Portal:Morocco

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Intro

Welcome to the Morocco portal!

Morocco, (Arabic: المغرب‎),officially the Kingdom of Morocco (Arabic: المملكة المغربية‎), is a country in North Africa with a population of 33,241,259. It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco has international borders with Algeria to the east, Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with two small Spanish autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla), and Mauritania to the south.

Morocco is the only African country that is not currently a member of the African Union. However, it is a member of the Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, the Francophonie, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Mediterranean Dialogue group, and Group of 77, and is a major non-NATO ally of the United States.

The full Arabic name Al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiya translates to "The Western Kingdom." Al-Maghrib (meaning "The West") is commonly used. For historical references, medieval Arab historians and geographers used to refer to Morocco as Al-Maghrib al Aqşá ("The Farthest West"), disambiguating it from neighboring historical regions called al-Maghrib al Awsat ("The Middle West", Algeria) and al-Maghrib al Adna ("The Nearest West", Tunisia).

The latinized name "Morocco" originates from medieval Latin "Morroch," which referred to the name of the former Almoravid and Almohad capital, Marrakech. The Persians straightforwardly call it "Marrakech" while the Turks call it "Fas" which comes from the ancient Idrisid and Marinid capital, Fès.

It is that the word "Marrakech" is presumably derived from the Berber word Mur-Akush meaning Land of God.

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Selected article

A view of Tangier bay at sunrise as seen from Cape Malabata

(Tanja طنجة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish, Tânger in Portuguese, and Tanger in French) is a city of northern Morocco with a population of 669,680 (2004 census). It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. It is the capital of the Tangier-Tétouan Region.

The modern Tanjah (Anglicised as Tangier) is an ancient Phoenician town, founded by Carthaginian colonists in the early 5th century BCE. Its name is possibly derived from the Berber goddess Tinjis (or Tinga), and it remains an important city for the Berbers. Ancient coins call it Tenga, Tinga, and Titga, Greek and Latin authors giving numerous variations of the name. According to Berber mythology, the town was built by Sufax, son of Tinjis, the wife of the Berber hero Antaios. The Greeks ascribed its foundation to the giant Antaeus, whose tomb and skeleton are pointed out in the vicinity, calling Sufax the son of Hercules by the widow of Antaeus. The cave of Hercules, a few miles from the city, is a major tourist attraction. It is believed that Hercules slept there before attempting one of his twelve labours.

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Selected picture

The medieval Koutoubia Mosquein Marrakech edit

Moroccan History

Ancient History:

Mauretania Tingitana - Kingdom of Nekor -

Medieval History:

Idrisid dynasty - Maghrawa dynasty - Almoravid dynasty - Almohad dynasty - Marinid dynasty - Wattasid dynasty - Saadi dynasty

Modern History:

Abd el-Krim - Alaouite dynasty - Casablanca Attacks - History of Western Sahara - Ismail of Morocco - Republic of the Rif - Treaty of Fez -

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Did you know

...that the word "Morocco" was derived from Marrakech, the name of the capital city in the 11th and 12th centuries?
...that the word tangerine came from Tangier?
...that Morocco was the first coutry in the world to recognize the United States' independence

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Featured Moroccan

Driss Ksikes, A journalist and editor-in-chief and director of publication of the arabophone and darijophone Nichane magazine.

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Featured Foreigner

Hu Jintao, the president of the People's Republic of China.

Reason: His visit to Morocco on April 26, 2006. Chinese-Moroccan trade increased by 28 percent year in year to reach 150 million U.S. dollars in 2005.[1]

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Culture

Languages:

Moroccan Arabic - Berber languages - Maghrebi Arabic - Judeo-Berber languages - French - Spanish - Classical Arabic -

Literature

Leo Africanus - Muhammad Awzal - Tahar Ben Jelloun - Mohamed Choukri - Hemmou Talb -

Cuisine:

Couscous - Harira - Tajine - Cuisine of Morocco -

Music:

