Location:

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

Area:

total: 446,550 sq km
land: 446,300 sq km
water: 250 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 2,017.9 km
border countries: Algeria, Western Sahara, and Spain (Ceuta), Spain (Melilla).

Climate:

Mediterranean, becoming more extreme in the interior

Natural resources:

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

Land use:

arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 2%
other: 79% (2005)

Population:

33,241,259 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 31.6% (male 5,343,976/female 5,145,019)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 10,505,018/female 10,580,599)
65 years and over: 5% (male 725,116/female 941,531) (2006 est.)

Median age:

total: 23.9 years
male: 23.4 years
female: 24.5 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.55% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

21.98 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

5.58 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 40.24 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 43.99 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 36.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 70.94 years
male: 68.62 years
female: 73.37 years (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

15,000 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, and hepatitis A
vectorborne diseases: may be a significant risk in some locations during the transmission season (typically April through November) (2007)

Nationality:

noun: Moroccan(s)
adjective: Moroccan

Ethnic groups:

Arab-Berber 99.1%, other 0.7%, Jewish 0.2%

Religions:

Muslim 98.7%, Christian 1.1%, Jewish 0.2%

Languages:

Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French often the language of business, government, and diplomacy

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 51.7%
male: 64.1%
female: 39.4% (2003 est.)