Morocco

agricultural land:

67.5%;

• arable land 17.5%;
• permanent crops 2.9%;
• permanent pasture 47.1%

forest:

11.5%

other:

21% (2011 est.)

• the highest population density is found along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts;
• a number of densely populated agglomerations are found scattered through the Atlas Mountains

• northern mountains geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes;
• periodic droughts;
• windstorms;
• flash floods;
• landslides

• land degradation/desertification (soil erosion resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation);
• water supplies contaminated by raw sewage;
• siltation of reservoirs;
• oil pollution of coastal waters

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification

noun:

Moroccan(s)

adjective:

Moroccan

• the highest population density is found along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts;
• a number of densely populated agglomerations are found scattered through the Atlas Mountains

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.82 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Morocco

conventional short form:

Morocco

local long form:

Al Mamlakah al Maghribiyah

local short form:

Al Maghrib

etymology:

• the English name "Morocco" derives from, respectively, the Spanish and Portuguese names "Marruecos" and "Marrocos," which stem from "Marrakesh" the Latin name for the former capital of ancient Morocco;
• the Arabic name "Al Maghrib" translates as "The West"

name:

Rabat

geographic coordinates:

34 01 N, 6 49 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1 hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

history:

• several previous;
• latest drafted 17 June 2011, approved by referendum 1 July 2011;
• note - sources disagree on whether the 2011 referendum was for a new constitution or for reforms to the previous constitution

amendments:

• proposed by the king, by the prime minister, or by members in either chamber of Parliament;
• passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by both chambers and approval in a referendum;
• the king can opt to submit self-initiated proposals directly to a referendum (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of Morocco; if the father is unknown or stateless, the mother must be a citizen

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

King MOHAMMED VI (since 30 July 1999)

head of government:

Prime Minister Saad-Eddine al-OTHMANI (since 17 March 2017)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers chosen by the prime minister in consultation with Parliament and appointed by the monarch

elections/appointments:

the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch from the majority party following legislative elections

description:

bicameral Parliament consists of the Chamber of Advisors (120 seats; members indirectly elected by an electoral college of local councils, professional organizations, and labor unions; members serve 6-year terms) and the Chamber of Representatives (395 seats; 305 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 90 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms); note - in the national constituency, 60 seats are reserved for women and 30 reserved for those under age 40

elections:

• Chamber of Advisors - last held on 2 October 2015 (next to be held in fall 2021);
• Chamber of Representatives - last held on 7 October 2016 (next to be held in fall 2021)

election results:

• Chamber of Advisors- percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• Chamber of Representatives - percent of vote by party NA;
• seats by party - PJD 125, PAM 102, PI 46, RNI 37, MP 27, USFP 20, UC 19, PPS 12, MDS 3, other 4

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court or Court of Cassation (consists of 5-judge panels organized into civil, family matters, commercial, administrative, social, and criminal sections);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 12 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges appointed by the Superior Council of Judicial Power, a 20-member body presided by the monarch and including the Supreme Court president, the prosecutor general, representatives of the appeals and first instance courts - among them 1 woman magistrate, the president of the National Council of the Rights of Man, and 5 "notable persons" appointed by the monarch;
• judges appointed for life;
• Constitutional Court members - 6 designated by the monarch and 6 elected by Parliament;
• court president appointed by the monarch from among the court members;
• members serve 9-year non-renewable terms

subordinate courts:

• courts of appeal;
• High Court of Justice;
• administrative and commercial courts;
• regional and sadad courts (for religious, civil and administrative, and penal adjudication);
• first instance courts

• Action Party or PA [Mohammed EL IDRISSI]
• Amal (hope) Party [Mohamed BANI]
• An-Nahj Ad-Dimocrati or An-Nahj [Mustapha BRAHMA]
• Authenticity and Modernity Party or PAM [vacant]
• Constitutional Union Party or UC [Mohamed SAJID]
• Democratic and Social Movement or MDS [Abdessamad ARCHANE]
• Democratic Forces Front or FFD [Mustapha BENALI]
• Democratic Oath Party or SD
• Democratic Socialist Vanguard Party or PADS [Abderrahman BENAMROU]
• Democratic Society Party [Zhour CHAKKAFI]
• Environment and Development Party or PED [Karim HRITAN]
• Green Left Party [Mohamed FARES]
• Istiqlal (Independence) Party or PI [Hamid CHABAT]
• Ittihadi National Congress or CNI [Abdesalam EL AZIZ]
• Labor Party or PT
• Moroccan Liberal Party or PML [Mohammed ZIANE]
• Moroccan Union for Democracy or UMD [Jamal MANDRI]
• National Rally of Independents or RNI [Aziz AKHANNOUCH]
• Neo-Democrats Party [Mohamed DARIF]
• Party of Development Reform or PRD [Abderrahmane EL KOHEN]
• Party of Justice and Development or PJD [Abdelillah BENKIRANE]
• Party of Liberty and Social Justice [Miloud MOUSSAOUI]
• Popular Movement or MP [Mohand LAENSER]
• Progress and Socialism Party or PPS [Nabil BENABDELLAH]
• Renaissance and Virtue Party [Mohamed KHALIDI]
• Renaissance Party [Said EL GHENNIOUI]
• Renewal and Equity Party or PRE [Chakir ACHEHABAR]
• Shoura (consultation) and Istiqlal Party [Ahmed BELGHAZI]
• Social Center Party or PCS [Lahcen MADIH]
• Socialist Party [Abdelmajid BOUZOUBAA]
• Socialist Union of Popular Forces or USFP [Driss LACHGAR]
• Unified Socialist Party or GSU [Nabila MOUNIB]
• Unity and Democracy Party [Ahmed FITRI]

