Morocco

__Overview__ Morocco as you can see is a beautiful place. But it does have some social problems we need to help work on. People in morocco dont live long at all! I have learned at lot from researching morocco. I have learned that there geography is a magnifecent place and people should go visit. Also that Morocco is a lively place and would be fun to visit in the near future. I also learned that the statistics that the population of morocco is only 34 million people! The econmy is not doing so well either. In religion i learned that over 99% of people in morocco are sunni, morocco. As you can see i have learned alot about morocco by doing this project.

Morocco is a very interesting country. I have learned a lot about it in my research. I learned about Morocco's king and a lot of statistics. I also learned about Morocco's government and how it is run. I think that it would be fun to visit Morocco one day because it looks very beautiful and it would be good to see the country that I am learning about. --Kylie McLaughlin--

 __Statistics-__ The population of morocco is nearly 34 million, and the area is about 275,000 square miles. The life expectancy is 70 years old in Morocco and the religion is Muslim. Morocco is home to 14 public universities. Morocccan Muslims praying. [|URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco]

__ Geography- __ Morocco is in North Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, southern border with Western Sahara, eastern border with Algeria. Morocco is the fifty-seventh largest country in the world.To the north, Morocco is bordered by and controls part of the strait of Gibralter, giving it power over the waterways in and out of the Medditeranean sea. The Rif Mountains occupy the region bordering the Mediterranean from the north-west to the north-east. [|URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Morocco]

__ Economy- __ The GDP is $56.72 billion, the GDP growth rate is 6.7%.The natural resources are Phosphates, fish, manganese, lead, silver, and copper. Agriculture products are--barley, citrus fruits, vegetables, olives, livestock, and fishing. **Morocco's economy** is considered a relatively liberal economy governed by the law of supply and demand. Since 1993, the country has followed a policy of privitazation of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government. This is Moroccan money!

Livestock in Morocco

[|URL:http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Morocco-ECONOMY.html]

**__Government-__** **Morocco's goverment is a Constitutional Monarchy and parliment. The current king is King Mohammed VI. His father** **King Hassan II** **was king before him. So the system is father to son. The king is the head of military and also the religious leader. Morocco's legislator consists of an upper chamber and lower chamber. The lower chamber's members are directly elected for the position while the upper chamber's members are indirectly elected through various local, regional and professional counsils. The parliaments powers are limited but consist of approving bills, budget, and questioning ministers. The lower chamber can dissolve the government through a vote of no.** [|URL:http://www.moroccanamericantrade.com/morogov.cfm]

** __ Religion- __More than 99% of Moroccans are Sunni Muslims. The activity of other sects (chiefly Sufi) has diminished since independence. Islam was officially declared the state religion in 1961, but full religious freedom is accorded Christians and Jews. Most of the country's practicing Christians are part of the foreign community, with a majority of them affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. Rabat and Casablanca have small Protestant communities. There are only about 5,000 Jews in the country, also mostly in the Casablanca and Rabat urban areas. There are small numbers of Baha'is and Hindus. ** **Under the leadership of King Mohammed VI (since 1999), the government has generally encouraged and promoted tolerance and respect among religions. For instance, in 1998 the government created a department for the study of comparative religions at the University of Rabat. However, it is illegal to attempt to convert any Muslim to another faith and traditional Islamic law requires punishment for Muslims who convert.**

casablanca [|URL:http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/morocco/culture-of-morocco/religion-in-morocco.html]

__ **Culture-** __ **Morocco is an ethically diverse country with a rich culture and civilization through Morrocan history, Morocco hosted many people coming from East, (Carthaginians, Jews and Arabs), South (Sub- Saharen africans) and North (Romans, Vandals, Andalusians (including moors and Jews)). All those civilizations have had an impact on the social structure of Morocco. It conceived various forms of beliefs, from paganisum, Judaism, and christianity to islam. The Moroccan National Theatre (founded 1956) offers regular productions of Moroccan and French dramatic works. Art and music festivals take place throughout the country during the summer months, among them theWorld sacred music,Festival at fes. Morrocan music influenced by Arab, Amazigh, African, and Andualusion traditions, makesuse of a number of traditional instruments, such as a flute, shawm, zither, and various short necked lutes. These are often backed be explosive percussion on the darbūkka (terra-cotta drum). Among the most popular traditional Moroccan artists internationally are the Master Musicians of Jajouka, an all-male guild trained from childhood, and Hassan Hakmoun, a master of gnāwa trance music, a popular spiritual style that traces its roots to sub-Saharan Africa. Younger Moroccans enjoy raï, a style of plain-speaking Algerian music that incorporates traditional sounds with those of Western rock, Jamaican reggae, and Egyptian and Moroccan popular music**



[|URl:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Morocco]

__Social Problems-__ Although Morocco has undertaken major social reforms, both public and private efforts have failed to eliminate social deprivation. According to Minister for Social Development, Families and Solidarity Abderrahim Harouchi, insufficient economic growth, high birth rates and the sluggish development of rural areas have diminished the effectiveness of public policy.

This is the Moroccan King.

[|URL:http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/990821/1999082116.html]

 __Other-__ Moroccan food. This is a picture of Casablanca in Morocco.