General information :

Morocco stands at the western extremity of the Arab and the Muslim world. Seperated only by 9 miles from Europe. A gateway for travellers into Africa. A country of inspiration and romantic allure for the westerner. Its greatest charm lies in the labyrinths of the imperial cities. Rabat, Marrakech, Meknes,and Fes. It is with no doubt that Morocco is home to an amazing rich architectural tradition and its medieval cities,Roman ruins,Berber fortresses,and beautiful Islamic monuments are among the the best examples of the their kind in the world.
Tangier, Casablanca, Marrakech...just the names of these cities and towns should stir a hint of spice in the nostrils of the most geographically challenged. Many Moroccan destinations have been mythologized, and for good reason, but the more jaded traveller may well moan about the extinction of the `real' Morocco. Still others will extol the country's unique living history, its shimmering light, its art.
Morocco is the ideal starting point for the traveller to Africa. An easy hop from Europe, it can be a friendly, hectic and stimulating place to get around in. Open-air markets throughout the country are piled high with rugs, woodwork, and jewellery.

Facts at a Glance:

Full country name: Kingdom of Morocco
Area: 710,850sq km
Population: more than 31million
Capital city: Rabat
People: 55% Arab, 44% Berber, 0.7% foreigners, 0.2% Jews
Languages: Arabic (officially) with Berber dialects, as well as French, Spanish and English.
Religion: Islam
political system: Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: King Mohammed VI

Economic Profile :

GDP: US$87.5 billion
GDP per head: US$3,100
Inflation:from 10% in the begging of the 1990’s to 1,5% in 2004
Major industries: Agriculture, manufacturing, fishing, tourism
Major trading partners: France, Spain, Italy, Germany , Great Britain.

Environment:

Spectacularly diverse, Morocco combines sand, sea and snow. The southern coast stretches to the edge of the Western Sahara while to the north the bulk of Morocco's population fills the foothills of the often snow-capped Atlas Mountains. The mountains are important obstacles against the invasion of the desert.
Between the mountains and Morocco's Atlantic coast are plateaus and plains which are fertile and well watered. In the extreme south, at the edge of the Anti-Atlas, the gorges which, like the rivers that flow at their bases, gradually peter out into the endless sand and stony wastes of the vast Sahara.
The `coolest of the hottest countries', Morocco's colder months are most un-African. In the higher regions in particular, winter conditions can be positively Arctic. In summer, the mountains are hot during the day and cool at night. The rainy season between November and April is something of a misnomer, bringing only occasional light rain.

History:

Unlike other North African nations, Morocco has been largely occupied by the one people for as long as recorded history can recall. The Berbers, or Imazighen (men of the land), settled in the area thousands of years ago and at one time they controlled all of the land between Morocco and Egypt. Divided into clans and tribes, they have always jealously guarded their independence. It's this fierce independence that has helped preserve one of Africa's most fascinating cultures.

The early Berbers were unmoved by the colonising Phoenicians, and even the Romans did little to upset the Berber way of life after the sack of Carthage in 146 BC. All the same, the Romans ushered in a long period of peace during which many cities were founded, and the Berbers of the coastal plains became city dwellers. Christianity turned up in the 3rd century AD, and again the Berbers asserted their traditional dislike of centralised authority by following Donatus (a Christian sect leader who claimed that the Donatists alone constituted the true church).
Islam burst onto the world stage in the 7th century when the Arab armies swept out of Arabia. Quickly conquering Egypt, the Arabs controlled all of North Africa by the start of the 8th century. By the next century much of North Africa had fragmented, with the move towards a united Morocco steadily growing. A fundamentalist Berber movement emerged from the chaos caused by the Arab invasion, overrunning Morocco and Muslim Andalusia (in Spain). The Almoravids founded Marrakech as their capital, but they were soon replaced by the Almohads.

Under these new rulers, a professional civil service was set up and the cities of Fez, Marrakech, Tlemcen and Rabat reached the peak of their cultural development. But eventually weakened by Christian defeats in Spain, and paying the price for heavily taxing tribes, the Muslim (or Moorish) rule began to wane. In their place came the Merenids, from the Moroccan hinterland, and the area again blossomed - until the fall of Spain to the Christians in 1492 unleashed a revolt that dissolved the new dynasty within 100 years.

