador. Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Its rich culture is a blend of Arab, Berber, European and African influences. Morocco administers most of the disputed region of the Western Sahara as the Southern Provinces. The status of Western Sahara remains unresolved. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975 and a guerrilla war with pro-independence forces ended in 1991. UN efforts have failed to break the political deadlock. To the north, a dispute with Spain in 2002 over the tiny island of Perejil revived the issue of the sovereignty of Melilla and Ceuta. These small enclaves on the Mediterranean coast are surrounded by Morocco and have been administered by Spain for centuries. Morocco has been given the status of non-Nato ally by Washington. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but the king's decisions usually override those of the government if there is a contradiction. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held on November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters. The principal exports are minerals, seafood products and citrus fruit. The Moroccan economy is generally diverse but very fragile. About 40% of Moroccans cannot read or write, and the country has high levels of poverty and health care deprivation. Morocco also has a high level of economic inequality. Unemployment rates are very high among the highly educated as well as the unskilled, and the cause of social unrest. In 2011, the UN's Human Development Index ranked Morocco as only the 130th most developed country in the world. The monetary unit is the Dirham = 100 centimes. The GNI per capita is US $2,970.[8] (World Bank, 2011) The main religion is Islam. The official language is Moroccan Arabic. Berber and French are also spoken. Hassaniya Arabic, sometimes considered a variety of Moroccan Arabic, is spoken in parts of the southern provinces (Western Sahara).

Etymology
The full Arabic name al-Mamlakat al-Maghribiyyah ( ) translates to "The Western Kingdom". Al-Maghrib ( ,)meaning "The West", is commonly used. For historical references, medieval Arab historians and geographers used to refer to Morocco as al-Maghrib al-Aq (" , The Farthest West"), disambiguating it from neighboring historical regions called al-Maghrib al-Awsa (" , The Middle West", Algeria) and alMaghrib al-Adn (" , The Nearest West", Tunisia).[9]

The English name "Morocco" originates from Spanish "Marruecos" or the Portuguese "Marrocos", from medieval Latin "Morroch", which referred to the name of the former Almoravid and Almohad capital, Marrakesh.[10] In Persian Morocco is still called "Marrakesh". Until recent decades, Morocco was called "Marrakesh" in Middle Eastern Arabic. In Turkish, Morocco is called "Fas" which comes from the ancient Idrisid and Marinid capital, Fez. The word "Marrakesh" is made of the Berber word combination Mour N Akoush (Mur N Akuc), meaning Land of God.

History
Main article: History of Morocco

Prehistory
The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, at least since 200,000 BC. Anatomically modern humans are known to have been present in North Africa during the Upper Paleolithic 175,000 years ago as attested by the Aterian culture. This was a period when the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, resembling a savanna more than the present-day arid landscape.[11] With apparent continuity, 22,000 years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. The Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian "Mechta-Afalou" burials and European Cro-Magnon remains. Additionally, recent studies have discovered a close link between Berbers and the Saami of Scandinavia which confirms that the FrancoCantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the last ice age.[12]

Phoenicians and Carthaginians

North Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians who established trading colonies and settlements in the early Classical period. Substantial Phoenician settlements were at Chellah, Lixus and Mogador,[13] with Mogador being a Phoenician colony as early as the early 6th century BC.[14]

Ruins of Chellah, Sal Morocco later became part of the empire of Carthage. The earliest known independent Moroccan state was the Berber kingdom of Mauretania under king Bocchus I. This kingdom

in northern Morocco, not to be confused with the present state of Mauritania, dates at least to 110 BCE.[15]

Romans
From the 1st century BCE the region was part of the Roman Empire as Mauretania Tingitana. Christianity was introduced in the 2nd century CE and gained converts in the Roman towns, among slaves and some Berber farmers.

A Roman mosaic in Volubilis In the 5th century CE, as the Roman Empire declined, the region was invaded from the north first by the Vandals and then by the Visigoths. In the 6th century CE, northern Morocco became part of the East Roman, or Byzantine Empire. Throughout this time, however, the Berber inhabitants in the high mountains of the interior of Morocco remained unsubdued.

