Morocco

Morocco is located in the north-western area of the African continent. It borders Algeria to the East, and Western Sahara/Mauritania to the South, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. To the North, we have the strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

Contrary to popular belief, Morocco is VERY close to Europe. The strait of Gibraltar (that separates Africa from Europe) is only about 7.5 nautical miles, or about 9 miles wide.

Click here for information on the Strait of Gibraltar.

How far is it?

The distance from Tangier to Gibraltar is only 32 miles. Rabat (the capital) to Barcelona is about 700 miles, to Rome is about 1100 miles, and Rabat to New York is about 3,600 miles.

Morocco (المغرب, al-maghreb) is a country with a shared government. It's a constitutional monarchy with a king (Mohammed VI), and a prime minister (Abdelilah Benkirane) as the head of parliament.

Morocco's capital city is Rabat, with a population of about 621,000 people. It is not Morocco's largest city. That title is held by the port city of Casablanca, with a population of around 3.5 million people. Morocco has a less diverse population than many of its neighbors, with 99% being of Arab/Berber descent. The languages of Morocco include Arabic dialects, Berber dialects, as well as some French and Spanish influence. This influence can be attributed to the fact that Morocco only gained independence from France and Spain in March and April of 1956.

Some quick facts:

Moroccan currency is the Moroccan Dihram (MAD). Today it's worth about 12 US cents.
According to Wikipedia, the population is 98.7% Muslim, 1.1% Christian, and 0.2% Jewish.

To read more about Morocco on Wikipedia, please click here.

More Wikipedia Links:

Moroccan Music
Moroccan Cuisine
Moroccan Literature