Andalusian classical music - Berber music - Chaabi - Gnawa - Malhun - Sephardic music - Music of Morocco -

Places

Djemaa el Fna - Hassan II Mosque - Majorelle Garden - Riad (Morocco) -

Sport

Morocco national football team - Morocco at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Hicham El Guerrouj - Said Aouita - Nawal El Moutawakel - Mustapha Hadji - Noureddine Naybet - Younes El Aynaoui - Marathon des sables -

Other

Moroccan style -

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Morocco ELECTRONIC NEWS MEDIA

The development of the Internet has brought a new dimension to news reporting in Morocco. Many of the major dailies and weeklies can now be accessed on their own Web sites. The landscape is changing almost as quickly as the Moroccan skyline. New publications such as Morocco Newsline Morocco Newsline.[1] (www.morocconewsline.com), an online English language newspaper, are in line with the country efforts to attract English speaking tourists and investors. In 2007, Tourist arrivals from all countries of origin were up. The most significant increase comes from the UK, whose 344 000 visitors represents a 41% rise on 2005 figures.

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Moroccan Websites

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Morocco in the News

2006-01-07: Hundreds of demonstrators demonstrated in the streets of Montreal, Canada after the Shooting of a Moroccan man by the Police. [2]
2006-01-06: King Mohammed VI regrets human rights abuses during the Years of lead and calls for drawing lessons from the past. [3]
2006-01-01: US-Morocco Free trade agreement starts today and becomes the first MENA country to have free trade with the US. [4]
2005-12-11: An Ethiopian student in the UK claims that he was tortured in Morocco by CIA agents. This claims follows recent accusations that the US is sending and torturing terrorist suspects to foreign countries in Eastern Europe and North Africa. [5]
2005-10-26: Two Moroccans (a driver and his assistant) were abducted by Al-Qaeda members in Iraq. [6]
2005-10-26: Moroccan authorities admit the shooting of 4 illegal immigrants at the borders in Ceuta, after a joint investigation with Spain. [7]
October 17, 2005: Authorities of both Morocco and Spain are under pressure from human right groups investigating the recent incidents in both Melilla and Ceuta's borders. Many illegal immigrants were killed. [8]
September 29, 2005: 5 Sub-Saharan illegal immigrants were killed while trying to jump the fences separating the border between Morocco and Spain, in both Ceuta and Melilla. [9]
September 11, 2005: FIFA congress starts in Marrakech for the first time in Africa after 101 years. [10]
August 26, 2005: Farid Essebar, an 18 years old Moroccan hacker suspect is arrested in Morocco for being behind the last Computer virus Zotob that attacked lately Windows 2000 platforms affecting CNN, The New York Times and United States Department of Homeland Security. [11]
August 25, 2005: New socio-economic projects are announced in Morocco. Around 20 million dollars are being allocated. [12]
August 25, 2005: New Algerian ambassador to Rabat is nominated. Army General Larbi Belkheir promised to develop ties with Morocco. [13]
August 25, 2005: Cotroversy around the [Adil Charkaoui] case in Canada. The Moroccan national is being accused of being a sleeping terrorist agent. The man is facing extradition to Morocco. [14]
August 20, 2005: Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade ends visit to Morocco. [15]
August 19, 2005: Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika promises better ties with Morocco. [16]
August 19, 2005: Moroccan national Mounir El Motassadeq is sentenced to 7 years of prison in Germany for his role in September 11 attacks. [17]
August 19, 2005: MEDA announces that an amount of 1, 25 billion Euro was invested in Morocco in the past decade. [18]
August 18, 2005: Polisario releases Moroccan POW's after almost 25 years. [19]
August 18, 2005: Intel opens offices in Morocco. [20]
August 17, 2005: More than a dozen of terrorist supects are arrested in Morocco. [21]
August 13, 2005: Jaouad Gharib defends his title as the World champion in Marathon in Helsinki. [22]
August 10, 2005: Royal Air Maroc is negotiating the purchase of 5 Dreamliners with Boeing. [23]