Morocco
- Capital:
- Rabat
- Continent:
- Africa
- Region(s):
- Northern Africa
- Largest Cities:
- Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
- Abbreviation:
- MAR
* As of 6/9/2025
1 birth
Every 51.0 seconds
1 death
Every 2.4 minutes
1 emigrant
Every 9.4 minutes
1 person
Every 1.6 minutes
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the most western of the North African countries with an alternative Arabic name that translates to “The Western Kingdom.”
Morocco is a demographically young country with 27% of its population under the age of 15, 18% between the ages of 15 and 24, 42% between 25 and 54 years old, 7% between the ages of 55 and 64 and just 6% 65 years and older. The median age of Moroccans is just 29 years old as of 2018, with a life expectancy of 77.1 years of age.
Most of the estimated 100,000 foreign residents in Morocco are also French, while France is home to the largest concentration of Moroccan migrants outside of Morocco. A percentage of the population is descended from colonists, working mostly for large European countries, while others settled in the country. Before its independence, Morocco was home to more than 500,000 Europeans.
Nearly 99% of Moroccans are Sunni Muslims, primarily of Arab-Berber, Arabized Berber, Berber and Niger-Congo ethnic background. The country itself was inhabited by Berbers since at least 5,000 years ago, while Arabs conquered the land that later became Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries, when the area was inhabited mostly by indigenous Berber and Romano-Berber peoples. Arabs and Berbers currently account for around 99.1% of the Moroccan population.
While the indigenous Berbers, though mostly Arabized, still make up the majority of the population, there is a rather sizable population that identifies as Haratin or Gnawa, black or of mixed race. The Jewish minority of Morocco, which numbered as high as 248,000 in 1948, has decreased significantly with a small population estimated at 6,000 as of 2010.
The framework of the Moroccan government is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, meaning that there is a prime minister in charge of both the executive and legislative branches of government.
Morocco became independent from French and Spanish influence in 1961, at which point they had their first general elections and elected Hassan II as king and Morocco experienced their greatest rate of growth about 3% during that time. But the Spanish enclave returned in 1969, and more fighting ensued. This was an ongoing struggle that plagued the country for the remainder of the 20th century, in part leading to the steadily decreasing rate in growth.