Category: Morocco

Morocco is the African country closest to Europe, a “hop” from Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Its location is strategic and was colonized by Phoenicians, Romans and Visigoths, until the region was invaded by the Arabs, in the 7th century. The Portuguese conquered part of the coast, in the 15th century, then came the Spanish and French. Independence was won from France in 1956. In 2017, an article from Nature presented evidence that the oldest known fossils of Homo sapiens, more than 300,000 years old, were found in Jebel Irhoud. In 2015, Morocco now has only 11 administrative regions (officially 12, including Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco). The population is 34 million residents (2016). The capital is Rabat. Ceuta and Melilla belong to Spain.