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Morocco

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The Kingdom of Morocco is a country in northwest Africa. It has a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Algeria to the east, though the Algerian border is closed, Western Sahara to the south , the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to its west.

Morocco claims ownership of Western Sahara and has administered most of the territory since 1975. The status of Western Sahara is disputed, pending a United Nations referendum.

المملكة المغربية
Al Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah
Flag of Morocco Flag Coat of arms of Morocco Coat of arms
Motto: الله، الوطن، الملك
(God, Country, King)
Anthem: Hymne Cherifien
Location of Morocco
CapitalRabat
Largest cityCasablanca
Official languagesArabic
GovernmentConstitutional Monarchy
Independence
• Water (%)-
Population
• 2003 estimate31,689,267 (36th)
• — census—
GDP (PPP)1999 estimate
• Total$108 billion (54th)
• Per capita$4,444 (110th)
CurrencyDirham (MAD)
Time zoneUTC+0 (UTC)
• Summer (DST)UTC+0 (UTC)
Calling code212
ISO 3166 codeMA
Internet TLDma

Name

The full Arabic name of the country translates to The Western Kingdom. Al-Maghreb (meaning The West) is commonly used in Arabic. The name Morocco in most other languages originates from the name of the former capital, Marrakech.

History

Main article: History of Morocco

Morocco became a French protectorate by the signing of the Treaty of Fez on March 30, 1912. It remained a Kingdom until it achieved independence in 1956. It then recovered Tangier, formerly an international city. The northern area of Morocco was under a Spanish protectorate concurrently. Morocco annexed Western Sahara in the 1970s, which had been a colony under the Spaniards since the 19th century. Previous to that it had been an area of Moroccan influence, but this annexation has not been recognized by any nation.

Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States in 1777 and has the oldest non-broken friendship treaty with the country, the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship, which has been in effect since 1783. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the American signatories. The United States legation (consulate) in Tangier, is the first property the U.S. owned abroad. It now houses the Tangier American Legation Museum. Morocco was granted Major Non-Nato Ally status in June 2004 and signed free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union.

In 2003, Morocco's largest city, Casablanca, was attacked in the Casablanca terrorist attacks. The attacks left 33 civilians dead and more than 100 people injured.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Morocco

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy, with a popularly-elected parliament. The King of Morocco can dissolve government, and deploy the military among other responsibilites. Opposition political parties are legal and several have arisen in recent years.

See also: List of political parties in Morocco

Provinces

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Main article: Provinces of Morocco

Morocco is divided into 37 provinces and 2 wilayas:

Provinces
Wilayas

Three additional provinces, Ad Dakhla (Oued Eddahab), Boujdour, and Es Smara, as well as parts of Tan-Tan and Laayoune, primarily fall within Moroccan-claimed Western Sahara.

As part of a 1997 decentralization/regionalization law passed by the legislature, 16 new regions were created, although the full details and scope of the reorganization are limited. These 16 regions are:

Geography

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True-color image of Morocco from Terra spacecraft

Main article: Geography of Morocco

Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast. There are also four Spanish enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta, Melilla, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and Peñón de Alhucemas, as well as several islands including Perejil and Chafarinas. Off the Atlantic coast the Canary Islands belong to Spain, whereas Madeira to the north is Portuguese.To the north, Morocco is bordered by and controls part of the Straits of Gibraltar, giving it power over the waterways in and out of the Mediterranean sea. Most of the South East portion of the country is in the Sahara Desert and as such is generally sparsely populated and unproductive economically. The High Atlas Mountains run down the backbone of the country, from the south west to the north east. Most of the population lives to the north of these mountains, while to the south is the desert.

Morocco's capital city is Rabat, and its largest city is the modern port of Casablanca.

Other cities include Agadir, Essaouira, Fes, Marrakech, Meknes, Oujda, Ouarzazat, Safi, Tangier, Tiznit, Salè and Tan-Tan.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Morocco

Morocco has signed Free Trade Agreements with the European Union (to take effect 2010) and the United States of America. The United States Senate approved by a vote of 85 to 13 on July 22, 2004 the Free Trade Agreement with Morocco, which, now in effect, allows for 95% of the two-way trade of consumer and industrial products to be without tariffs.

Morocco's largest industry is the mining of phosphates. Its second largest source of income is from nationals living abroad who transfer money to relatives living in Morocco. The country's third largest source of revenue is tourism.

Morocco ranks among the world’s largest producers and exporters of cannabis, and its cultivation and sale provide the economic base for much of the population of northern Morocco. The cannabis is typically processed into hashish. This activity represents 0.57 per cent of Morocco's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at US$ 37.3 billion, being Morocco's primary source of hard currency. A UN survey ] estimated cannabis cultivation at about 134,000 hectares in Morocco's five northern provinces. This represents 10 per cent of the total area and 27 per cent of the arable lands of the surveyed territory and 1.5 per cent of Morocco's total arable land. Morocco is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention and in 1992 Morocco passed legislation designed to implement the Convention.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Morocco

Culture

Main article: Culture of Morocco

Miscellaneous topics

See also

Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2002 U.S. Department of State website.

External links

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