Early Islamic Era

In 670 CE, the first Islamic conquest of the North African coastal plain took place under Uqba ibn Nafi, a general serving under the Umayyads of Damascus. The Umayyad Muslims brought their language, their system of government, and Islam to Morocco. Many of the Berbers slowly converted to Islam, mostly after Arab rule had receded. The first independent Muslim state in the area of modern Morocco, was the Kingdom of Nekor, an emirate in the Rif Mountains. It was founded by Salih I ibn Mansur in 710, as a client state to the Rashidun Caliphate. After the outbreak of the Great Berber Revolt in 739, the Berbers formed other independent states such as the Miknasa of Sijilmasa and the Barghawata. According to medieval legend, Idris ibn Abdallah had fled to Morocco after the Abbasids' massacre of his tribe in Iraq. He convinced the Awraba Berber tribes to break their allegiance to the distant Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad and he founded the Idrisid Dynasty in 788. The Idrisids established Fes as their capital and Morocco became a centre of Muslim learning and a major regional power. The Idrissids were ousted in 927 by the Fatimid Caliphate and their Miknasa allies. After Miknasa broke off relations with the Fatimids in 932, they were removed from power by the Maghrawa of Sijilmasa in 980.

Era of Berber Dynasties

The Kasbah of At Benhaddou, High Atlas. Built by the Berbers from the 14th century onwards, a Kasbah was a single family stronghold (as opposed to a Ksar: a fortified tribal village). From the 11th century onwards, a series of powerful Berber[16][17][18] dynasties arose. Under the Almoravid dynasty [19] and the Almohad dynasty, Morocco dominated the Maghreb, much of present-day Spain, and the western Mediterranean region. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Merinids held power in Morocco and strove to replicate the successes of the Almohads by miltary campaigns in Algeria and Spain. They were followed by the Wattasids. In the 15th century, the Reconquista ended Muslim rule in central and southern Spain and many Muslims and Jews fled to Morocco.[20] Portuguese efforts to control the Atlantic coast in the 15th century did not greatly affect the interior of Morocco. According to Elizabeth Allo Isichei, "In 1520, there was a famine in Morocco so terrible that for a long time other events were dated by it. It has been suggested that the population of Morocco fell from 5 to under 3 million between the early sixteenth and nineteenth centuries."[21]

The Sultan Abderrahmane of Morocco, by Eugne Delacroix

Saadi Dynasty
Under the Saadi Dynasty, the first Moroccan dynasty initiated by ethnic Arabs since the Idrisids, the country repulsed Ottoman incursions and a Portuguese invasion at the battle of Ksar el Kebir in 1578, . The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and a large expedition to West Africa inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhay Empire in 1591. However, managing the territories across the Sahara proved too difficult. After the death of al-Mansur the country was divided among his sons.

Alaouite Dynasty
In 1666 Morocco was reunited by the Alaouite Dynasty, who have been the ruling house of Morocco ever since. Morocco was facing aggression from Spain and the Ottoman Empire pressing westward. The Alaouites succeeded in stabilizing their position, and while the kingdom was smaller than previous ones in the region, it remained quite wealthy. Against the opposition of local tribes Ismail Ibn Sharif (16721727) began to create a unified state. [22] With his Jaysh d'Ahl al-Rif (the Riffian Army) he seized Tangier from the English in 1684 and drove the Spanish from Larache in 1689. Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777.[23] In the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships in the Atlantic Ocean were subject to attack by the Barbary Pirates. On 20 December 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty.[24][25]

