Morocco Fact Sheet
Photo:
- Size: Slightly smaller than California.
- Population: Almost 35 million.
- Languages Spoken: Arabic is the official language with Berber dialects also in use - almost 75% of the population are of Berber descent (Berber refers to the indigenous people of North Africa). French is often used as the language of business, government, and diplomacy
- Type of Government: A Constitutional Monarchy headed by King Mohammed VI, who maintains executive authority over Parliament and the military. Morocco ranks 80th out of 180 rankings on the 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index. The country has seen improvements in its human rights record and the development of a moderately free press in recent years, though total authority remains in the hands of the King.
- Religion: 99% Muslim with small Christian and Jewish minorities
- Gender and Health Issues: Literacy among women (39%) is just over half the rate for men. Abortion is legal only to preserve the mother's physical and mental health. Morocco's infant mortality rate (40.24 per 1000 live births) is almost ten times higher than that of the UK, but the country has one of the lowest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world.
- Environment and Resources: There is soil erosion resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation causing land degradation and desertification. Water supplies are contaminated by raw sewage and coastal waters suffer oil pollution. Morocco is fully dependent on foreign oil for energy.
- Economy: GDP (purchasing power parity) is $137.4 billion. In 2004, Moroccan authorities signed a free trade agreement with the US aimed at boosting foreign direct investment and trade. Remittances from Moroccans living abroad are the country's second largest source of income, and cultivation and production of hashish for European markets employs large portions of the northern population.
- International Aid Received: $706 million
- Receives US Counterterrorism Assistance: Yes
- Death Penalty: Abolished in practice, though still legal.
- Top Five Industries: Phosphate rock mining and processing, food processing, leather goods, textiles, construction
- Poverty Rate: 20% of the population lives below the official poverty line (defined at approximately $1.00 per day)
- Military Spending: 5% of total GDP – 19th highest rate worldwide.
- McDonald's Restaurants: McDonald's opened an outlet in Casablanca in 1992, its first in Africa, establishing its presence on all continents except Antarctica. Special item: The McSahara
- Human Trafficking Situation: Because of its location just a few miles by sea from Spain, Morocco is a major point of transit for illegal African migrants, as well as hashish and cocaine, destined for Western Europe.
- Currency: Moroccan dirham (MAD) – about 8.5 to the US Dollar
- Media: 4.6 million Moroccans, or about 14% of the population, are Internet users. In 2006 Morocco ranked 122nd out of 173 rankings on the 2008 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index.