Morocco





Deserts, Atlas Mountains, and Plains ||  || 172,413 square miles Mediterranean Climate || Government ||  || Democratic, Social,and Constitutional Monarchy (The Monarchy is hereditary) ||  || Constitutional Monarchy || Exports: Fruit, Fish, and Clothing ||  || Barley, Wheat, Citrus Fruit, Grapes, Vegetables, Olives, Livestock, Wine, Clothing, Textiles || They made handcrafted rugs, and jewelry Came up with the "genie" Wrote Poetry ||  || Handshakes are important greetings, and one familiar with a person a kiss on both cheeks while shakinghands.Today the Moroccan people still make the same things that they made in ancient times. || Christianity 1% Jewish 0.2% ||  || Muslim 98.7%,  Christian 1.1%, Jewish 0.2% ||
 * ||  || [[image:1299026921_99190c21_1299027005.gif]] ||   || [[image:1299026921_99190c21_1299026991.gif]] ||
 * Population: ||  || N/A ||   || 31,627,428 ||
 * Per Capita Income ||  || N/A ||   || $4,900 ||
 * Land Area ||  || Mild Climate
 * Political System/
 * Imports/Exports ||  || Imports: Textiles and Wheat
 * Cultural Traditions ||  || They used textiles to worship Allah.
 * Religion ||  || Sunni Muslims 99%

680 Islam arrives in Morocco

Abbasid Rule 750–788

[|Almoravid dynasty], ca. 1062–1150
 * 1062 || Youssef bin Tachfine founds the first great Berber dynasty and establishes his capital in [|Marrakesh]. The fine [|Almoravid Koubba] in Marrakesh is the only monument surviving from this period. ||
 * 1090 || Almoravids invade Spain. ||
 * 1120

1150- 1269 || Ibn Toumert sets up a ribat in Tin Mal in the High Atlas. The ruined mosque of Tin Mal can be visited (non-Muslims may enter)

[|Almohads take over and create their dynasty] called the Almohad Dynasty, || 1269 The capital was moved north to Fez after the Almohad dynasty fell.

1492 Jews began arriving in Morocco, Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world after their expulsion from Spain.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1585 The ruler of Morocco captured the Songhai’s salt mines in Taghaza and puts his eye on the Songhai source of gold.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1590, The Sultan of Morocco launched his successful attack to capture Timbuktu. Morocco sent 4,000 soldiers under the Muslim Spaniard Judar Pasha to conquer Songhai. After a five month journey across the Sahara, Pasha arrived with only 1,000 men, but his soldiers carried guns. The 25,000 men of the Songhai were no match for the guns and Gao, Timbuktu and most of Songhai fall.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1884 - Spain creates a protectorate in coastal areas of Morocco.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1904 - France and Spain carve out zones of influence.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1912 - Morocco becomes a French protectorate under the Treaty of Fez, administered by a French Resident-General. Spain continues to operate its coastal protectorate. The sultan has a largely figurehead role.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1921-26 - Tribal rebellion in Rif Mountains is suppressed by French and Spanish troops.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1943 - Istiqlal - Party of Independence - founded to press for independence.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1956 March - End of French protectorate after unrest and strong nationalist sentiment. Spain keeps its two coastal enclaves. Sultan Mohammed becomes king in 1957.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1961 - Death of King Mohammed; King Hassan II comes to power.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1963 - First general elections.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1975 6 November - The Green March: King Hassan orders 350,000 civilian volunteers to cross into Spanish Sahara.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1976 onwards - Fighting between Moroccan military and Polisario forces; the war is a considerable financial drain on Morocco.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1984 - Morocco leaves the Organization of African Unity in protest at the SADR's admission to the body. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Polisario claims to have killed more than 5,000 Moroccan soldiers. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1988 - Resumption of full diplomatic relations with Algeria.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1998 - Morocco's first opposition-led government comes to power.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1999 - King Hassan II is succeeded by his son, Mohammed VI.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2001 November - King Mohammed starts a controversial tour of Western Sahara, the first by a Moroccan monarch for a decade.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2002 December - Morocco and Spain hold their first talks since their conflict over Perejil. In January 2003 they agree to return ambassadors.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2003 May - More than 40 killed when suicide bombers attack several sites in Casablanca, including a Spanish restaurant and Jewish community centre.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2004 February - Powerful earthquake hits the north; more than 500 people are killed.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A picture of the earthquake in Morocco.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2005 September-October - Hundreds of African migrants try to storm Morocco's borders with the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. Morocco deports hundreds of the illegal migrants.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2006 April - Chinese President Hu Jintao visits, signs a series of trade agreements. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">President Hu Jintao. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2007 September - Parliamentary elections. The conservative Istiqlal party, a member of the ruling coalition, wins the most votes.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2008 July - Police arrest 35 people accused of recruiting for al-Qaeda in Algeria and Iraq and planning attacks in Morocco.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2008 August - Morocco arrests 15 people who made up alleged al-Qaeda-affiliated "Fath al-Andalous" group.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2009 February - Islamist Saad Housseini given 15-year sentence over 2003 Casablanca bombings that killed 45 people. Also wanted in Spain over Madrid bombings.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">2010 August - Tension between Spain and Morocco over incidents near the border with the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 18pt;">2010 December - Western Saharan delegates at a youth festival in South Africa try to replace the Moroccan flag with an anti-Moroccan banner, provoking clashes.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 18pt;"> Rabbat, Morocco
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The Capital of Morocco is Rabbat.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The currency of Morocco is dirham