European Influence

Pre-1956 Tangier had a highly heterogeneous population that included 40,000 Muslims, 30,000 Europeans and 15,000 Jews.[26] Main articles: Portuguese Empire, French colonial empire, and Spanish Protectorate of Morocco After the Napoleonic Wars, the Maghreb was increasingly ungovernable from Istanbul, and became the resort of pirates under local beys. As Europe industrialized, North Africa was increasingly prized for its potential for colonization. The Maghreb was much wealthier than the rest of Africa and Morocco was seen as strategically important for its position at the entrance/exit of the Mediterranean. France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830.[27] In 1860, a dispute over Spain's Ceuta enclave led Spain to declare war. Victorious Spain won a further enclave and an enlarged Ceuta in the settlement. In 1884, Spain created a protectorate in the coastal areas of Morocco. In 1904, France and Spain carved out zones of influence in Morocco. Recognition by the United Kingdom of France's sphere of influence provoked a strong reaction from the German Empire; and a crisis loomed in 1905. The matter was resolved at the Algeciras Conference in 1906. France's "special position" was recognised. France and Spain were given the authority to police of Moroccan ports and collect of customs fees. The Agadir Crisis provoked by the Germans, increased tensions between European powers. The Treaty of Fez (signed on March 30, 1912) made Morocco a protectorate of France administered by a French Resident-General. Spain continued to operate its coastal protectorate. The sultan had a largely figurehead role.

By the same treaty, Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern and southern Saharan zones.[28]

French Protectorate
Many Moroccan soldiers (Goumieres) served in the French army in both World War I and World War II, and in the Spanish Nationalist Army in the Spanish Civil War and after (Regulares).

Death of Spanish general Margallo during the Melilla War. Le Petit Journal, 13 November 1893. Under the French protectorate, Moroccan natives were denied many basic rights, such as freedom of speech, the right of gathering, and free travel within Morocco. French settlers built for themselves modern European-like cities called "villes" (French for "city") next to old Arab cities called "Medinas". The French colonial system forbade native Moroccans from living, working, and traveling into the French quarters.[29] The French education system taught a minority of noble native Moroccan families about French history, art and culture, while disregarding their native language and culture. Colonial authorities exerted tighter control on religious schools and universities, the "madrassas" and Quaraouaine University. Nonetheless, the rise of a young Moroccan intellectual class gave birth to a nationalist movement whose main goal was to restore the governance of the country to its own people.[30] A tribal rebellion in Rif mountains in 1921-6 was suppressed by French and Spanish troops. Nationalist parties, which formed during the French protectorate, based their arguments for Moroccan independence on such World War II declarations as the Atlantic Charter (a joint U.S.-British statement that set forth, among other things, the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they live). In 1943, the Istiqlal Party (Independence Party in English) was founded to press for independence. The 1944 manifesto of the Istiqlal was one of the public earliest demands for independence. That party subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement. France's exile of Sultan Mohammed V in 1953 to Madagascar and his replacement by the unpopular Mohammed Ben Aarafa, whose reign was perceived as illegitimate, sparked active opposition to the French and Spanish protectorates. The most notable violence occurred in

Oujda where Moroccans attacked French and other European residents in the streets. Operations by the newly created "Jaish al-tahrir" (Liberation Army), were launched on October 1, 1955. Jaish al-tahrir was created by "Comit de Libration du Maghreb Arabe" (Arab Maghreb Liberation Committee) in Cairo, Egypt to constitute a resistance movement against occupation. Its goal was the return of King Mohammed V and the liberation of Algeria and Tunisia as well. France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year.[31] These events helped increase the bond between the people and the newly returned king. For this reason, the Moroccan revolution was called "Taourat al-malik wa shaab" (The revolution of the King and the People) and it is celebrated every August 20. In March 1956, after fortyfour years of occupation, and growing unrest and strong nationalist sentiment, the French protectorate was ended and Morocco regained its independence from France and Spain as the "Kingdom of Morocco". Spain kept its two coastal enclaves. Sultan Mohammed became king in 1957.

Contemporary Morocco
Further information: Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002present)

The Mausoleum of Mohammed V in Rabat Morocco recovered its political independence from France on March 2, 1956, and on April 7, France officially relinquished its protectorate. Through agreements with Spain in 1956 and 1958, Moroccan control over certain Spanish-ruled areas was restored, though attempts to claim other Spanish colonial possessions through military action were less successful. The internationalized city of Tangier was reintegrated with the signing of the Tangier Protocol on October 29, 1956. Hassan II became King of Morocco on March 3, 1961. His early years of rule were marked by political unrest. The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south was reintegrated to the country in 1969. Morocco annexed the Western Sahara during the 1970s ("Marcha Verde", Green March) after demanding its reintegration from Spain since independence, but final resolution on the status of the territory remains unresolved. (See History of Western Sahara.)[20] Political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature in 1997. Morocco was granted Major non-NATO ally status by the United States in June 2004 and has signed free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union. Morocco has always been known for its Islamic liberalism and openness towards the Western world. King Mohammed VI of Morocco with his ruling elite are democratically-minded, showing tolerance within the limits of territorial integrity and traditional laws and customs.[32]

