Morocco Geography - 2024

Location

Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Mauritania

Geographic coordinates

28 30 N, 10 00 W

Map references

Africa

Area

total: 716,550 sq km

land: 716,300 sq km

water: 250 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than twice the size of California

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 3,523.5 km

border countries (3): Algeria 1,941 km; Mauritania 1,564 km; Spain (Ceuta) 8 km and Spain (Melilla) 10.5 km

note: an additional 75-meter border segment exists between Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Penon de Velez de la Gomera

Coastline

2,945 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate

Mediterranean in the north, becoming more extreme in the interior; in the south, hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew

note:  data does not include former Western Sahara

Terrain

mountainous northern coast (Rif Mountains) and interior (Atlas Mountains) bordered by large plateaus with intermontane valleys, and fertile coastal plains; the south is mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces 

Elevation

highest point: Jebel Toubkal 4,165 m

lowest point: Sebkha Tah -59 m

mean elevation: 909 m

Natural resources

phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt

Land use

agricultural land: 67.5% (2018 est.)

arable land: 17.5% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 2.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 47.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 11.5% (2018 est.)

other: 21% (2018 est.)

note: does not include the area of the former Western Sahara, which is almost exclusively desert

Irrigated land

17,645 sq km (2019)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Draa - 1,100 km

Population distribution

the highest population density is found along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts; a number of densely populated agglomerations are found scattered through the Atlas Mountains as shown in this

Natural hazards

in the north, the mountains are geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes; periodic droughts; windstorms; flash floods; landslides; in the south, a hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility

Geography - note

strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar; the only African nation to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines; the waters off the Atlantic coast are particularly rich fishing areas