Morocco

Did you know?

The region constituting Morocco has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era, more than 300,000 years ago. The Moroccan state traces its origins to the establishment of the Idrisid dynasty by Idris I in 788, although its historical territories did not coincide with those of present-day Morocco; the country is regarded as one of the world's oldest continuously existing states.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

Etymology and name

The English Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish name for the country, Marruecos, derived from the name of the city of Marrakesh, which was the capital of the Almoravid dynasty, the Almohad Caliphate, and the Saadian dynasty. During the Almoravid dynasty, the city of Marrakesh was established under the name of Tāmurākušt, derived from the city's ancient Berber name of amūr n Yakuš (lit. 'land/country of God'). In English, the first vowel has been changed, likely influenced by the word "Moor."

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

History

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. Hominin fossils from Thomas Quarry I in Casablanca, published in 2026, push evidence of hominin presence in the region back to approximately 773,000 years ago, near the root of the Homo sapiens lineage.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

Geography

Morocco has a coast on 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 border is with Mauritania. The geography of Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean, to mountainous areas, to the Sahara desert.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

Government and politics

As reported in 2022 by The Economist Democracy Index, Morocco is classified as a hybrid regime, ranking third in the MENA region and 95th globally in democracy quality. Morocco showed democratic backsliding post-2011.

Following the March 1998 elections, a coalition government headed by the parliamentary opposition and socialist leader Abderrahmane Youssoufi was formed, composed largely of ministers drawn from opposition parties. Prime Minister Youssoufi's government was the country's first-ever government drawn primarily from opposition parties.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

Economy

Morocco's economy is considered a liberal economy, governed by the law of supply and demand. Since 1993, the country has followed a policy of privatisation of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government. Morocco has become a major player in African economic affairs, and is the sixth largest economy in Africa by GDP (PPP). Morocco was ranked as the first African country by the Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index, ahead of South Africa. However, in the years since that first-place ranking was given, Morocco has slipped into fourth place behind Egypt.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

Demographics

Morocco has a population of around 36,828,330 inhabitants (2024 census). Morocco's population was 11.6 million in 1960. In 2024, 49.7% of the population is female, while 50.3% of it is male. According to the 2014 Morocco population census, there were around 84,000 immigrants in the country. Of these foreign-born residents, most were of French origin, followed by individuals mainly from various nations in West Africa and Algeria. There are also a number of foreign residents of Spanish origin.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0

Culture

Morocco is a country with a rich culture and civilisation. Through Moroccan history, it has hosted many people. Culturally speaking, Morocco has combined its Arabic, Berber and Jewish cultural heritage with external influences such as the French and the Spanish and, during the last decades, the Anglo-American lifestyles. Since independence, painting and sculpture, music, amateur theatre and filmmaking have developed. The Moroccan National Theatre (founded 1956) offers regular productions of Moroccan and French dramatic works. Art and music festivals take place throughout the country during the summer months, among them the World Sacred Music Festival at Fès.

Wikipedia: Morocco – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0