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The population is made up of mostly Arabs and Berbers.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Morocco gained independence from France in 1956


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The only country in Africa not a member of the African Union


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The main language of Morocco is Arab following is Berber and French


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Morocco is a member of the Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, the Francophonie, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Mediterranean Dialogue group and Group of 77.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A number of stone circles, present in Morocco, serve as the proof of its contact with the megalithic cultures of Atlantic Europe.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The shrine of Sidi Yahya, situated in Oujda city of Morocco, is said to be the tomb of ‘John the Baptist’.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Elaborate ornamentation is a prominent feature of all of Morocco's imperial cities, especially Fez, the religious, intellectual, and cultural center of the country. Founded in the ninth century, the city developed in two traditions, one side settled by Andalusian Arabs in flight from their homeland.

A Moroccan Mosque
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Moroccan architecture is very distinctive and embodies the character of the country and its people. Structures ranging from city walls to mosques to private residences bear elements of Moroccan design.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Dance and performance in Morocco can be quite dramatic. Regional and ethnic styles range from ballet-like performances to colorful rhythmic dances. Dances sometimes involve men and women together. This is especially true of older Berber dances.



<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Islam has had major impacts on Moroccan culture from the start. Morocco has retained its diverse traditions by incorporating major attributes of Islam; from dance, to music, and art, into everyday life. The fact that the king has declared that everyone born is to be born Sunni Muslim has also preserved the culture. The country has grown in size and population over the past thousand years. While the cities are expanding, the nomadic farmers(mostly Berber) in the country are still where they were when Islam first came to morocco. This challenges morocco to become successful with the citizens in the circle of survival. Overall the most important changes are the arrival of Islam, and the French rule over the nation. Without Islam Morocco would be a whole different place, over 98% of the population follows Islam, its the basis of their culture, and every aspect of their lives. The French control of morocco in the first half of the twentieth century, has left the European flare in the cities. Something that may become an important change; their talked about change in government, citizens are revolting on how the king should have limited power, sparked by the revolutions happening around the Middle East and other parts of northern Africa. Morocco is a beautiful country, its North African Muslim traditions being the building blocks for their growing country and the European influences, it is a very interesting country to look for in the future.

<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|French rule of Morocco] <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">[|Modernity in Morocco] [|Morocco] Morocco <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Morocco Arts] <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Morocco Government] [|Morocco History] <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Morocco Timeline] <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">NewYorkTimes-Morocco in Chaos

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[|Morocco]