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Capital Rabat
34°02? N 6°51? W Largest city Casablanca Official language(s) Arabic March 2, 1956 Area
• Total
• Water (%)
29,840,273 (2004 est.) (36th)
—
66.8/km² (96)
{{{population_densitymi²}}}/mi² 1999 estimate
$108 billion (54th)
$4,444 (110th) 0.631 (124th) – medium Currency Time zone
• Summer (DST) UTC (UTC+0)
UTC (UTC+0) Internet TLD .ma Calling code +212 |
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Morocco Information
Main article: History of Morocco
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 ethnic groups - Berbers and Arabs - Phoenicians, Sephardic Jews, and sub-Saharan Africans. The Berbers, often referred to in modern ethnic activist circles as "Amazigh," are more commonly generically as Berber or by their regional ethnic identity, such as Chleuh. In the classical period modern Morocco was known Mauretania, although this should not be confused with the modern country of Mauretania.
Roman and sub-Roman Morocco
North Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by Phoenician trading colonies and settlements in the late Classical period. The arrival of Phoenicians heralded a long engagement with the wider Mediterranean, as this strategic region formed part of the Roman Empire, as Mauretania Tingitana. In the 5th century AD, as the Roman Empire declined, the region fell to the Vandals, Visigoths, and then Byzantine Greeks in rapid succession. During this time, however, the high mountains of most of modern Morocco remained unsubdued, and stayed in the hands of their Berber inhabitants.
Early Islamic Morocco
Idris ibn Salih who founded the Idrisid Dynasty. Morocco became a centre of learning and a major regional power.
Morocco would reach its height under a series of Berber origin dynasties that would replace the Arab Idrisids. First the Almoravids, then the Almohads would see Morocco rule most of Northwest Africa, as well as large sections of Islamic Iberia, or Andalous. Smaller states of the region, such as the Berghouata and Banu Isam, were conquered. The empire collapsed, however, with a long running series of civil wars.
Morocco 1666-1912
The Tangier.
Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation in 1777. The United States legation (consulate) in Tangier is the first property the American government ever owned abroad. The building now houses the Tangier American Legation Museum.
European Influence
Successful Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern and southern (Saharan) zones on November 27 that year.
Nationalist political parties, which subsequently arose under 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).
Many Moroccan Goumiere assisted the Americans in both World War I and World War II. A manifesto of the Istiqlal (Independence) Party in 1944 was one of the earliest public demands for independence. That party subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement.
France's France allowed Mohammed V to return in 1955, and the negotiations that led to Moroccan independence began the following year.
Independence
The Kingdom of Morocco recovered its political independence from Tangier Protocol on October 29, 1956. Hassan II became King of Morocco on March 3, 1961. His rule would be marked by political unrest, and the ruthless government response earned the period the name "the years of lead". The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south became part of the new Morocco in 1969.
Morocco virtually annexed Western Sahara during the late 1970s, but final resolution on the status of the territory remains unresolved. See History of Western Sahara.
Gradual political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature in 1997.
Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States in 1777 and has the oldest non-broken friendship United States legation (consulate) in United States and the European Union.
In 2003, Morocco's largest city, Casablanca, suffered from Casablanca terrorist attacks. The attacks left 33 civilians dead and more than 100 people injured.
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Main article: Economy of Morocco
 The Central bank of Morocco (Bank Al Maghrib)
The Central bank of Morocco (Bank Al Maghrib)
Morocco has signed Free Trade Agreements with the United States Senate approved by a vote of 85 to 13 on July 22, 2004 the Free Trade Agreement with Morocco, which will allow for 98% of the two-way trade of consumer and industrial products to be without tariffs. The agreement entered into force in January 2006.
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. A UN survey[1] estimated cannabis cultivation at about 1340 square kilometres in Morocco's five northern provinces. This represents 10 % 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.
Morocco has an unemployment rate of 12.1% (2004 Data) and a 1999 estimate by the CIA puts 19% of the Moroccan population under the poverty line[2].
Though working towards change, Morocco historically has utilized child labor on a large scale. In 1999 the Moroccan Government admitted that over 500,000 children under the age of 15 were in the labor force[3].
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