Morocco

Morocco

POPULATION 31,167,783
MUSLIM 98.7 percent
CHRISTIAN 1.1 percent
JEWISH 0.2 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Kingdom of Morocco is located in the northwestern corner of Africa, bounded on the north by the Mediterranean Sea and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout history this location has made the region an attractive place for those seeking to settle or establish colonies. The earliest inhabitants of the area were Berbers, encompassing three separate groups distinguishable by their dialect, dress, and social customs. Tarifit Berbers inhabit northern, Tamazight western and central, and Tashilhit eastern and southern Morocco. The Berbers were originally polytheists, but when Jews and Christians migrated across North Africa, some Berbers converted to these religions. Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, and Visigoths invaded the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastal regions successively between 1000 B.C.E. and 621 C.E.

Islam, particularly heretical Kharijism, was first introduced into the area by migrating Arab tribes beginning in the late seventh century C.E. From the founding of the Arab Shiite Idrisid dynasty in the late 780s onward, the history of the area was characterized by a long series of Arab and Berber dynasties, notably the Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids, Wattasids, Saadians, and Alawites. Often beginning as Islamic movements with varying doctrines, each succeeded in controlling larger or smaller portions of the territory within and outside the modern borders, including parts of Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, Spanish Sahara, and Mauritania.

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