Geography
Main article: Geography of Morocco

High Atlas in central Morocco

Essaouira Beach

Bin el Ouidane Dam, Beni-Mellal 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 Pen de Vlez 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. The internationally recognized borders of the country lie between latitudes 27 and 36N, and longitudes 1 and 14W. Adding Western Sahara, Morocco lies mostly between 21 and 36N, and 1 and 17W (the Ras Nouadhibou peninsula is slightly south of 21 and west of 17).

The geography of Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean, to mountainous areas, to the Sahara (desert). Morocco is a Northern African country, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and the annexed Western Sahara. A large part of Morocco is mountainous. The Atlas Mountains are located mainly in the center and the south of the country. The Rif Mountains are located in the north of the country. Both ranges are mainly inhabited by the Berber people. At 172,402 sq mi (446,519 km2), Morocco is the fifty-seventh largest country in the world (after Uzbekistan). Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast though the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994. Spanish territory in North Africa neighbouring Morocco comprises five enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta, Melilla, Pen de Vlez de la Gomera, Pen de Alhucemas, the Chafarinas islands, and the disputed islet Perejil. Off the Atlantic coast the Canary Islands belong to Spain, whereas Madeira to the north is Portuguese. To the north, Morocco is bordered by the Strait of Gibraltar, where international shipping has unimpeded transit passage between the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The Rif mountains stretch over the region bordering the Mediterranean from the north-west to the north-east. The Atlas Mountains run down the backbone of the country, from the south west to the northeast. Most of the southeast portion of the country is in the Sahara Desert and as such is generally sparsely populated and unproductive economically. Most of the population lives to the north of these mountains, while to the south lies the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was annexed by Morocco in 1975 (see Green March).[33] Morocco claims that the Western Sahara is part of its territory and refers to that as its Southern Provinces. Morocco's capital city is Rabat; its largest city is its main port, Casablanca. Other cities include Agadir, Essaouira, Fes, Marrakech, Meknes, Mohammadia, Oujda, Ouarzazat, Safi, Sal, Tangier and Ttouan. Morocco is represented in the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 geographical encoding standard by the symbol MA.[34] This code was used as the basis for Morocco's internet domain, .ma.[34]

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. In the highest peaks a different climate may occur. On the other side of Atlas mountains (East Atlas), the climate changes, due to the barrier/shelter effect of these mountainous system, turning it very dry and extremely warm during the summer (that can last several months), especially on the lowlands and on the valleys faced to the Sahara. Here it starts the big Desert Sahara and it is perfectly visible, for example, on the Draa Valley, on which it is possible to find oases, sand dunes and rocky desert landscapes. So the climate in this region is desert.

Biodiversity

The Barbary lion, hunted to extinction in the wild, was a subspieces native to Morocco and is a national emblem[2] Morocco is known for its biodiversity; Avifauna being the most notable.[35] The avifauna of Morocco includes a total of 454 species, five of which have been introduced by humans, and 156 are rarely or accidentally seen.[36] The last Barbary lion in the wild was shot in the Atlas Mountains in 1922.[37] The other two primary predators of northern Africa, the Atlas bear and Barbary leopard, are now extinct and critically endangered, respectively. Further information: List of birds of Morocco, List of the Butterflies of Morocco, List of mammals of Morocco, List of reptiles of Morocco, Flora of Morocco, and List of ecoregions in Morocco.

