Morocco

1. Morocco

2. The KingdomofMorocco المملكة المغربية Al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah Le Royaume du Maroc

3. Contents Background Information • Geography • People • Healthand Education • Governmentand Politics • Economy • Media History • PrehistoricMorocco (1st – 7th century) • Early IslamicMorocco (7th – 17th century) • The AlaouiteDynasty (1659 – present) • European Influence - French Protectorateand Independence (1912-1956) • Post-independence (1960-1970) • The Western Sahara Conflict – theSpanishIssue

4. Background Information - Geography • Third mostpopulousArabcountry • Shares thelargestpartofitsborderswithAlgeriatotheeastand Western Sahara tothesouthandthe North AtlanticOceanandtheMediterraneanSea

5. Geography • The capitalofMoroccoisRabat • Population: 1.385.872 • Second largestcity after Casablanca • The Medina and Kasbah des Oudaiasareoneofthemostvisitedplaces

6. Geography Area total: 446,550 sq km land: 446,300 sq km water: 250 sq km Climate Mediterranean to more extreme in the interior and south

7. Geography Terrain Coast plains, desert, mountains in the northern coastandinterior Land use arable land: 19% permanent crops: 2% other: 79%

8. Geography Natural resources phosphates, ironore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt Natural hazards Earthquakesandperiodicdroughts

9. People Population 31,627,428 (2010 est.) Growth rate 1.077% (2010 est.) Birth rate 19.4 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Death rate 4.74 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

10. People Nationality noun: Moroccan (s) / adjective: Moroccan Ethnic Groups Arab-Berber 99.1%, Jewish 0.2%, other 0.7% Religions Muslim 98.7% , Christian 1.1%, Jewish 0.2% Languages Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French functions as the language of business, government, and diplomacy

11. Healthand Education Infant mortality rate total: 28.61 deaths/1,000 live births male: 33.52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.46 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.) Life expectancy at birth total population: 75.69 years male: 72.63 years female: 78.9 years (2010 est.)

12. Healthand Education Total fertility rate 2.23 children born/woman (2010 est.) Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 52.3% male: 65.7% female: 39.6% (2004 census

13. Governmentand Politics Government type constitutionalmonarchy Constitution 10 March 1972; revised 4 September 1992, amended September 1996 Legal system based on Islamic law and French and Spanish civil law systems; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of Supreme Court Branches of the government Executive - king (head of state), prime minister (head of government) Legislative - bicameral Parliament (ChamberofCounselors) and (ChamberofRepresentatives) Judicial - Supreme Court

14. Governmentand Politics - Executive Chiefof State • dominant authority rests with the king • presides over the Council of Ministers • appoints the prime minister following legislative elections • appoints all members of the government taking into account the prime minister's recommendations • may terminate the tenure of any minister, dissolve the Parliament, call for new elections, or rule by decree • is the commander in chief of the military and holds the title of Amir al-Mou’minin, or Commander of the Faithful, the country's religious leader King Mohammed VI Prime Minister Abbas Al Fassi

15. Governmentand Politics Major political parties • Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) • Istiqlal (Independence) Party (PI) • Party of Justice and Development (PJD) • Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) • National Rally of Independents (RNI) • Popular Movement (MP) • Constitutional Union Party (UC) • Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS)

16. Economy GDP (official exchange rate) $91.37 billion (2009 est.) GDP - real growth rate 4.9% (2009 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP) $4,600 (2009 est.) GDP - compositionbysector agriculture: 19.2% industry: 31.3% services: 49.4% (2009 est.)

17. Economy Unemployment rate 9.1% (2009 est.) Population below poverty line 15% (2007 est.) Inflation rate (consumerprices) 1% (2009 est.)

