Morocco

1. Morocco Audra Polsky

2. Geography in Morocco • Morocco is located on the continent of Africa and borders with Algeria, Mauritania, and the Strait of Gibraltar. • The total area of Morocco is 172,413 square miles. • Morocco is a little bit larger than California. • The Mediterranean coast is mountainous where as the Atlantic coast has a fertile plain. • The mountains that run northeast are the Atlas Mountains. • Morocco has Mountains, Desert, Beaches, Forests, Oases, Canyons, Plains, Valleys, Plateaus

3. Moroccan General Facts • Official name is The Kingdom of Morocco • The capital is Rabat • The biggest cities are Casablanca(3.3 million)and Rabat(1.6 million) • The languages that are spoken here are Arabic, Berber, French, and Spanish • The area is 172,000 square miles • The religions here are Sunni Muslim(99.8%); Christian(1%) and Jewish(0.2%)

4. Government in Morocco • Morocco has a Constitutional Monarchy • Their ruler is King Mohammed VI • The country celebrates Throne Day where they celebrate the accession of King Mohammed VI to the throne on 30 July • Their Prime Minister is Abdelilah Benkirane King Mohammed VI Abdelilah Benkirane

5. Moroccan Independence • Morocco gained their independence from France on March 2, 1956 • Their constitution was established on March 10, 1972. It was revised on September 4, 1992, and amended in September 1996. The Constitution that reforms the weakening of the King's power was approved on July 1, 2011 PREAMBLE دولة إسلامية ذات سيادة كاملة وغتها الرسمية هي اللغة العربية، والمملكة المغربية يشكل جزءا من المغرب العربي الكبير. كدولة أفريقية، كان لديه، من بين أهدافها، وتحقيق الوحدة الأفريقية. إدراكا منها لضرورة إدراج عملها في إطار المنظمات الدولية التي أصبح عضوا نشطا والحيوية، المملكة المغربية تلتزم التزاما تاما بحقوق والمبادئ والالتزامات الناشئة عن مواثيق تلك المنظمات، لأنها تؤكد من جديد عزمها على الالتزام بحقوق الإنسان المعترف بها عالميا. وبالمثل، فإنه يؤكد من جديد عزمه على مواصلة مساعيها نحو مطرد صون السلام والأمن في العالم.

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7. Tourist Attractions: Ksarof Aït-Ben-Haddou • It’s a housing compound in Southern Morocco that is typical of the Maghreb. In the big compound, it has larger and smaller settlements with a market and mosque. • There is a pass called Col du Tichka that has an altitude of 2260 metres. When you visit, you can see women carrying fire wood and goat herds by the side of the road. • It was built as a fortress to keep outsiders out. It has very high walls. 1

8. Tourist Attractions:Nejjarine Museum of Wood Arts and Crafts 2 Its the first Moroccan museum that specializes in wood arts and crafts. It is the most modern restored monument. The building has three floors of woodworking tools and a series of antique wooden doors and pieces of furniture. There are former jail cells on the ground floor.

9. Tourist Attractions: Jebel Toubkal - Trekking the High Atlas Mountains • They are the highest peaks in North Africa and are really breathtaking • It is an altitude of 4167 meters above sea level • There are a lot of trails on the mountain if you would rather hike than climb up. The trails take you through beautiful valleys with gorges and waterfalls and peeks into villages with a history that goes back for centuries. • You can take a tour of this beautiful attraction. You can also have your luggage carried by a mule! 3

10. Tourist Attractions: Volubilis 4 • History: Nearly two thousand years ago, Volubilis was an important outpost of the Roman Empire. It was an administrative city that produced grain and olive oil. Over time, earthquakes and Berber attacked and in the 18th century, the sultan (king) Moulay Ismail had tons of stones taken away for his hudge buildings in Meknes. • There are still traces of its glory in the arched walls, columns, and mosaic floors. There are beautiful depicting animals and mythological scenes. Everything is unsheltered, and remarkably well-preserved.

11. 5 Tourist Attractions: Dades Valley • Its like something off the front cover of a scifi book. The landscape is cool and beautiful with snow on one side and semi-desert on the other side. Its savage grandeur could only be matched by the Grand Canyon in the USA. • The bottom of the valley is green and fertile because of the Dades River that flows through the valley. The water is surrounded by a huge assortment of beautifully colorful fruit and nut trees, with a scenery of beautiful red rock formations. • There are hundreds of Kasbahs (a group of forts) in the valley. It looks like a forest fortresses. They were built by the Berbers to protect themselves from the invaders. • Most travelers will just enjoy the ride down! • Did you know it means “Road of a thousand Kasbahs”?

12. When King Mohammed VI has become king he has controlled a stable economy marked by steady growth, low inflation, and generally declining government debt. Morocco is the only African country that entered into a bilateral Free Trade Agreement with the United States. It suffers from high unemployment and poverty. In 2011, high food and fuel prices affected the government's budget. Key economic challenges for Morocco include fighting corruption, reducing government spending, reforming the education system and judiciary, addressing socioeconomic disparities, and building more diverse, higher value-added industries. GDP in categories: agriculture: 16.6% industry: 32.2% services: 51.2% GDP - per capita in U.S. Dollars: $5,100 The currency in Morocco is the Moroccan dirham Economy in morocco

13. Random Fun Facts Did you know Moroccan pipes can't handle toilet paper, so you have to throw all toilet paper in a trash can? Did you know In Morocco, EVERYONE eats couscous on Fridays - even at the orphanage? Did you know Friday is the holy day in Islam? Did you know There is no such thing as dating in Islam. You are either married or not. Married men and women are not to have any friends of the opposite gender? Did you know Morocco is situated in North Africa and it is the only African country that is not a member of the ‘African Union’.

14. Random Fun Facts • Did you know at Oujda, the most eastern city of Morocco, is the shrine of Sidi Yahya which is said to be the tomb of John the Baptist? • Did you know The University in Fes, founded in 859 AD, claims to be the oldest university in the world? • Did you know Morocco is the 12th richest country in Africa? • Did you know Morocco is an Islamic country but only follows the Muslim calendar for religious purposes • Did you know the numbers we use today are called Arabic numbers? (The Arabs were responsible for much of the growth of learning in mathematics and the word "algebra" is itself an Arabic word.)

15. Moroccan Holidays • January 1- New Year's Day • January 11- Proclamation Of Independence. On this day, Moroccan King Mohammed V declared the erstwhile state of Morocco be liberated from the French rule. • May 1- International Labour Day • July 30- Celebration Of The Throne. This is the day when Moroccans celebrate the accession of King Mohammed VI to the throne. • August 20- Revolution of the King and the People • August 21- Birthday of King Mohammed VI. • November 6- Green March. On this day in 1975, there was a mass demonstration in Morocco with the aid of the government against the Spanish withholding of the Sahara. • November 18- Independence Day.

16. Current Events King Mohammed VI is to be the biggest benefactor of EU trade agreement Morocco is one of the three largest agricultural countries in North Africa. Right now, they have trade agreements with the EU and if they were to go through with the proposal and ease restrictions, Morocco's exports would increase and help their economy. The European Parliament and Morocco have recently come to the agreement that allows EU countries to fish in Moroccan waters if they make an annual payment to Rabat. If EU eases restrictions 55% of their imports will come from Morocco, this agreement would help Morocco's economy tremendously. This will make more Moroccans to be employed and the increase in exports will bring more money into their economy.

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