Imports and exports

Main article: Trade in Morocco Farmers in Moroccos fertile coastal plains grow sugar beets, grains, fruits, and vegetables in order to sell in Europe. Moroccos major export is foods, all kinds of food, from nuts to meat to fruits. Many farmer raise livestock, mainly sheep. Although Morocco is rich in foods one of their major imports are manufactured goods, which may contain foods. They may also contain cloths, school supplies, etc. Moroccan trade is still dominated by its main import and export partner France, although France's share in Moroccan trade is declining, in favour of the US, the Gulf Region and China. If seen as a single entity, the EU is by far Morocco's largest trading partner. In recent years, Morocco has reduced its dependence on phosphate exports, emerging as an exporter of manufactured and agricultural products, and as a growing tourism destination. However, its competitiveness in basic manufactured goods, such as textiles, is hampered by low labour

productivity and high wages. Morocco is dependent on imported fuel and its food import requirement can rise substantially in drought years, as in 2007. Although Morocco runs a structural trade deficit, this is typically offset by substantial services earnings from tourism and large remittance inflows from the diaspora, and the country normally runs a small currentaccount surplus.[38]

Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Morocco, Religion in Morocco, and Moroccan people Population of Morocco [39] Year Million 1971 15.7 1990 24.8 2009 32.0
Source: OECD/World Bank

Most Moroccans practice Sunni Islam and are of Arab and Berber ethnic background. Arabs and Berbers make up about 99.1% of the Moroccan population.,[2] which each one constituting about half the population of the state. Morocco has been inhabited for at least the last 200,000 years. Berbers are the indigenous people and still make up the bulk of the population. Muslim Arabs conquered the territory that would become Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries, at the time under the rule of various late Byzantine Roman leaders and indigenous Berber and Romano-Berber principalities, laying the foundation for the emergence of an Arab-Berber culture. The Arab occupation was brief and was ended by revolting Berbers who later founded numerous Muslim Berber kingdoms. A sizeable portion of the population is identified as Haratin and Gnawa (or Gnaoua), black or mixed race. Morocco's Jewish minority (265,000 in 1948) has decreased significantly and numbers about 5,500 (See History of the Jews in Morocco).[40] Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French or Spanish. Some of them are colonists' descendants, who primarily work for European multinational companies, others are married to Moroccans and preferred to settle in Morocco. Prior to independence, Morocco was home to half a million Europeans.[41] According to The Medieval Legends, In the 12th and 13th centuries there was an invasion of Arab nomads from The Fatimid Empire located in North Eastern Africa, known as Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes who were a bunch of Arabized Libyan Tribes founded in the Fayum Oasis in Egypt and Cyrenaica of Libya, swept the Eastern Maghreb,[42] but recent studies make clear no significant genetic differences exist between Arabic speaking and non-Arabic speaking populations, highlighting that in common with most of the Arab World, Arabization was mainly via acculturation of non-Arab indigenous populations over time.[43] The Moorish refugees from Spain settled in the coast-towns.[44] According to the European Journal of Human Genetics, Moroccans from North-Western Africa were genetically closer to Iberians than to Black Sub-Saharan Africans and Middle Easterners.[43][not in citation given]

Ethnolinguistic Groups in Morocco The largest concentration of Moroccan migrants outside Morocco is in France, which has reportedly over one million Moroccans of up to the third generation. The Netherlands hosts about 360,000 Moroccans and Belgium hosts about 300,000 Moroccans. There are also large Moroccan communities in Spain (about 700,000 Moroccans),[45] the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Israel, Canada and the United States.[46] Moroccan (Berber) Jews are thought to constitute the second biggest Jewish ethnic subgroup in Israel. Most people live west of the Atlas Mountains and north of the Rif Mountains, two mountain ranges that insulate the country from the Sahara Desert. Casablanca is the major center of commerce and industry and the leading port. Rabat is the seat of government; Tangier is the gateway to Morocco from Spain and also a major port. Fes is the cultural and religious center of Arab-Muslim culture in Morocco. Agadir, Nador, and Al Hoceima are the major Berber cultural centers, in addition to their economic importance. Marrakesh is the top touristic city of the country and an international celebrity magnet. There is a European professional expatriate and retiree population of about 60,000 especially in Casablanca and Marrakesh. They are mainly of French or Spanish descent. Many of them are teachers, technicians, international managers, in addition to the retirees