18. Economy Agriculture - products barley, wheat, citrus fruits, grapes, vegetables, olives; livestock; wine Natural resources Phosphates, fish, manganese, lead, silver, and copper Industry phosphate mining, manufacturing and handicrafts, construction and public works, energy, tourism, leather goods, textiles

19. Economy - Exports Exports $13.92 billion (2009 est.) Commodities clothing and textiles, electric components, inorganic chemicals, transistors, crude minerals, fertilizers (including phosphates), petroleum products, citrus fruits, vegetables, fish Partners Spain 22.02%, France 20.22%, India 4.91%, Italy 4% (2009)

20. Economy - Imports Imports $30.55 billion (2009 est.) Commodities crude petroleum, textile fabric, telecommunications equipment, wheat, gas and electricity, transistors, plastics Partners France 16.95%, Spain 14.72%, China 7.1%, Italy 6.76%, Germany 6.28%, US 5.66%, Saudi Arabia 5.11% (2009) Monetary unit Moroccan dirham, exchange rate per U.S. dollar -8.064 (2009)

21. Media • The broadcast media dominated by the state or reflect the official line • Satellite TV is widely used in Morocco • Paris-based Reporters Without Borders notes that "religion, the king and the monarchy in general, the country and territorial integrity cannot be questioned." • The Press Law provides for prison terms for errant journalists • The government owns, or has a stake in, RTM and 2M, Morocco's main TV networks

22. Media The press • Le Matin, Al-Massae, Assabah, Liberation, L'Economiste, Telquel Television • Radio-Television Marocaine (RTM), 2M, Al Maghribiya, Medi 1 Sat Radio • Radio-Television Marocaine (RTM), Medi 1

23. Media Internet users 13.213 million (2009) Internet hosts 277,793 (2010) • no policy of widespread site filtering. • Bloggers generally avoid sensitive topics, such as Western Sahara and the royal family

24. History – PrehistoricMorocco • Morocco’s first-known inhabitants were Near Eastern nomads who may have been distant cousins of the ancient Egyptians • Phoenicians appear to have arrived around 800 BC, and when the Romans arrived in the 4th century BC, they called the expanse of Morocco and western Algeria‘Mauretania’ and the indigenous people ‘Berbers’, meaning ‘barbarians’. • In the 1st century AD, the Romans built up Volubilis into a city of 20,000 (mostly Berber) people, but, fed up with the persistently unruly Berbers, the Roman emperor Caligula declared the end of Berber autonomy in North Africa in AD 40. • Rome controlled the vast, ill-defined territory through alliances with the tribes rather than through military occupation, expanding its authority only to those areas that were economically useful or that could be defended without additional manpower. • Around 278 AD Romans moved their regional capital to Tangar and Volubilis started to loss importance. • The region remained a part of the Roman Empire until 429 AD as the Vandals overran the area and Roman administrative presence came to an end. • Indeed in the 5th century, the region fell to the Vandals, Visigoths, and then Byzantin Greeks in rapid succession.

25. Early IslamicMorocco • In the second half of the 7th century, the soldiers of the Prophet Mohammed set forth from the Arabian Peninsula and overwhelmed the peoples of North Africa, bringing their civilization and Islam. Within a century, nearly all Berber tribes had embraced Islam, although, local tribes developed their own brand of Islamic Shi’ism, which sparked rebellion against the eastern Arabs • The Arabs abhorred the Berbers as barbarians, while the Berbers often saw the Arabs as only an arrogant and brutal soldiery bent on collecting taxes. • By 829, local elites had established an Idrissid state with its capital at Fès, dominating all of Morocco. Thus commenced a cycle of rising and falling Islamic dynasties, which included the Almoravids (1062–1147), who built their capital at Marrakesh; the Almohads (1147–1269), famous for building the Koutoubia Mosque; the Merenids (1269–1465), known for their exquisite mosques and madrassas(Quranic schools), especially in Fès; the Saadians (1524–1659), responsible for the Palais el-Badi in Marrakesh; and the Alaouites (1659–present).

