NIE ACTIVITY
GEOGRAPHY Connections
This yearlong series is presented in collaboration with the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. For more information about NIE visit www.courantnie.com or call 241-3144.
MOROCCO
By: Jason T. Archer
Director of Floor Programs,
New England Air Museum
Country/City View
Morocco has been called the exotic gateway to
Africa. The Kingdom of Morocco, as it is formally
known, is rich in thirteen centuries of history, art, and
medieval, and modern cities. Morocco has a diverse
landscape of high mountains, deserts and coastlines.
It is both alien and alluring. Its location, today only an
hour’s ferry ride from Europe, made it a crossroads
between Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle
East. As you can imagine, this brought many different
ethnic groups through the region. Arab conquerors
brought Islam and the Arabic language. Jewish and
Muslim refugees came in the 16th century, and later
in the 19th century, the French arrived. Today, the
country is mostly Sunni Muslim with Islam being the
state religion, though there is freedom of religion.
Morocco’s environment dictates where people live.
Most of the population resides in the coastal plains
and plateaus where the major cities are located, as
well as modern agriculture. Traditional villages of the
older Amazigh culture are found in the Rif and Atlas
Mountains. Only a very tiny portion of the population
still resides in the harsh pre-Sahara and Saharan
areas in the southern part of the country. Long gone
are the nomads moving about herding camels from
oasis to oasis.
Family life is
important. People
gather at sidewalk
cafes, go to cinemas
and shop in the souk,
an open-air market.
Watching soccer and
enjoying the country’s
vast coastline is a common pastime. The
country’s rich agricultural regions offer a
great variety of foods including fish, lamb,
a variety of vegetables and even pigeon.
Bread is served at all meals, as it is a
cultural symbol.
While Morocco is moving toward
democracy, the king still holds the real
power. The need to improve literacy
and economic conditions for people of
Morocco has led to social unrest.
TAKE 5
Location: Morocco is bordered on the east by
Algeria and the disputed Western Sahara to the
south. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean, while
to the north is a water border, the Mediterranean
Sea, and land borders with Spain.
Place: Covering a total area of 172,414 square
miles, Morocco is slightly larger than the state
of California. While it is close to the sea and
has huge differences in latitude and elevations,
Morocco is generally hot and very dry. The
terrain is made up of high mountains such as the
Altas Mountains, coastal plains and lowlands and
finally the Sahara desert.
Human/Environment Interaction: The major
contributors to the Moroccan economy are
agriculture, phosphates and tourism, as well
as seafood. As a relatively poor country a
large portion of the population is engaged in
farming. Add frequent droughts and the result
has been extensive soil erosion, overgrazing and
destruction of vegetation.
Movement: Morocco is working to improve its
rail, highway and airport infrastructure to help
increase tourism.
Region: As recent as 1997, Morocco was broken
into 16 regions, each being governed by a Wali
who is nominated by the King. This is done to
provide more autonomy throughout the country.
DID YOU KNOW?
• If drinking tea (the national drink being mint tea) with a shopkeeper, do not discuss business
until your cups are completely empty.
• Humphrey Bogart, a famous actor from 1930’s and 1940’s made Morocco famous in the
movie entitled “Casablanca.”
• The city of Fes is the world’s largest living medieval
Islamic city.
• Couscous, a semolina-based pasta, is the premier
cultural food.
• Morocco’s government is a constitutional monarchy.
• Each year, Morocco’s civil servants and elected
officials must gather at one of the king’s many
palaces and pledge allegiance.
• Morocco is the 12th richest country in Africa.
• Education is mandatory for those between 7 and
13 years, but only about half of the children go on to secondary school. Fes, Morocco
MAP IT OUT
Situated between the desert and the sea, Morocco’s core area lies north of the Atlas Mountains, however
much of its political focus has been to the south, where the government is trying to absorb its neighbor,
Western Sahara. Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony with almost 500,000 people, many of them
immigrants from Morocco. With the Green March of 1975 by 300,000 Moroccans, Western Sahara came
under Moroccan control.
Annexation is the incorporating of a territory into an existing political country. Using your map of the
world label these places annexed through history.
Hawaii by the United States in 1898
Sikkim by India in 1975
Kuwait by Iraq in 1990
Ogaden by Ethiopia in 1954
Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary in 1908
Lithuania by the Soviet Union in 1940
Sudentenland by Germany in 1938
Korean Peninsula by Japan in 1910
1. Research one of these annexations and give the why of
where it happened.
2. List other places that have been annexed by another country.
3. Is there a place in the news today that is being considered for annexation by another country and why?
Community Connections
1. As Morocco developed, it was highly influenced by the Islamic people. Today the country is
mostly Sunni Muslims.
• Do some research. Give specific examples of how Muslims influenced the architecture,
religion and daily life of this country. For example, medinas and sugs in the towns are
examples of Islamic architecture.
• Think about the U.S. and the groups of people that have influenced our architecture,
religion, and daily life? Each group that came to America brought their ideas. Specifically,
houses in New England look different from houses in the south. Discuss these influences.
2. Many of the people in Morocco are employed to do “manual labor.” In the U.S., advances in
technology have eliminated almost every task that was once done by hand.
• As a class, make a list of some machines that have replaced manual labor.
• Discuss the pros and cons of advanced technology.
NEXT PAGE - January 31st
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