After a number of short-lived dynasties rose and fell, the Alawite family secured a stranglehold in the 1630s that remains firm to this day. Although it was rarely a smooth ride, this pragmatic dynasty managed to keep Morocco independent for more than three centuries.
Enter the European traders in the late 19th century, and a long era of colonial renovations. Suddenly France, Spain and Germany were all keen on hijacking the country for its strategic position and rich natural resources. France won out and occupied virtually the entire country by 1912. Spain clung to a small coastal protectorate and Tangier was declared an international zone in 1923..
Relatively speaking, the first French resident-general, Marshal Lyautey, respected the Arab culture. He generously resisted the urge to destroy the existing Moroccan towns and instead built French new towns alongside them. He made Rabat on the Atlantic coast the new capital and developed the port of Casablanca. Lyautey's successors were not so sensitive. Their efforts to speed French settlement prompted the people of the Rif Mountains, led by the Berber scholar Abd el-Krim, to rise up against both colonial forces. It was only through the combined efforts of 25,000 Spanish-French troops that Abd el-Krim was eventually forced to surrender in 1926. By the 1930s, more than 200,000 French had made Morocco home. The Allied forces used Morocco as a base from which to drive the Germans out of North Africa.
With the war over, Sultan Mohammed V ,with his strong determination,managedto bring independence to Morocco in 1956. Tangier was reclaimed in the process, but Spain refused to hand over the northern towns of Ceuta and Melilla (to this day they remain Spain's last tenuous claim on Africa).
The Great Mohamed the V died in 1961, and was succeeded by his son, Hassan II. This popular leader cemented his place in Moroccan hearts and minds by staging the Green March into the Western Sahara.

Culture:

From the `standard' Arabic culture, Morocco has developed an elaborate patchwork of artistic traditions. The thread holding it all together is music; from the classical style that developed in Muslim Spain and the storytelling musical traditions of the indigenous Berbers through to the contemporary fusion of African, French, pop and rock. Although identified more with Algeria, Rai (opinion) music is a burgeoning force in Morocco. Despite its distinctly Arab-African rhythms (it owes much to Bedouin music), it's probably the most thoroughly westernised style, combining a variety of electrical instruments to create a hypnotic effect.

Morocco's Islamic streak has meant that, compared to most African nations, dance is a fairly low key affair (theoretically, Muslim women are not supposed to dance).
Crafts are another staple of Morocco. Its Maronquinerie (leatherware) has been a highly prized item among the cargo of traders since the 16th century. An equally rich heritage lives on in the production of carpets, pottery, jewellery, brassware and woodwork.

Painted and sculpted panels for interior decoration are commonplace, and intricate tiled ornamentation still graces the interior of various medersas and other religious buildings and wealthy homes. The mashrabiyya, screens allowing Muslim women to observe the goings-on in the street without being seen.
From the outside looking in, Morocco has inspired all sorts of artists. The French Neo-Baroque artist Eugene Delacroix devoted bucket loads of paint to Moroccan imagery after a visit in the 1830s. Market scenes, harem life and lion hunts dominated his canvases from this point onwards. And if Delacroix was considered a little over the top at the time, a century later Hollywood was positively beside itself with Morocco-mania. First there was Marlene Dietrich in Morocco. This was followed by the 1942 classic Casablanca. And by the time Peter O'Toole was swanning around Morocco as Lawrence of Arabia, the country had become a gloriously distorted fantasy land for countless western baby boomers.
Spoken Moroccan is considerably different from the Arabic spoken in the Middle East. Various Berber dialects are widely spoken in the countryside and particularly in the mountains.
Moroccan food is good and with flavour, without being wildly exciting. The national dish is couscous, finely ground semolina, which usually accompanie.s a vegetable and lamb . Sweet mint tea is the Moroccan drink .
Around May there's the Mousseum of Sidi Mohammed M'a al-Anim, an occasion to see the `blue people' (Moors of the Sahara) and the commercial gathering of tribes. The National Folklore Festival of Marrakech is a 10-day tourist event well worth attending for the dancers, musicians and other entertainers from around the country. In October, the little Northern town of Erfoud hosts a festival in honour of the quintessential desert fruit, the date. Independence Day, one of five national secular holidays, is celebrated on 18 November.

Attractions:
TANGIER
The "Pearl of the Straits", Tangier wins hearts and minds through the elusive atmosphere pervading its streets. Many are those who came for a day and remained for a lifetime. From Tennessee Williams to Jean Genet, From Henri Matisse to Paul Bowles or from Samuel Beckett to Roland Barthes , the number of celebrities, artists, writers, who succumbed to the charms of a town to which they devoted at least part of their work, is legion.
If you arrive from the sea, you are overwhelmed by the grace of a town that has acquired mythical status. Its dazzling white Kasbah spreads over a hill looking down on a bustling fishing harbour. From the Café Hafa, there is an overwhelming view over the Straits of Gibraltar. Seated at the gate of Africa, you are presented with one of the most fascinating landscapes. You are in Tangier, a city so beautiful that even the Atlantic arranges to meet the Mediterranean there.

