Morocco: North African Kingdom on Atlantic and Mediterranean

The Kingdom of Morocco occupies the northwest corner of Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea at the Strait of Gibraltar.

Borders

• North: Mediterranean Sea (Strait of Gibraltar — 14 km to Spain)
• West: Atlantic Ocean (2,900 km coastline)
• East: Algeria (1,559 km — closed border since 1994)
• South: Western Sahara (disputed; Morocco administers ~80%)
• Southwest: Mauritania (border via Western Sahara)

Key Cities

• Rabat: Capital (pop. 580K); administrative, diplomatic center
• Casablanca: Economic hub (3.7M metro); port, finance, industry
• Marrakech: Tourism magnet (1.3M); medieval medina, palaces, gateway to Atlas
• Fez: Spiritual/cultural capital; world's largest car-free medina (Fez el-Bali)
• Tangier: Gateway to Europe; free zone, port, literary history

Geographic Diversity

• Rif Mountains (north) — cannabis cultivation zone
• Middle Atlas — cedar forests, Barbary macaques
• High Atlas — Toubkal (4,167 m), trekking, Berber villages
• Anti-Atlas — arid, mineralized
• Saharan fringe — oases, dunes (Erg Chebbi, Erg Chigaga)

Morocco's position as Africa's "gateway to Europe" shapes its economy (EU trade, tourism, remittances), diplomacy (AU + Arab League + EU neighbor), and identity (Amazigh, Arab, Sahrawi, Andalusian, Jewish layers).