Morocco
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Morocco can be reached from Italy mainly by air: Casablanca's Mohammed V Airport (CMN) is the country's main international hub with direct connections to the main Italian airports; Marrakech's Menara Airport (RAK) and Agadir's Al Massira Airport (AGA) handle a heavy flow of low-cost flights from Europe. The airports of Rabat-Salé (RBA), Fès-Saïss (FEZ) and Tangier Ibn Battuta (TNG) complete the offer of international stopovers. The maritime connection between Europe and Morocco is Algeciras-Tangier, with regular crossings operated by several companies; there is also a connection between Barcelona/Civitavecchia and Tangier. By land from Spain it is possible to cross to Ceuta or Melilla, Spanish exclaves on Moroccan territory. L'Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF) manages the railway network with the main connections between Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Fès; there is an active high-speed line Al Boraq (Tangier-Casablanca) inaugurated in 2018. The motorway network is mainly developed in the Atlantic coastal axis and between the main urban centres. Morocco does not require motorway vignettes for European vehicles but does charge tolls on motorways. National public transport relies on a network of intercity buses of the CTM company and collective taxis (grand taxis).
Introduction
Morocco occupies the north-western tip of the African continent, washed by both the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, in a geographical position that has historically made it a point of contact between the Arab-Berber world, sub-Saharan Africa and Mediterranean Europe. The territory is characterised by a morphological variety that is unusual for a North African nation: the High Atlas range with the peak of the Toubkal (4,167m) separates the Atlantic coastal plains from the pre-desert steppes of the Souss and the expanses of the southern Sahara desert. The Middle Atlas and the Rif, to the north, complete one of the most extensive mountain systems on the continent. Morocco borders Algeria to the east and Western Sahara to the south. The country is a constitutional monarchy ruled by the Alaouite dynasty, which has reigned continuously since the 17th century; Arabic and Tamazight (standardised Moroccan Berber) are the official languages, while French remains the vehicular language in higher education and business.
.Description
The Moroccan mountain system is among the most articulated in North Africa and comprises four main ranges. The Rif, which runs parallel to the Mediterranean coast, reaches 2,456m in the Jebel Tidighine. The High Atlas crosses the country from northeast to southwest for more than 700 km, with the summit of Toubkal (4,167m) as the high point of northwest Africa; the range has peaks over 4,000m in a dozen places. The Middle Atlas is a region of high plateaus and forests that extends north of the High Atlas, while the Anti-Atlas closes the mountain range to the south before the territory slopes down to the Saharan plains. Between the Atlas and the Atlantic coast are the Chaouia and Souss plains, the most fertile in the country.
Morocco's history dates back to the prehistoric Berber populations, who suffered Phoenician and Carthaginian colonisation along the coasts in the first millennium BC. The Romanisation of the coastal strip (Mauretania Tingitana) left settlements of which the ruins of Volubilis remain, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. The Arab conquest in the 7th century paved the way for the founding of the first Berber-Arab Islamic state, the Idrisids (789 A.D.), with the capital Fez. Subsequent dynasties - Almoravids, Almohads, Merinids, Sa'dians and finally Alaouites from 1631 - shaped the history of the Maghreb and its main urban centres. The French protectorate (1912-1956) and the Spanish protectorate in the north and south left a deep mark on the urban layout and education system. Independence was proclaimed on 2 March 1956 under Mohammed V.
The Moroccan economy is among the most diversified in North Africa: phosphates (Morocco holds around 70 per cent of the world reserves), tourism, the food industry, textiles, agriculture (orange, olive, sugar cane), fishing and emigrant remittances are the productive pillars. The country has attracted significant investment in the renewable energy sector, with the large Noor solar plant in Ouarzazate. Casablanca is the main financial and industrial centre, while Rabat is the political and administrative capital.
Moroccan culture expresses a synthesis of Berber, Arab-Andalusian and African traditions. The four imperial cities - Fès, Marrakech, Meknès and Rabat - concentrate the country's architectural and artisanal heritage: the medinas of Fès and Marrakech are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as are the site of Volubilis, the city of Mazagão (El Jadida), the ksar of Aït Benhaddou and the historic city of Rabat. Gnaoua music, an expression of the communities descended from slaves in sub-Saharan Africa, was recognised by UNESCO as an intangible heritage in 2019. Moroccan gastronomy (tagine, couscous, pastilla) has international resonance.
Moroccan protected areas include the Toubkal National Park (established in 1942), the country's oldest and a reference point for North African mountaineering, the Souss-Massa National Park (established in 1991) with its Atlantic birdlife, the Ifrane National Park in the Middle Atlas region;Middle Atlas region with its cedars (Cedrus atlantica) and the presence of the last colony of Berber macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in North Africa, and the Iriqui National Park in southern Sahara.
Morocco is one of the classic destinations for North African hiking, with the Toubkal massif as its epicentre. The ascent to the Jebel Toubkal (4,167m), the highest point in the country and in North West Africa, is accessible in summer from Imlil and Aremd in a two-to-three-day hike; the Les Mouflons refuge (Neltner) at 3,207m is the base for the summit. The Alta Via dell'Atlante and numerous trekking routes cross the chain from east to west, between Berber villages, plateaus and deep valleys. In the Dades and Todra gorges on the southern side, routes between red sandstone walls are frequented by hikers and climbers. In the Rif, the Chefchaouen region offers trails through cedar forests and olive groves.
The High Atlas is Morocco's main mountaineering theatre. Jebel Toubkal (4,167m) was first climbed in 1923 by the team of Hubert Dolbeau, Vincent Berger and Vincenzo Rivière; since then, the massif has seen the development of rock and ice routes on the northern faces of Toubkal and neighbouring peaks (M'Goun 4,068m, Aklim 4,030m, Ras n'Ouanoukrim 4,083m). The Moroccan Alps, as the massif is sometimes called, offer granite climbing in the areas of Todra, Taghia (limestone crags with routes up to 8th grade) and the Dades gorges. Moroccan mountain guides (BMAM) are present in the country and accompany international expeditions.
Morocco is one of the African countries with the most established tradition in trail running. The Marathon des Sables, a 250-km stage race in the Moroccan Sahara desert between the dunes of Erg Chebbi, is considered one of the best-known ultra-endurance races in the world and takes place every year in spring. The Trail du Toubkal takes place around the Toubkal massif with routes on Berber high altitude trails
.Information
General Data
Capital: Rabat
Area: 446,550 km²
Minimum elevation: -55m (Sebkha Tah, Western Sahara, disputed territory)
Maximum elevation: 4,167m - Jebel Toubkal
Number of inhabitants: 37,251.000 (estimate 2024)
Official name: الملكة المغربية (al-Mamlaka al-Maġribiyya) / Tageldit n Lmeɣrib
Name of inhabitants: Moroccans
Main administrative subdivisions: 12 regions
Border countries: Algeria - Western Sahara
Institutional website: https://www.maroc.but