Morocco

The Kingdom of Morocco (Arabic: المملكة المغربية‎) is a country in North 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, the Mediterranean Sea and a relatively thin water border Spain to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to its west. There are also two Spanish exclaves bordering Morocco to the north. The border to the south is disputed. Morocco claims ownership of Western Sahara and has administered most of the territory since 1975.
Morocco, a constitutional monarchy, is the only African country that is not currently a member of the African Union. However, it is a member of the Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Mediterranean Dialogue group, and Group of 77, and is a major non-NATO ally of the United States.

Name

The full Arabic name of the country (Al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya) translates to The Western Kingdom. Al Maghrib (meaning The West) is commonly used. For historical references, historians used to refer to Morocco as Al Maghrib al Aqşá (The Farthest West), disambiguating it from the historical region called the Maghreb. The name Morocco in many other languages originates from the name of the former capital, Marrakech. The Berber/Amazigh word Murakush means Land of God.

History

The area of modern Morocco has been inhabited since Neolithic times, at least 8000 BC, as attested by signs of the Capsian culture, in a time when the Maghreb was less arid than it is today. Many theorists believe the Berber language probably arrived at roughly the same time as agriculture (see Berber), and was adopted by the existing population as well as the immigrants that brought it. Modern genetic analyses have confirmed that various populations have contributed to the present-day population, including (in addition to the main Berber and Arab groups) Phoenicians, Sephardic Jews, and sub-Saharan Africans. The Berbers, often referred to in modern ethnic activist circles as "Amazigh," are more commonly known as "Berber" or by their regional ethnic identity, such as Chleuh. In the classical period,
Tentative political reform in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature in 1997. 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 suffered from terrorist attacks. The attacks were targeted against Western and Jewish places and left 33 civilians dead and more than 100 people injured, mostly Moroccans.

In November 18 2006, Morocco celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence.

Politics

Morocco is a de jure constitutional monarchy, with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco, with vast executive powers, can dissolve government and deploy the military, among other responsibilities. Opposition political parties are legal and several have arisen in recent years.

Geography
(446,550 sq.km), Morocco is the fifty-seventh largest country in the world (after Uzbekistan). It is comparable in size to Iraq, and is somewhat larger than the US state of California.

Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast though the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994. There are also four Spanish enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta, Melilla, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Peñón de Alhucemas, and the Chafarinas islands,as well as 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 and controls part of the Strait of Gibraltar, giving it power over the waterways in and out of the Mediterranean sea. The Rif mountains occupy 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 north east. Most of the south east 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 is the desert. To the south, lies the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was annexed by Morocco in 1975 (see Green March). 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 • Salè • Tangier • Tiznit • Tan-Tan

Climate

The climate is Mediterranean, which becomes more extreme towards the interior regions where it is mountainous. The terrain is such that the coastal plains are rich and accordingly, they comprise the backbone for agriculture. Forests cover about 12% of the land while arable land accounts for 18%. 5% is irrigated.

Economy

According to the African Development Bank, the GDP of Morocco accounts for 6% of that of the continent [4]. Morocco is the fifth economic power of Africa with an annual GDP of $34 billion, after South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria.(2001)

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.

Culture

Morocco is an ethnically diverse country with a rich culture and civilization. Through Moroccan history, Morocco hosted many people coming from both East (Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Jews and Arabs), South (Africans) and North (Romans, Vandals, Moors and Jews). All those civilizations have had an impact on the social structure of Morocco. It conceived various forms of beliefs, from paganism, Judaism, Christianity to Islam.

Each region possesses its own specificities, contributing, thus, to the making of national culture and to the civilization legacy. Morocco has set among its top priorities the protection of its legacy and the preservation of its cultural identity.

Ethnically and culturally speaking, Morocco nowadays can be considered the least Arabic among Arab countries. Most of its population is composed of native Berbers or of mixed Arab-Berber origins.