Water Wars: Ethiopia and Kenya
Notable Entry, Interactive Narratives. 2008 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism.
Pulitzer Gateway: Water Wars
Visit the interactive Water Wars Web Portal, sponsored by the Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting.
Kibera: Not a Drop to Drink
The long rainy season in Kenya has begun and sudden storms regularly burst over Nairobi. Many welcome the downpours, which signal the end of another dry summer and wash the steamy crowded capital clean each morning.
As featured in Women's eNews, 1h2o.org, and Living on Earth. Produced in association with the Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting.
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Country Fact Sheets from the CLP
Because we believe that good journalism must be contextualized, we've decided to share with our readers some of the more interesting and lesser known facts about the countries we've reported on. While these are in no way comprehensive descriptions of these complex places, this is the information that we've found most helpful in placing these countries in a global framework and underscoring the broader implications of the issues we've covered. In developing these Fact Sheets, we've worked to incorporate both the official facts and statistics reported by government sources as well as our own observations through reporting in each country. If you have any suggestions or requests for information you'd like to see included, write to us at info@clpmag.org
Morocco
Morocco is a unique country at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the Muslim World. A key part of ancient Roman and Islamic Empires and trade routes from sub-Saharan Africa, Morocco was the first country to recognize the fledgling United States, was under heavy European influence during the 19th and Early 20th Centuries, and today attracts both Western tourists looking for a taste of the Arab world and African migrants seeking jobs in Europe. In recent years, Morocco has struggled to reconcile its strong Western ties with the growth of fundamentalist Islam within its borders.
Size: Slightly smaller than California.
Population: Just over 33 million.
Languages Spoken: Arabic is the official language with Berber dialects also in use - almost 75% of the population are of Berber descent. 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 in the middle of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, sharing its score of 3.2 (10 being the least corrupt) with Burkina Faso and Moldova.
Religion: 99% Muslim with small Christian and Jewish minorities
Gender and Health Issues: Literacy amongst 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 it 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 per capita is $4,400. 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: 19% of the population lives below the official poverty line
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 97th out of 168 countries on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, improving over 20 slots from the previous year's ranking.
Posted: 2007
Country Fact Sheet Sources
- General Statistics - CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
- Abortion Legal Status, Maternal Mortality, Infant Mortality, Contraception: http://www.medicationabortion.com
- Abortion Legal Status: http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_abortion_laws.htm
- Contraceptive Use: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/contraceptive2005/WCU2005.htm
- Maternal Mortality: http://www.childinfo.org/areas/maternalmortality/countrydata.php
- McDonald’s Country List: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_McDonald%27s_franchises
- Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19388
- The Economist Intelligence Unit Quality of Life Index: http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf
- Human Development Index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
- 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: www.yale.edu/esi/
- General Statistics - World Atlas: http://www.geographyiq.com
- Counterterrorism Funding Information - State Dept. Country Reports: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt
- Death Penalty Status: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-countries-eng
- Human Trafficking information: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/
- BBC Country Profiles: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
- Department For International Development: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/countries/allcountries.asp?view=region
- United Nations Development Programme: http://www.undp.org/
- The World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org/
Note: Population growth projections are often controversial. To calculate them for these fact sheets, we simply used the current population and population growth rate provided by the CIA World Factbook.