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

Map references: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total 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

Coastline: 1,835 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

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: mostly mountains with rich coastal plains

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

Land use:
arable land: 18%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 28%
forest and woodland: 12%
other: 41%

Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: land degradation/desertification (soil erosion resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation); water supplies contaminated by untreated sewage; siltation of reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters
natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

Note: strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar

NOTE: The information regarding Morocco on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Morocco Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Morocco Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.