Morocco Tourism

Morocco Tourism

Kingdom of Morocco Tourism
المملكة المغربية
al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah
ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ (Tamazight)
Tageldit n Lmeɣrib

Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It has a population of approximately 37 million. Islam is both the official and predominant religion, while Arabic and Berber are the official languages. Additionally, French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.

Morocco claims ownership of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, which it has designated its Southern Provinces. In 1975, after Spain agreed to decolonise the territory and cede its control to Morocco and Mauritania, a guerrilla war broke out between those powers and some of the local inhabitants. In 1979, Mauritania relinquished its claim to the area, but the war continued to rage. In 1991, a ceasefire agreement was reached, but the issue of sovereignty remained unresolved. Today, Morocco occupies two-thirds of the territory, and efforts to resolve the dispute have thus far failed to break the political deadlock.

Morocco Tourism Geography

Morocco has a coast by 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.

The internationally recognised borders of the country lie between latitudes 27° and 36°N, and longitudes 1° and 14°W.

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. It is one of only three nations (along with Spain and France) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines.

A large part of Morocco is mountainous. The Atlas Mountains are located mainly in the centre 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. Its total area is about 446,300 km2 (172,317 sq mi). Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast, though the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994.

Spanish territory in Northwest Africa neighbouring Morocco comprises five enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta, Melilla, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Peñón 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 northeast to the southwest. 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). 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 recording a population over 500,000 in the 2014 Moroccan census are Fes, Marrakesh, Meknes, Salé and Tangier.

Morocco is represented in the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 geographical encoding standard by the symbol MA. This code was used as the basis for Morocco's internet domain, .ma

Morocco Tourism Overview

Morocco Capital: Rabat
Rabat Coordinates: 34°02′N 6°51′W
Morocco Largest City: Casablanca
Casablanca Coordinates: 33°32′N 7°35′W
Morocco Official Languages:
Morocco Arabic Tamazight
Morocco Spoken Languages:
92% Arabic
91% Moroccan Arabic
0.8% Hassaniya Arabic
26.0% Berber languages
14.1% Tashelhit
7.9% Tamazight
4.0% Tarifit
Morocco Foreign Languages:
French, English, Spanish
Morocco Ethnic Groups:
67% Arabs
31% Berbers
2% Sahrawis
Morocco Religion (2020):
99.6% Islam (official)
99.23% Sunni
0.45% Shia
0.3% Others
0.13% Agnostics
0.10% Baháʼís
0.09% Christians
0.01% Jews
Morocco Demonym(s): Moroccan
Morocco Government: Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
Morocco King: King Mohammed VI
Morocco Prime Minister: Aziz Akhannouch
Morocco Legislature: Parliament
Morocco Upper House: House of Councillors
Morocco Lower House: House of Representatives
Morocco Establishment: Idrisid dynasty 788
Morocco Alawi dynasty (current dynasty) 1631
Morocco Protectorate Established: 30 March 1912
Morocco Independence: 7 April 1956
Morocco Area Total:
446,550 km2 (172,410 sq mi)
Morocco Population:
2022 Estimate 37,984,655
2014 Census 33,848,242
Morocco Currency: Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Morocco Time Zone: UTC+1
Morocco UTC+0 (during Ramadan)
Morocco Driving Side: Right
Morocco Calling Code: +212
Morocco ISO: 3166 Code: MA
Morocco Internet TLD:
.ma
.المغرب