Morocco

  

Parliamentary Republic of Morocco المملكة المغربية (Arabic) ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ (Berber)
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto:  الله، الوطن، الملك ⴰⴽⵓⵛ, ⴰⵎⵓⵔ, ⴰⴳⵍⵍⵉⴷ God, Country, King
Anthem:  النشيد الوطني المغربي‎ ⵉⵣⵍⵉ ⴰⵏⴰⵎⵓⵔ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ Cherifian Anthem
Capital	Fez
Largest city	Casablanca
Official languages	Arabic and Berber
Religion	99% Sunni Islam (official) 1% other
Demonym(s)	Moroccan
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• Prime Minister	TBD
Legislature	Parliament
Established
• 'Alawi dynasty	1631
• French protectorate	1912
• Independence	1955
Area
• Claimed	710,850 km2 (274,460 sq mi)
Currency	Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Time zone	UTC+1
Driving side	right
Calling code	+212
ISO 3166 code	MA
Internet TLD	.ma

Morocco (Arabic: المغرب, romanized: al-maḡrib, Berber: ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ, romanized: lmeɣrib; French: Maroc), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in North Africa. Morocco borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Algeria to the east, and the Equatorial States to the southeast and south. The country also claims the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, along with several Spanish islands off of Morocco's northern coast. In the south, Morocco controls the territory of Western Sahara, which the League of Nations does not recognize Moroccan sovereignty over and has limited international recognition among other countries. It spans an area of 710,850 km² (274,460 sq mi), a number that includes its claimed territories, with a population of roughly 37 million. Its official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber; the Moroccan dialect of Arabic and French are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. The kingdom's capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.

The region constituting Morocco has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era over 300,000 years ago, and the first Moroccan state was established by Idris I in 788. It was subsequently ruled by a series of 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. Its demographics were changed by Arab migration to Morocco from the 7th century. 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 Strait of Gibralta drew the attention of the European powers; 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. During the Cold War, Morocco became a major non-NTO ally of Sierra, and decisively intervened with its troops in several conflicts across Africa.

Since independence, Morocco has remained relatively stable. It has one of the largest and most developed economies 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, and the African Union. 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. 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 1957, France decolonized the territory, and it was occupied by Morocco and the Equatorial States. In 1979, the Equatorial States relinquished its claim to the area, but the war against local separatists 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. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic claims the entirety of Western Sahara but only controls about 20% of its land since the ceasefire, and it is recognized by the League of Nations and some countries as the sole representative of the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara. It is primarily a government-in-exile based in Algeria. Morocco considers the SADR to be an illegitimate separatist group.

Etymology

Morocco's modern official Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah (المملكة المغربية) may best be translated as 'The Kingdom of the Western Place'.

Historically, the territory has been part of what the Muslim geographers referred to as al-Maghrib al-Aqṣā (المغرب الأقصى, 'the Farthest West [of the Islamic world]' designating roughly the area from Tiaret to the Atlantic) in contrast with neighbouring regions of al-Maghrib al-Awsaṭ (المغرب الأوسط, 'the Middle West': Tripoli to Béjaïa) and al-Maghrib al-Adná (المغرب الأدنى, 'the Nearest West': Alexandria to Tripoli). Morocco has also been referred to politically by a variety of terms denoting the Sharifi heritage of the Alawi dynasty, such as al-Iyālah ash-Sharīfah (الإيالة الشريفة) or al-Imbarāṭūriyyah ash-Sharīfah (الإمبراطورية الشريفة), rendered in French as l'Empire chérifien and in English as the 'Sharifian Empire'.

The word Morocco is derived from the name of the city of Marrakesh, which was its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the Almohad Caliphate, and the Saadian dynasty. The origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but it most likely comes from the Berber phrase amur n Yakuš, where amur can have the meanings "part, lot, promise, protection" and Yakuš (and its variants Yuš and Akuš) means "God". The expression amur n Ṛebbi where Ṛebbi is another word for God (borrowed from Arabic رَبِّي (rabbī) "My Lord") means "divine protection". The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc (in the Berber Latin script). In Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. However, in other parts of the Islamic world, for example in Egyptian and Middle Eastern Arabic literature before the mid-20th century, the name commonly used to refer to Morocco was Murrakush (مراكش).

History

Prehistory

Ptolemy of Mauretania was the last to rule the Kingdom of Mauretania prior to Roman conquest.

The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since at least Paleolithic times, beginning sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. A recent publication has suggested that there is evidence for even earlier human habitation of the area: Homo sapiens fossils that had been discovered in the late 2000s near the Atlantic coast in Jebel Irhoud were recently dated to roughly 315,000 years ago. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, resembling a savanna, in contrast to its modern arid landscape. Twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian culture was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the human remains found at Iberomaurusian "Mechta-Afalou" burial sites and European Cro-Magnon remains. The Iberomaurusian culture was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco.

Mitochondrial DNA studies have discovered a close ancestral link between Berbers and the Saami of Scandinavia. This evidence supports the theory that some of the peoples who had been living in the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe during the late-glacial period migrated to northern Europe, contributing to its repopulation after the last ice age.

In the early part of Classical Antiquity, Northwest Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians, who established trading colonies and settlements there, the most substantial of which were Chellah, Lixus, and Mogador. Mogador was established as a Phoenician colony as early as the 6th century BC.

Politics

Government

Morocco is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary and multi-party framework, where the prime minister is the head of government and is the most senior executive official after the monarch. The king of Morocco is the head of state and has significant powers, especially in foreign policy, and religious and military affairs. The Economist Intelligence Unit describes Morocco as a "hybrid regime" in 2021.

See also

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Morocco, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).