The Geography of Morocco

General

• Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria
• and Western Sahara
• Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 5 00 W
• Map references: Africa

Area

• total: 446,550 sq km
• land: 446,300 sq km
• water: 250 sq km
• comparative: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries

• total: 2,017.9 km
• border countries: Algeria 1,559 km, Western Sahara 443 km, Spain (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Spain (Melilla) 9.6 km
• coastline: 1,835 km

Maritime claims

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

Climate and Terrain

• Climate: Mediterranean, becoming more extreme in the interior
• Terrain: northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains
• The Cultural effects of an unpredictable climate
• Elevation extremes:
  • lowest point: Sebkha Tah -55 m
  • highest point: Jebel Toubkal 4,165 m
• Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt

Land use

• arable land: 21%
• permanent crops: 1%
• permanent pastures: 47%
• forests and woodland: 20%
• other: 11% (1993 est.)
• irrigated land: 12,580 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues

land degradation/desertification (soil erosion resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation); water supplies contaminated by raw sewage; siltation of reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea

Geography - note: strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar

[Source: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mo.html]

Last modified: 13 May 2001