26. The Alaouite Dynasty • The Alaouite Dynasty is the name of the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of its founder Moulay Ali Cherifwho became Sultan of Tafilalt in 1631. His son Mulay r-Rshid(1664–1672) was able to unite and pacify the country. The Alaouite family claim descent from Muhammad through the line of Fāṭimahaz-Zahrah, Muhammad's daughter, and her husband, the Fourth Caliph ‘AlīibnAbīṬālib. • According to some legends the Alaouites entered Morocco at the end of the 13th century when Al Hassan Addakhil, who lived then in the town of Yanbu in the Hejaz, was brought to Morocco by the inhabitants of Tafilalet to be their imām. His descendants began to increase their power in southern Morocco after the death of the Saʻdī ruler Ahmad al-Mansur (1578–1603). • In 1659, the last Saʻdī sultan was overthrown in the conquest of Marrakech by Mulay r-Rshid (1664–1672). After the victory over the zāwiya of Dila, who controlled northern Morocco, he was able to unite and pacify the country. • The organization of the kingdom developed under Ismail Ibn Sharif (1672–1727), who, against the opposition of local tribes began to create a unified state. Because the Alaouites, in contrast to previous dynasties, did not have the support of a single Berber or Bedouin tribe, Isma'īl controlled Morocco through an army of black slaves. With these soldiers he drove the English from Tangiers (1684) and the Spanish from Larache (1689.) However, the unity of Morocco did not survive his death — in the ensuing power struggles the tribes became a political and military force once again

27. The Alaouite Dynasty • Only with Muhammad III (1757–1790) could the kingdom be pacified again and the administration reorganized. A renewed attempt at centralization was abandoned and the tribes allowed to preserve their autonomy. • In 1777 Morocco was the very first state to recognize the sovereignty of a newly independent United States • Under Abderrahmane (1822–1859) Morocco fell under the influence of the European powers. When Morocco supported the Algerian independence movement of the Emir Abd al-Qadir, it was heavily defeated by the French in 1844 and made to abandon its support. • From Muhammad IV (1859–1873) and Hassan I(1873–1894) the Alaouites tried to foster trading links, above all with European countries and the United States. The army and administration were also modernized, to improve control over the Berber and Bedouin tribes • Sultan Mohammed V(1927–1961) supportedtheIstiqlal Party, which was founded 1944, duringthefrenchprotectorate. When he died suddenly of heart failure in 1961, Hassan II(1961-1999) became King of Morocco on March 3, 1961. His rule would be marked by political unrest, and the ruthless government response earned the period the name "the years of lead". The new king took personal control of the government as prime minister and named a new cabinet. • Hassan II died in 1999 and Morocco held its breath. His son Mohammed VIcameto power. He isthecurrentkingofMorocco. • The Alaouite DynastyhasmarkedMoroccanhistoryfordecades

28. European Influence – French Protectorateand Independence • Morocco's location and resources led to early competition among European powers in Africa, beginning with successful Portuguese efforts to control the Atlantic coast in the 15th century. France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830. Following recognition by the United Kingdom in 1904 of France's "sphere of influence" in Morocco, the "crisis" of 1905-1906 was resolved at the Algeciras Conference (1906), which formalized France's "special position" and entrusted policing of Morocco jointly to France and Spain.The Treaty of Fes (1912) made Morocco a protectorate of France until the independence in 1956. By the same treaty, Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern and southern (Saharan) zones. • The first nationalist political parties based their arguments for Moroccan independence on such World War II declarations as the Atlantic Charter (a joint statement issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill that sets forth, among other things, the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live). A manifesto of the Istiqlal (Independence) Party in 1944 was one of the earliest public demands for independence. That party subsequently provided most of the leadership for the nationalist movement. • France's exile of the highly respected Sultan Muhammad V in 1953 and his replacement by the unpopular Muhammad Ben Aarafa, whose reign was perceived as illegitimate, sparked active opposition to the French protectorate. France allowed Muhammad V to return in 1955; negotiations leading to independence began the following year.

29. European Influence – French Protectorateand Independence • The Kingdom of Morocco recovered its political independence from France on March 2, 1956. By agreements with Spain in 1956 and 1958, Moroccan control over certain Spanish-ruled areas was restored . On October 29, 1956, the signing of the Tangier Protocol politically reintegrated the former international zone. Spain, however, retained control over the small enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in the north and the enclave of Ifni in the south. Ifni became part of Morocco in 1969. After the death of his father, Muhammad V, King Hassan II succeeded to the throne on March 3, 1961. He recognized the Royal Charter proclaimed by his father on May 8, 1958, which outlined steps toward establishing a constitutional monarchy. Further negotiations for full independence culminated in the Spanish-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris on March 2, 1956. • In the months that followed independence, Mohammed V proceeded to build a modern governmental structure under a constitutional monarchy in which the sultan would exercise an active political role. He acted cautiously, having no intention of permitting more radical elements in the nationalist movement to overthrow the established order. He was also intent on preventing the Istiqlal from consolidating its control and establishing a single-party state. In August 1957, Mohammed V assumed the title of king.

