It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south.

Morocco's strategic location near the mouth of the Mediterranean drew renewed European interest; in 1912, France and Spain divided the country into respective protectorates, reserving an international zone in Tangier.

[21] The king holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy and religious affairs; he can issue decrees called dahirs, which have the force of law, and can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the prime minister and the president of the constitutional court.

[40] In the early part of Classical Antiquity, Northwest Africa and Morocco were slowly drawn into the wider emerging Mediterranean world by the Phoenicians, who established trading colonies and settlements there, the most substantial of which were Chellah, Lixus, and Mogador.

In the 13th and 14th centuries the Zenata Berber Marinids held power in Morocco and strove to replicate the successes of the Almohads through military campaigns in Algeria and Spain.

The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and a large expedition to West Africa inflicted a crushing defeat on the Songhay Empire in 1591.

After a period of political fragmentation and conflict during the decline of the Saadi dynasty, Morocco was finally reunited by the Alawi sultan al-Rashid in the late 1660s, who took Fez in 1666 and Marrakesh in 1668.

[91] In the first general elections that followed, the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party won a plurality of seats, with Abdelilah Benkirane being designated as head of government per the new constitution.

Extreme heat and low moisture levels are especially pronounced in the lowland regions east of the Atlas range due to the rain shadow effect of the mountain system.

The direct exposure to the North Atlantic Ocean, the proximity to mainland Europe and the long stretched Rif and Atlas mountains are the factors of the rather European-like climate in the northern half of the country.

It is part of the Mediterranean basin, an area with exceptional concentrations of endemic species undergoing rapid rates of habitat loss, and is therefore considered to be a hotspot for conservation priority.

Trade of animals and plants for food, pets, medicinal purposes, souvenirs and photo props is common across Morocco, despite laws making much of it illegal.

[129] The Parliament's powers, though still relatively limited, were expanded under the 1992 and 1996 and even further in the 2011 constitutional revisions and include budgetary matters, approving bills, questioning ministers, and establishing ad hoc commissions of inquiry to investigate the government's actions.

In 1984, Morocco withdrew from the organisation after it admitted the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1982 without conducting a referendum of self-determination in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

In November 2020, Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi president, unilaterally ended a 29-year-old ceasefire agreement with Morocco overseen by the United Nations.

The decades during which abuses were committed are referred to as the Years of Lead (les années de plomb), and included forced disappearances, assassinations of government opponents and protesters, and secret internment camps such as Tazmamart.

[157] There are also persistent allegations of violence against both Sahrawi pro-independence and pro-Polisario demonstrators[158] in Western Sahara; a disputed territory which is occupied by and considered by Morocco as part of its Southern Provinces.

[164] It is also a criminal offence in Morocco to undermine the monarchy; in August 2023, a Moroccan resident of Qatar was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for criticising the King's policy decisions on Facebook.

In 2022, tourism in Morocco had surpassed the average number of visitors in the 2010s, while setting an all-time high in 2023 with 14.5 million international tourist arrivals and MAD 104.7 billion in receipts.

[170] In 2010, the government launched its Vision 2020, which plans to make Morocco one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world and to double the annual number of international arrivals to 20 million by 2020.

[191] Morocco has embarked upon the construction of large solar energy farms to lessen dependence on fossil fuels, and to eventually export electricity to Europe.

[200] According to a study by the National Liquid Sanitation Master Plan (SNDAL) that started in 1994, only 15 of their 63 treatment plants are operational, and out of approximately 500 million cubic meters of wastewater generated annually, 95% is discharged untreated into natural water bodies.

[224] Other large communities can be found in Italy, Canada, the United States and Israel, where Moroccan Jews are thought to constitute the second biggest Jewish ethnic subgroup.

[240][241] Berbers, who are also known as Amazigh, are typically divided into three main groups with varying dialects who live spread out in rural mountain areas, namely the Rifians in the Rif, the Zayanes in the Middle Atlas, and the Shilha people in the Anti-Atlas.

[243] Additionally, a considerable portion of the population includes Haratin, Sahrawis, and Gnawa, descendants of West African or mixed-race enslaved peoples, as well as Moriscos, European Muslims expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 17th century.

[267] A significant portion of northern Morocco receives Spanish media, television signal and radio airwaves, which reportedly facilitate competence in the language in the region.

Moroccan architecture reflects Morocco's diverse geography and long history, marked by successive waves of settlers through both migration and military conquest.

[294] These mostly rural regions are marked by numerous kasbahs (fortresses) and ksour (fortified villages) shaped by local geography and social structures, of which one of the most famous is Ait Benhaddou.

Morocco, as a French and Spanish protectorate left Moroccan intellectuals the opportunity to exchange and to produce literary works freely with the contact of other Arabic literature and Europe.

While spices have been imported to Morocco for thousands of years, many ingredients such as saffron from Tiliouine, mint and olives from Meknes, and oranges and lemons from Fez, are home-grown.