Morocco+Geography

= **The Geography of Morocco!** = 
 * History || Geography || Culture || Economics || Politics || Class Activities || Resources ||

Where is Morocco?
Morocco is located in North Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The southern part of Morocco borders with Western Sahara while the eastern part of Morocco borders with Algeria. Morocco size is quite larger, being approximately 172,413 square miles. This is slightly larger than the state of California in the United States.

What is the land like in Morocco?
Morocco’s land is primarily made up of coastal plains, mountains, and desert. Some of the land in Morocco, about 19% of the land, is used for growing crops. This land is called arable land. A small portion of the land, about 2%, is used for permanent crops. Permanent crops are produced from plants which last for many seasons, typically all four seasons of the year. Along with being produced year round, these crops do not need to be replanted after each harvest. The remaining land of Morocco has many other uses.



Climate
The climate is described as a Mediterranean climate, which is very warm. Their summers are usually dry and hot while their winters are mild to cool, and wet. The central and southern parts of Morocco experience extreme climate changes year round. In Marrakech the average temperature in summer is a sizzling 100°F (38°C)! In winter it´s around 70ºF (21ºC). In mountainous areas (like the Atlas range) temperatures often drop below zero and mountain peaks remain snow-capped throughout most of the year. Northern Morocco gets very wet and rainy during the winter, whereas in the south, at the edge of the Sahara, it gets bitterly dry and cold.

Natural Resources Morocco produces many natural resources that are valuable to their basic needs of living, while also benefiting our needs too! Morocco’s natural resources are phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish and salt.

Population
Morocco is largely populated with 32,309,239 citizens as of a July 2012 estimate. People living in Morocco are known as Moroccans. The most prevalent ethnic group living in Morocco is Arab-Berber (99%). The other 1% is considered other. The official language spoken in Morocco is Arabic. Many other dialects are spoken, such as Berber dialects and French. Most commonly, French is spoken in the language of business, government, and diplomacy. In comparison to all the countries in the world, Morocco is the 38th most populated country!





Resources: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html http://www.geographia.com/morocco/ http://www.ducksters.com/geography/country.php?country=Morocco

© 2012 All Rights Reserved Tasha MacKenzie- Revised April 25th, 2012 Email: tmack123@d47.org Phone: 815-555-3578