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Morocco
 
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The Country and its People
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Geography
Perched on the upper North-west corner of Africa, and beaconing to Europe over the Gibraltar Straits, Morocco shares borders with Algeria in the east and with Mauritania in the south. Bordered by the Mediterranean Sea in the North and the Atlantic Ocean in the West, Morocco has a coast that extends over 3,500 Km.

Population
According to the 2004 general population and housing census, the population of Morocco is just over 30 millions inhabitants. This census is the fifth since the declaration of independence.

Regions
The kingdom of Morocco is composed of 16 main regions. These include :

1.Chaouia-Ouardigha
2.Doukkala-Abda
3.Fès-Boulemane
4.Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen
5.Greater Casablanca
6.Guelmim-Es Semara
7.Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra
8.Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz
9.Meknès-Tafilalet
10.Oriental
11.Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira
12.Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer
13.Souss-Massa-Draâ
14.Tadla-Azilal
15.Tangier-Tétouan
16.Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate

The Greater Casablanca region is the most densely populated region, with over 3.6 Million people (according to the 2004 census); it is considered the economic capital of Morocco, as it contains most of the economic activities of the country.

 

The Atlantic coast
Morocco's Atlantic coast stretches over 3,000 km from Legouira, near the border with Mauritania up to Cap Spartel and the Straits of Gibraltar. Morocco offers hundreds of kilometres of sand and dunes facing the ocean waves. The Atlantic coast of Morocco plays a big roll in the tourism industry as well as provides shipping ports and cater for the fishing industry.

Great cities of the plains
Marrakesh is a city in southwestern Morocco at foot of the Atlas Mountains. Marrakesh is a city of immense beauty loaded with outstanding attractions, events and accommodation.
Fez is the third largest city in Morocco, after Casablanca and Rabat.
Fez is the cultural, intellectual, and spiritual capital of Morocco. Inherited from time immemorial when Fès, then an imperial city, ruled over most of the Maghreb, a multitude of vestiges and treasures are only waiting to be discovered by its visitors, notably behind the walls of its haunting medieval city, the Medina.

The mountains
There are several fantastic mountain ranges in Morocco. The High Atlas is the biggest one in North Africa. It has many fertile valleys surrounded by rivers and waterfalls.

The Moroccan desert
The Sahara consists of volcanic mountains, sand, rocks and gravel-covered plains and small areas of vast permanent vegetation. The vegetation includes shrubs, grasses, and trees in the highland and in the oases along the river beds. Some of the plants are well adjusted to the climate and sprout within three days of rain and sow their seeds within two weeks after that. Only a small part of the Sahara is fertile, where corn, dates and other fruits grow, these parts are fed by underground rivers and oases.

Languages
Morocco is a multilingual country; multiple languages and dialects are spoken by the population in most places.

  • Classical Arabic

This is the language of the holy Qur’an and the official language of the country.  Classical Arabic is used in the educational, administration, cultural, and in the other official and intellectual fields in Morocco. Most Moroccans can understand this form of Arabic, which is spoken and written much throughout the rest of the Middle East and North Africa. Most Arabic television programs are in this form of Arabic

  • Moroccan Dialect  

This is the daily, conversational language for most of the population. This dialect was introduced to Morocco over time, especially with the spread of the troops and education from the East. This process resulted in the emergence of different, yet very similar dialects spoken in the different regions of Morocco.

  • The Urban Dialect (Mdini) spoken in cities such Fez, Rabat, Sale and Tetouan;
  • The Bedouin Dialect known as (Aroubi) spoken in the regions of Gharb. Chaouïa, Doukkala, etc.
  • The Hassani: A form of Arabic dialect Spoken in the Shraoui regions.
  • Tamazight

This is the oldest language in the Maghreb region, and is the language spoken by Berbers. It has three forms corresponding to three geographical locations:

  • Tamazight: spoken by the population of the Middle Atlas
  • Tashelhit: spoken by people in the South and the Small Atlas
  • Tarifit: spoken by the population of the North and the Rif  Mountains

Tifinnagh is the name of the Berber alphabet used to write down theses dialects.

  • Hassaniyya Arabic

A form of Arabic spoken in the Moroccan Sahara area.

  • French

This language is strongly present in Morocco since it was heavily used during the French protectorate in1912-1956. Since independence, French has remained as an influential language in the country, as it is still widely used in education and the economic domains. Some among the educated Moroccan elite use French in their daily life work, and even at home.

  • Spanish

As with French; Spanish was introduced to Morocco through the colonisation process. Now it is still spoken in the North and the Sahara, which were both colonized by Spanish Troops. Spanish is found in some educational systems in these regions.

  • English

Following the rise of English as a global language, Morocco became very open to this language. Today many Moroccan institutions teach in English. Moreover, Moroccan people are also keen to learn and use English in different areas of life, especially in research, science, technology and business.

 
 
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