onlinefx destination guide to Morocco

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Country Name: Moroco

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Western Sahara

Area: 446,550 sq km

Land area: 446,300 sq km

comparative area: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries: total 2,002 km, Algeria 1,559 km, Western Sahara 443 km

International disputes: claims and administers Western Sahara, but sovereignty is unresolved; the UN is attempting to hold a referendum; the UN-administered cease-fire has been currently in effect since September 1991; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla which Morocco contests as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas

Climate: Mediterranean, becoming more extreme in the interior

Terrain: northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains

Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt

natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes; periodic droughts.

GEOGRAPHY

Situated on the northwestern corner of Africa, Morocco is bordered with Algeria to the east and southeast, Mauritania to the south and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean.

The country is divided into three natural regions; the fertile northern coastal plaint along the Mediterranean which contains Er Rif, mountains varying in elevation up to about 8,000 ft; the rich plateaus and lowlands lying between the rugged Atlas mountains, which extend in three parallel ranges from the Atlantic coast in the southwest to Algeria and the Mediterranean in the northeast; and the semiarid area in southern and eastern Morocco, which merges into the Sahara Desert, The Atlas Mountains, with an average elevation of 11,000 ft, contain some of the highest peaks of North Africa, including Mt. Toubkal (13,665 ft), the highest of all. South of the Atlas lie the Anti-Atlas Mountains, with volcanic Mt. Siroua (10,000 ft).

Morocco has the most extensive river system in North Africa. Moroccan rivers generally flow northwestward to the Atlantic or southeastward toward the Sahara; the Moulouya is an exception, and flows 350 miles north-eastwards from the Atlas to the Mediterranean. Principal rivers with outlets in the Atlantic are the Oumer River, Sebou, Bou Regreg, Tensift, Draa and Sous. The Ziz and Gheris are the main rivers flowing southward towards the Sahara.

Lowest point: Sebkha Tah -55m
Highest point: Jebel Toubkal 4,165m

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