Morocco

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Coordinates: 32°N 6°W

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the country in North Africa. For the subregion, see Maghreb. For other uses,
see Morocco (disambiguation).

Kingdom of Morocco

 ‫( المملكة المغربية‬Arabic)
al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah

 ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ (Tamazight)

Tageldit n Lmeɣrib

Flag
Coat of arms

Motto: ‫ ْلَمِلك‬،‫ن‬
‫ ْلَوَط‬،‫لَّٰله‬
"Allāh, al-Waṭan, al-Malik"
"God, Country, King"[1]

Anthem: ‫ٱل َّن ِش ْيد ٱ ْل َو َط ِني‬

"an-Našīd al-Waṭanīy"
"Cherifian Anthem"

Duration: 1 minute and 8 seconds.1:08

Location of Morocco in northwest Africa

Dark green: Undisputed territory of Morocco
Lighter green: Western Sahara, a territory claimed and
occupied mostly by Morocco as its Southern Provinces[a]

Capital Rabat
34°02′N 6°51′W

Largest city Casablanca

33°32′N 7°35′W

Official language  Arabic

s

 Tamazight

Spoken  92% Arabic

languages
 91% Moroccan
(2014)[2]
Arabic

 0.8% Hassaniya
Arabic

 26.0% Berber languages

 14.1% Tashelhit

 7.9% Tamazight

 4.0% Tarifit

Foreign  French[b]
languages
 English

 Spanish[5]

Ethnic groups  67% Arabs

(2012)[6]  31% Berbers

 2% Sahrawis

Religion  99.6% Islam (official)

(2020)[3][7]  99.23% Sunni

 0.45% Shia

 0.3% Others

 0.13% Agnostics

 0.10% Baháʼís

 0.09% Christians

 0.01% Jews

Demonym(s) Moroccan
Government Unitary parliamentary semi-
constitutional monarchy[8]

• King Mohammed VI

• Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch

Legislature Parliament

• Upper house House of Councillors

• Lower house House of Representatives

Establishment

• Idrisid dynasty 788

• 'Alawi 1631
dynasty (current
dynasty)

• Protectorate 30 March 1912

established

• Independence 7 April 1956

Area

• Total 446,550 km2 (172,410 sq mi)[c]

(57th)

• Water (%) 0.056 (250 km2)

Population

• 2024 estimate 37,493,183[10] (38th)

• 2024 census 36,828,330[11]

• Density 79.0/km2 (204.6/sq mi)

GDP (PPP) 2023 estimate

• Total $385.337 billion[12] (56th)

• Per capita $10,408[12] (120th)

 GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate

• Total $147.343 billion[12] (61st)

• Per capita $3,979[12] (124th)

Gini (2015) 40.3[13]

medium inequality

HDI (2022) 0.698[14]

medium (120th)

Currency Moroccan dirham (MAD)

Time zone UTC+1[15]

UTC+0 (during Ramadan)[16]

Drives on right

Calling code +212

ISO 3166 code MA

Internet TLD  .ma

 .‫المغرب‬

Morocco,[d] officially the Kingdom of Morocco,[e] 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.[18] 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. The culture of Morocco is a mix
of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.[19]

The region constituting Morocco has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era over 300,000 years ago.
The Idrisid dynasty was established by Idris I in 788 and was subsequently ruled by a series of other
independent dynasties, reaching its zenith as a regional power in the 11th and 12th centuries, under
the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, when it controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula and the
Maghreb.[20] Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic
scope of the region. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Morocco faced external threats to its sovereignty,
with Portugal seizing some territory and the Ottoman Empire encroaching from the east.
The Marinid and Saadi dynasties otherwise resisted foreign domination, and Morocco was the only
North African nation to escape Ottoman dominion. The 'Alawi dynasty, which rules the country to this
day, seized power in 1631, and over the next two centuries expanded diplomatic and commercial
relations with the Western world. Morocco's strategic location near the mouth of the Mediterranean
drew renewed European interest; in 1912, France and Spain divided the country into respective
protectorates, reserving an international zone in Tangier. Following intermittent riots and revolts against
colonial rule, in 1956, Morocco regained its independence and reunified.

Since independence, Morocco has remained relatively stable. It has the fifth-largest economy in Africa
and wields significant influence in both Africa and the Arab world; it is considered a middle power in
global affairs and holds membership in the Arab League, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Union for the
Mediterranean, and the African Union.[21] Morocco is a unitary semi-constitutional monarchy with an
elected parliament. The executive branch is led by the King of Morocco and the prime minister,
while legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament: the House of Representatives and
the House of Councillors. Judicial power rests with the Constitutional Court, which may review the
validity of laws, elections, and referendums.[22] The king holds vast executive and legislative powers,
especially over the military, foreign policy and religious affairs; he can issue decrees called dahirs, which
have the force of law, and can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the prime minister and the
president of the constitutional court.

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.