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Morocco — المغرب
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It has a population of roughly 37 million, the official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber; French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.
The region constituting Morocco has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era over 300,000 years ago. The Idrisid dynasty was established by Idris I in 788 and was subsequently ruled by a series of other independent dynasties, reaching its zenith as a regional power in the 11th and 12th centuries, under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, when it controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope of the region. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Morocco faced external threats to its sovereignty, with Portugal seizing some territory and the Ottoman Empire encroaching from the east. The Marinid and Saadi dynasties otherwise resisted foreign domination, and Morocco was the only North African nation to escape Ottoman dominion. The 'Alawi dynasty, which rules the country to this day, seized power in 1631, and over the next two centuries expanded diplomatic and commercial relations with the Western world. Morocco's strategic location near the mouth of the Mediterranean drew renewed European interest; in 1912, France and Spain divided the country into respective protectorates, reserving an international zone in Tangier. Following intermittent riots and revolts against colonial rule, in 1956, Morocco regained its independence and reunified.
Since independence, Morocco has remained relatively stable. It has the fifth-largest economy in Africa and wields significant influence in both Africa and the Arab world; it is considered a middle power in global affairs and holds membership in the Arab League, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. Morocco is a unitary semi-constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The executive branch is led by the King of Morocco and the prime minister, while legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament: the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. Judicial power rests with the Constitutional Court, which may review the validity of laws, elections, and referendums. The king holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy and religious affairs; he can issue decrees called dahirs, which have the force of law, and can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the prime minister and the president of the constitutional court.
Morocco claims ownership of the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, which it has designated its Southern Provinces. In 1975, after Spain agreed to decolonise the territory and cede its control to Morocco and Mauritania, a guerrilla war broke out between those powers and some of the local inhabitants. In 1979, Mauritania relinquished its claim to the area, but the war continued to rage. In 1991, a ceasefire agreement was reached, but the issue of sovereignty remained unresolved. Today, Morocco occupies two-thirds of the territory, and efforts to resolve the dispute have thus far failed to break the political deadlock. (Full article...)
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El Guerrouj in 2010
Hicham El Guerrouj (Arabic: هشام الݣروج; Berber languages: ⵀⵉⵛⴰⵎ ⴻⵍ ⴳⴻⵔⵔⵓⵊ, romanized:Hisham El Gerruj; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile events, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games.
El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and holds seven of the 10 fastest times ever run in the 1500 m and in the mile.
El Guerrouj won a gold medal in the 1500 m at the 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003 World Athletics Championships. He won the World Athlete of the Year awards three times, and in November 2014, was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Hall of Fame. (Full article...)
Image 2A cannon from the republican era in Salé (from History of Morocco)
Image 3Moroccan women wearing takshita (1939 photo) (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 4The Manifesto of Independence presented by the Istiqlal Party on 11 January 1944 established Sultan Muhammad V as a symbol of the nationalist struggle. (from History of Morocco)
Image 5A folio of an 18th-century Moroccan Quran, with a characteristically Maghrebi script used to write surahs 105–114 (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 8Sultan Abd-al-Aziz with his bicycle in 1901. The young sultan was noted for his capricious spending habits, which exacerbated a major trade deficit. (from History of Morocco)
Image 9Status quo in Western Sahara since 1991 cease-fire: most under Moroccan control (Southern Provinces), with inner Polisario-controlled areas forming the Sahrawi Arab Republic. (from History of Morocco)
Image 10Taburida, a traditional Arab exhibition of horsemanship performed during festivals (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 11The ancient harbor at the Bou Regreg, taken from Salé facing Rabat (from History of Morocco)
Image 12Phoenician plate with red slip, 7th century BCE, excavated on Mogador Island, Essaouira. Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Museum. (from History of Morocco)
Image 13Portuguese possessions in Morocco (1415-1769) (from History of Morocco)
Image 14A window displaying a wrought iron window grill in Asila. The knots are tied with bent metal in the traditional way, rather than soldered. (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 15The Almoravid empire at its height stretched from the city of Aoudaghost to the Zaragoza in Al-Andalus (from History of Morocco)
Image 17Festival Scene: a watercolor by Muhammad Ben Ali Rabati, one of Morocco's first painters (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 18The Berber entrepot Sijilmassa along the trade routes of the Western Sahara, c. 1000–1500. Goldfields are indicated by light brown shading. (from History of Morocco)
Image 20Couscous is traditionally enjoyed on Friday, the holy day in Islam. Garnished with vegetables and chickpeas, it is served communally. (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 21French artillery in Rabat in 1911. The dispatch of French forces to protect the sultan from a rebellion instigated the Agadir Crisis. (from History of Morocco)
Image 23portrait of his excellence Mohamed Ben Ali abgali with Al sulham, ambassadeur of king morocco to the court of saint jame.august 1725. (from Culture of Morocco)
Image 24The assassination of Émile Mauchamp March 1907, which precipitated the French invasion of Oujda and the conquest of Morocco. (from History of Morocco)
Image 29The Maghreb in the second half of the 19th century (from History of Morocco)
Image 30Idrisid dirham, minted at al-'Aliyah (Fes), Morocco, 840 CE. The coin features the name of Ali: a son-in-law of Muhammad, the fourth Caliph, and an ancestor of the Idrisids.
Image 31A 19th century poster of the word "Allah" by the master calligrapher Muhammad Bin Al-Qasim al-Qundusi in his improvised Maghrebi script. (from Culture of Morocco)
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Morocco competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The country's participation at Vancouver marked its fifth appearance at a Winter Olympics since its debut in 1968; no athlete had won any medals. The 2010 delegation consisted of a single athlete competing in alpine skiing, Samir Azzimani, who was also the nation's flag bearer in the Parade of Nations. Azzimani brought a group of schoolchildren from a suburb of Metz, France, which had seen rioting in January that year. Azzimani was one of three African skiers at the Games, and did not win any medals. (Full article...)
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In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Casablanca as 3,359,818, which corresponds to the population of Casablanca Prefecture.
In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Fez as 1,112,072, which corresponds to the combined population of those parts of Fez Prefecture not within the cercle of Fez Banlieue ("suburbs").
In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Tangier as 947,952, which corresponds to the combined population of the four arrondissements of Bni Makada, Charf-Mghogha, Charf-Souani and Tanger-Médina.
In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Marrakesh as 928,850, which corresponds to the combined population of the municipality of Méchouar-Kasba and the five arrondissements of Annakhil, Gueliz, Marrakech-Médina, Ménara and Sidi Youssef Ben Ali.
In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Salé as 890,403, which corresponds to the combined population of the five arrondissements of Bab Lamrissa, Bettana, Hssaine, Layayda and Tabriquet.
In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Meknes as 632,079, which corresponds to the combined population of the municipalities of Meknes, Al Machouar – Stinia, Toulal and Ouislane.
In the 2014 census, the High Commission for Planning gave the legal population of Rabat as 577,827, which corresponds to the population of Rabat Prefecture.
The population figure refers only to the urban centre (HCP geographic code 09.001.05.09.3) of the rural commune of Drargua.