30. Post-Independence • A constitution providing for representative government under a strong monarchy was approved by referendum on December 7, 1962. Elections were held in 1963. In June 1965, following student riots and civil unrest, the king invoked article 35 of the constitution and declared a "state of exception." He assumed all legislative and executive powers and named a new government not based on political parties. In July 1970, King Hassan submitted to referendum a new constitution providing for an even stronger monarchy. Its approval and the subsequent elections formally ended the 1965 "state of exception." • An unsuccessful coup on July 10, 1971, organized by senior military officers at Skhirat, was followed by Morocco's third constitution, approved by popular referendum in early 1972. The new constitution kept King Hassan's powers intact but enlarged from one-third to two-thirds the number of directly elected parliamentary representatives. In August 1972, after a second coup attempt by Moroccan Air Force dissidents and the King's powerful Interior Minister General Oufkir, relations between the opposition and the Crown deteriorated, due to disagreement on opposition participation in elections. The king subsequently appointed a series of nonpolitical cabinets responsible only to him.

31. The Western Sahara Conflict – theSpanishIssue – a shorttimeline • 1973 - Polisario movement formed, aims to establish an independent state in Spanish Sahara, a territory south of Morocco controlled by Spain. The group has Algerian support. • King Hassan became Arab world's longest-serving ruler • 1975 6 November - The Green March: King Hassan orders 350,000 civilian volunteers to cross into Spanish Sahara. • 1975 December - Spain agrees to leave Spanish Sahara, soon to become Western Sahara, and to transfer it to joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control. Algeria objects and threatens military intervention. Moroccan forces enter and occupy the territory. • 1976 - Moroccan and Algerian troops clash in Western Sahara. Algeria announces the formation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government-in-exile. Morocco and Mauritania divide-up Western Sahara.

32. The Western Sahara Conflict – theSpanishIssue – a shorttimeline • 1976 onwards - Fighting between Moroccan military and Polisario forces; the war is a considerable financial drain on Morocco. • 1983 - Summit between King Hassan and Algerian president prompts thaw in relations. • Polisario soldiers waged a guerrilla war against Morocco • 1983 - King cancels planned elections amid political unrest and economic crisis. • 1984 - Morocco leaves the Organisation of African Unity in protest at the SADR's admission to the body. Polisario claims to have killed more than 5,000 Moroccan soldiers between 1982-85. • 1988 - Resumption of full diplomatic relations with Algeria.

33. The Western Sahara Conflict – theceasefire • 1991 - UN-monitored ceasefire begins in Western Sahara, but the territory's status remains undecided and ceasefire violations are reported. The following decade sees much wrangling over a proposed referendum on the future of the territory but the deadlock is not broken. • 2002 July - Morocco and Spain agree to US-brokered resolution over the disputed island of Perejil. Spanish troops had taken the normally-uninhabited island after Moroccan soldiers landed on it and set up tents and a flag. • 2002 December - Morocco and Spain hold their first talks since their conflict over Perejil. In January 2003 they agree to return ambassadors.

34. The Western Sahara Conflict – currentevents • In 2007 Morocco requested U.N. action against a congress to be held by the Polisario Front in Tifariti from December 14 to December 16. Morocco claims Tifariti is part of a buffer zone and the holding the congress there violates a ceasefire between the two parties. In addition, the Polisario Front has been reported as planning a vote on a proposal for making preparations for war. If passed it would be the first time in 16 years preparations for war have been part of the Polisario's strategy. • In October 2010 GadaymIzik camp was set up near Laayoune as a protest by displaced Sahrawi people about their living conditions. It was home to more than 12,000 people. In November 2010 Moroccan security forces entered GadaymIzik camp in the early hours of the morning, using helicopters and water cannons to force people to leave. The Polisario Front said Moroccan security forces had killed a 26-year-old protester at the camp, a claim denied by Morocco. Protesters in Laayoune threw stones at police and set fire to tyres and vehicles. Several buildings, including a TV station, were also set on fire. Moroccan officials said five security personnel had been killed in the unrest.

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