MOROCCO

Abdallah Laroui Will D. Swearingen Susan Gilson Miller officially Kingdom of Morocco, Arabic Al-Maghrib, or Al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah country located on the northwestern corner of Africa. Morocco's maximum length from northeast to southwest is 825 miles (1,328 km), and its maximum width from east to west is 475 miles (765 km). The country borders Algeria (east and southeast) and Western Sahara (south); its western border is defined by the Atlantic Ocean, and its northern border is defined by the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco faces Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar to the north. The capital is Rabat. Area 177,117 square miles (458,730 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 26,494,000. officially Kingdom of Morocco, Arabic Al-Maghrib, or Al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah country of northwestern North Africa that lies directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. It borders Algeria to the east and southeast, Western Sahara to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. It is the only African country with coastal exposure to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. With the Western Sahara's 97,344 square miles (252,120 square km), Morocco occupies a total area of 274,461 square miles (710,850 square km). Casablanca is the largest city, primary seaport, and commercial and industrial hub. Rabat is the capital and the country's second largest city. Because of its lack of natural harbours, its rugged mountainous interior, and its distance throughout its history from imperial centres in the east, Morocco remained relatively free from foreign invasion until the early 20th century. This enabled it to preserve a proud traditional character, which is a rich blend of Berber, Arab-Islamic, Iberian, and African cultural influences. Those traits were joined by an infusion of European cultural elements during the colonial period (191256) when Morocco was a protectorate of both France and Spain. Additional reading Geography A good general overview is provided by Harold D. Nelson, Morocco: A Country Study, 5th ed. (1986). The following are outstanding studies of traditional life and socioeconomic change: Kenneth L. Brown, People of Sal: Tradition and Change in a Moroccan City, 18301930 (1976); David Seddon, Moroccan Peasants: A Century of Change in the Eastern Rif, 18701970 (1981); Clifford Geertz, Hildred Geertz, and Lawrence Rosen, Meaning and Order in Moroccan Society (1979), an analysis of traditional economic and family organization; and Dale F. Eickelman, Moroccan Islam: Tradition and Society in a Pilgrimage Center (1976), and Knowledge and Power in Morocco (1985), the latter discussing traditional religious education and learning. A report on the status of Moroccan women is provided by Fatima Mernissi (ed.), Doing Daily Battle: Interviews with Moroccan Women (1988, originally published in French, 1984). Morocco's relations with sub-Saharan Africa and the institution of slavery are the subject of Mohammed Ennaji, Serving the Master: Slavery and Society in Nineteenth-Century Morocco (1999, originally published in French, 1994). Classical analyses of traditional Berber society are found in Ernest Gellner, Saints of the Atlas (1969); and David Montgomery Hart, The Aith Waryaghar of the Moroccan Rif: An Ethnography and History (1976). Robin Bidwell, Morocco Under Colonial Rule: French Administration of Tribal Areas, 19121956 (1973), examines colonial rural development policies. I. William Zartman (ed.), The Political Economy of Morocco (1987), provides valuable insights into many different aspects of contemporary Morocco. The environmental ideals and politics behind colonial and contemporary agricultural development are perceptively analyzed in Will D. Swearingen, Moroccan Mirages: Agrarian Dreams and Deceptions, 19121986 (1987); threats to the natural environment are discussed in Will D. Swearingen and Abdellatif Bencherifa (eds.), The North African Environment at Risk (1996); and a similar analysis focusing on the urban geography of Morocco's capital is Janet L. Abu-Lughod, Rabat: Urban Apartheid in Morocco (1980). The texture of life in the modern city is captured by anthropologist Susan Ossman in Picturing Casablanca: Portraits of Power in a Modern City (1994). History A comprehensive interpretive essay is Abdallah Laroui, The History of the Maghrib (1977, originally published in French, 1970). Edmund Burke III, Prelude to Protectorate in Morocco: Precolonial Protest and Resistance, 18601912 (1976), gives a solid interpretation of how Morocco came under colonial rule. The role of the monarchy throughout history and its symbolic value are treated in Rahma Bourqia and Susan Gilson Miller (eds.), In the Shadow of the Sultan: Culture, Power and Politics in Morocco (1999). Popular religion and its social manifestations are the subject of Abdellah Hammoudi, Master and Disciple: The Cultural Foundations of Moroccan Authoritarianism (1997); and M.E. Combs-Schilling, Sacred Performances: Islam, Sexuality, and Sacrifice (1989). William A. Hoisington, Jr., Lyautey and the French Conquest of Morocco (1995), is a survey of French policy in the early years of the protectorate. David S. Woolman, Rebels in the Rif: Abd el Krim and the Rif Rebellion (1968), covers this short-lived revolt. John P. Halstead, Rebirth of a Nation: The Origins and Rise of Moroccan Nationalism, 19121944 (1967), reviews the early nationalists. A thorough case study of decolonization is Stphane Bernard, Le Conflit franco-marocain, 19431956, 3 vol. (1963)vols. 1 and 2 have been translated as The Franco-Moroccan Conflict, 19431956 (1968). An older yet still useful political study is John Waterbury, The Commander of the Faithful: The Moroccan Political Elite: A Study in Segmented Politics (1970). The origins and evolution of the Western Sahara conflict are competently treated in John Damis, Conflict in Northwest Africa: The Western Sahara Dispute (1983). Susan Gilson Miller