• Democratic Confederation of Labor or CDT [Noubir EL AMAOUI]
• General Union of Moroccan Workers or UGTM [Mohamed KAFI CHERRAT]
• Justice and Charity Organization or JCO [Mohammed ben Abdesslam ABBADI]
• Moroccan Employers Association or CGEM [Miriem BENSALAH-CHAQROUN]
• National Labor Union of Morocco or UNMT [Abdessalam MAATI]
• Union of Moroccan Workers or UMT [Miloudi EL MOUKHARIK]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Lalla Joumala ALAOUI (since 24 April 2017)

chancery:

1601 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 462-7979

FAX:

[1] (202) 462-7643

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Stephanie MILEY (since 20 January 2017)

embassy:

Km 5.7 Avenue Mohammed VI, Souissi, Rabat 10170

mailing address:

Unit 9400, Box Front Office, DPO, AE 09718

telephone:

[212] 537 637 200

FAX:

[212] 537 637 201

consulate(s) general:

Casablanca

• red with a green pentacle (five-pointed, linear star) known as Sulayman's (Solomon's) seal in the center of the flag;
• red and green are traditional colors in Arab flags, although the use of red is more commonly associated with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf;
• the pentacle represents the five pillars of Islam and signifies the association between God and the nation;
• design dates to 1912

name:

"Hymne Cherifien" (Hymn of the Sharif)

lyrics/music:

Ali Squalli HOUSSAINI/Leo MORGAN

note: music adopted 1956, lyrics adopted 1970

• barley, wheat, citrus fruits, grapes, vegetables, olives;
• livestock;
• wine

agriculture:

39.1%

industry:

20.3%

services:

40.5% (2014 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.7%

highest 10%:

33.2% (2007)

general assessment:

• good system composed of open-wire lines, cables, and microwave radio relay links;
• principal switching centers are Casablanca and Rabat;
• national network nearly 100% digital using fiber-optic links;
• improved rural service employs microwave radio relay;
• Internet available but expensive

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity is below 10 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership exceeds 120 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 212;
• landing point for the Atlas Offshore, Estepona-Tetouan, Euroafrica, Spain-Morocco, and SEA-ME-WE-3 fiber-optic telecommunications undersea cables that provide connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat;
• microwave radio relay to Gibraltar, Spain, and Western Sahara;
• coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Algeria;
• participant in Medarabtel;
• fiber-optic cable link from Agadir to Algeria and Tunisia (2016)

• 2 TV broadcast networks with state-run Radio-Television Marocaine (RTM) operating one network and the state partially owning the other;
• foreign TV broadcasts are available via satellite dish;
• 3 radio broadcast networks with RTM operating one;
• the government-owned network includes 10 regional radio channels in addition to its national service (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

4; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 65

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

6,786,850

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

47,828,227 mt-km (2015)

total:

2,067 km

standard gauge:

2,067 km 1.435-m gauge (1,022 km electrified) (2014)

country comparison to the world: 72

total:

58,395 km

paved:

41,116 km (includes 1,080 km of expressways)

unpaved:

17,279 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 74

total:

26

by type:

cargo 1, chemical tanker 3, container 6, passenger/cargo 14, roll on/roll off 2

foreign-owned:

14 (France 3, Germany 1, Italy 1, Spain 9)

registered in other countries:

4 (Gibraltar 4) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 89

major seaport(s):

Casablanca, Jorf Lasfar, Mohammedia, Safi, Tangier

container port(s) (TEUs):

Tangier (2,971,000) (2015)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Jorf Lasfar

• 20 years of age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• service obligation - 18 months (2012)

• claims and administers Western Sahara whose sovereignty remains unresolved;
• Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera, the islands of Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas, and surrounding waters;
• both countries claim Isla Perejil (Leila Island);
• discussions have not progressed on a comprehensive maritime delimitation, setting limits on resource exploration and refugee interdiction, since Morocco's 2002 rejection of Spain's unilateral designation of a median line from the Canary Islands;
• Morocco serves as one of the primary launching areas of illegal migration into Spain from North Africa;
• Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling;
• the National Liberation Front's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco is a dormant dispute

• the world's largest producer and exporter of cannabis;
• total production for 2015-2016 growing season estimated to be 700 metric tons;
• shipments of hashish mostly directed to Western Europe;
• transit point for cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe;
• significant consumer of cannabis