Morocco Location:
34°02'N, 6°51'W
Morocco Geography:
At 172,402 sq.mi (446,550 sq.km), Morocco is the fifty-seventh largest country in the world (after Uzbekistan). It is comparable in size to Iraq, and is somewhat larger than the US state of California.
Algeria borders Morocco to the east and southeast though the border between the two countries has been closed since 1994. There are also four Spanish enclaves on the Mediterranean coast: Ceuta, Melilla, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Peñón de Alhucemas, and the Chafarinas islands, as well as the disputed islet Perejil. Off the Atlantic coast the Canary Islands belong to Spain, whereas Madeira to the north is Portuguese. To the north, Morocco is bordered by and controls part of the Strait of Gibraltar, giving it power over the waterways in and out of the Mediterranean sea. The Rif mountains occupy the region bordering the Mediterranean from the north-west to the north-east. The Atlas Mountains run down the backbone of the country, from the south west to the north east. Most of the south east portion of the country is in the Sahara Desert and as such is generally sparsely populated and unproductive economically. Most of the population lives to the north of these mountains, while to the south is the desert. To the south, lies the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was annexed by Morocco in 1975 (see Green March).[1] Morocco claims that the Western Sahara is part of its territory and refers to that as its Southern Provinces.
Morocco People:
Population
- 2005 estimate 33,241,259 (37th)
- Density 70 /km2 (122nd)
181 /sq mi
Morocco Government:
Government Constitutional monarchy
- King Mohammed VI
- Prime Minister Driss Jettou
Morocco Economy:
According to the African Development Bank, the GDP of Morocco accounts for 6% of the African continent.[9] Morocco is the fifth economic power of Africa with an annual GDP of $147 billion, after South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria.(2001)[9]
Morocco's largest industry is the mining of phosphates. Its second largest source of income is from nationals living abroad who transfer money to relatives living in Morocco. The country's third largest source of revenue is tourism.
Morocco ranks among the world’s largest producers and exporters of cannabis, and its cultivation and sale provide the economic base for much of the population of northern Morocco. The cannabis is typically processed into hashish. This activity represents 0.57% of Morocco's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at US$ 37.3 billion. A UN survey[10] estimated cannabis cultivation at about 1,340 square kilometres (515 sq mi) in Morocco's five northern provinces. This represents 10 % of the total area and 27 per cent of the arable lands of the surveyed territory and 1.5 per cent of Morocco's total arable land. Morocco is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention and in 1992 Morocco passed legislation designed to implement the Convention.
Morocco has an unemployment rate of 7.7% (2006 Data) and a 1999 estimate by the CIA puts 19% of the Moroccan population under the poverty line.[11].
Though working towards change, Morocco historically has utilized child labor on a large scale. In 1999, the Moroccan Government stated that over 500,000 children under the age of 15 were in the labor force.[12]
Morocco has signed Free Trade Agreements with the European Union (to take effect 2010) and the United States of America. The United States Senate approved by a vote of 85 to 13, on July 22, 2004, the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, which will allow for 98% of the two-way trade of consumer and industrial products to be without tariffs. The agreement entered into force in January 2006.
Morocco More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco | 