Rabat:
The fourth of the imperial cities, Rabat is a curious mix of a long past and a highly modernised present. The city's glory days were in the 12th century, when the sultan used the Kasbah (citadel) as a base for campaigns against the Spanish. It was during this time that the city's most famous landmarks sprang up. A haven for Muslims driven out of Spain in the end of the 15th century and a capital city only since the days of the French occupation (1912), Rabat's ambience comes from Islam and Europe in fairly equal proportions. For every place of worship there are three or four European-style cafes.
The city's most famous site is the Tour Hassan, the incomplete minaret of the great mosque begun by Yacoub al-Mansour. An earthquake brought construction to a halt in 1755. Alongside is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the present king's father. The Kasbah des Oudaias, built on the bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, houses a former palace which is now a museum of traditional art. Beyond the city walls are the remains of the ancient city of Sala. Also known as Chella, it has Morocco's best Archaeology Museum.

Casablanca:
Of all the cities in the entire world, Hollywood chose this one to immortalise as the classic exotic colonial outpost. Those looking for a latter-day Humphrey Bogart round every corner will be disappointed. This is no sleepy dive. Morocco's largest city and industrial centre. This port city was deep in decline until the French decided to remodel it with wide boulevards, public parks and imposing Moresque (Moorish) civic buildings. Casablanca's medina, or ancient quarter, is worth a look and the Hassan II Mosque here is one of the largest in the world. At the square known as the Place Mohammed V you'll find the country's most impressive examples of Moresque architecture.

Marrakech:
One of Morocco's most impressive cultural centres, Marrakech is a lively former capital famed for its markets and festivals. Its wildly beating heart is the Place Djemaa el-Fna, a huge square in the old city. Rows of open-air food stalls are set up here and mouth-watering aromas fill the air. Jugglers, storytellers, snake charmers, magicians, acrobats …The souks (markets) here are among the best in Morocco .
Among the many attractions of the ancient quarter is the rare Almoravid-style Badie Palace (12th century) annex, the magnificent Koutoubia mosque and the Palais Dar Si Said (Museum of Moroccan Arts).

Fes:
The oldest of the imperial cities, Fez is arguably the spiritual capital of Morocco. Its labyrinthine streets and crumbling grandeur add to its air of intrigue and self-importance. The medina of Fez el-Bali (Old Fez) is one of the largest living medieval cities in the world and the gates and walls that surround it make it all the more magnificent.
Within the old city, tucked among roughly 9,400 streets and alleys, is the towering Medersa Bou Inania, a theological college built in 1350. Not far from here the henna souk is a market specialising in the dye used for colouring hair and tattooing women' hands and feet. Next door to the old walled city is Fez el-Jdid, home to the city's Jewish community and many spectacular buildings. In between the two self-contained cities is the Dar Batha, now the Museum du Batha.

Off the Beaten Track:
Todra Gorge :
Near the High Atlas town of Tineghir, at the end of a lush valley of palms and mud-brick villages hemmed in by barren craggy mountains is one of Morocco's most glorious natural sights. This is the Todra Gorge: some 300m high but only 10m wide at its narrowest point, and with a crystal clear river running through it. Although the main gorge can be explored in half a day, those with more time should head further up the gorge towards Tineghir. The people here are very friendly and there are numerous Kasbahs. Rock climbing is becoming increasingly popular on the vertical rock face of the gorge and camping around the base is also an attractive option. There are plenty of hotels in and around the gorge itself. For the more adventurous, a network of difficult pistes links the sporadic villages here in the High and Middle Atlas mountains.

Essaouira:
This town is the most popular of Morocco's coastal spots with independent travellers, and only rarely do you see package tours here. By the looks of things, however, this won't last forever. Essaouira has a beautiful beach that curves for kilometres to the south. Those who've had enough haggling and jostling in the big cities will be glad to hear this town can be summed up in one word: relaxing. The forts of the old city are a blend of Portuguese, French and Berber military architecture, and their massiveness lends a powerful mystique to the town. The Skala du Port, designed to protect the town's sea, has good views and was also where Orson Welles shot some of his film Othello.

Volubilis:
About 33km from the city of Meknès is the site of the largest and best preserved Roman ruins in Morocco. Volubilis dates largely from the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, although excavations have revealed that the site was originally settled by Carthaginian traders even earlier.