Morocco

C

Natural Resources

Morocco’s resources are primarily agricultural, but mineral resources are also significant. Among the latter the most important is phosphate rock; other minerals include coal, iron, lead, manganese, petroleum, silver, tin, and zinc.

D

Plants and Animals

The mountainous regions of Morocco contain extensive areas of forest, including large stands of cork oak, evergreen oak, juniper, cedar, fir, and pine. Except for areas under cultivation, the plains are usually covered with scrub brush and alfa grass. On the plain of Sous, near the southern border, is a large forest of argan, thorny trees found principally in Morocco.

Moroccan wildlife represents a mingling of European and African species. Of the animals characteristic of Europe, the fox, rabbit, otter, and squirrel abound; of predominantly African types, the gazelle, wild boar, panther, baboon, wild goat, and horned viper are common.

E

Soils

Three general types of soil are found in the semihumid part of Morocco. They are harcha, poor, stony soils with little humus (organic matter); hamri, red soils produced over limestone bedrock with some humus; and tir, sandy-loam, brown-to-black soils with moderate amounts of humus. The densest agricultural settlement is on the most fertile tir soils of the plains. The southern part of the country is mainly desert.

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F

Environmental Issues

Population pressures have led to soil erosion and desertification as marginal lands are farmed and ground cover is destroyed by overgrazing. Morocco has a low rate of deforestation relative to other African countries, however. Forests cover 9.8 percent (2005) of the country’s area.

The country uses more than 90 percent of its fresh water for agricultural production. Available drinking water has been further limited by pollution of freshwater sources with raw sewage and industrial waste. Periodic droughts contribute to water shortages in some areas of the country, and the problem of water scarcity is expected to worsen as Morocco’s population continues to grow.

Reserves and national parks cover 0.80 percent (2004) of Morocco’s total land area. The country is home to 50 threatened animal species.

Morocco has ratified international agreements protecting biodiversity, endangered species, wetlands, and the ozone layer. The country has also signed treaties limiting hazardous waste and marine dumping.

III

People

The original population of Morocco was Berber, and about three-quarters of all present-day Moroccans are of at least partial Berber descent. Arabs, who constitute the bulk of the inhabitants of the larger cities, form the second largest ethnic group. Considerable intermarriage among Arabs, Berbers, and the country’s small number of black Africans has broken down differences among ethnic groups. There is also a small French community in Morocco. More than half the population lives in urban areas. The rural population in 2005 was 41 percent of the country’s total.

Berbers were the original, pre-Islamic inhabitants of Morocco. Arab armies marched across northwest Africa in the 7th century ad and arrived at the Atlantic Ocean in 682. They brought the Islamic religion with them. Arab settlement in Morocco came in the next century, when the first Islamic colonies were established, Sijilmasa about 760 and Fès about 790. Indigenous Berbers converted to Islam, and over the centuries much admixture of Arab and Berber took place.

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