MOROCCO Map, Geography | People | Economy | Military

Arab Morocco occupies Saharawi Arab Republic (West Sahara) - a territory the size of the UK, 13 times bigger than Israel and 45 times as big as the West Bank | Saharawi Arabs languish for decades in world's worst refugee camps | 2000-km separation wall built to keep Saharawi guerilla out of occupied West Sahara

Morocco claims EU (Spanish) territories: Canary Islands, Isla Perejil, Ceuta, Melilla, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas

Islam is the official state religion and the king is the "Commander of the Faithful and the Supreme Representative of the Muslim community."
Extenuating legal circumstances for "honor" murders, beatings and injuries
No freedom of speech and of the press if Islam, the monarchy and territorial integrity (the inclusion of the Western Sahara) are criticized.
It is illegal for Muslims to renounce Islam
Homosexuality is illegal
One of the world's largest producers of illicit hashish; shipments of hashish mostly directed to the EU
Serves as one of the primary launching areas of illegal migration into the EU

Compare Freedom Score of Morocco (Partly Free) and Israel (Free)
Source: Freedom House (PDF, 187 KB)

Compare Human Development Index of Morocco (0.606) and Israel (0.905) (PDF, 670 KB)
Source: United Nations Human Development Report 2003

Compare Corruption Index of Morocco (3.7), Israel (7.3), Germany (7.3) and USA (7.7) Source: Transparency International (PDF, 1.8 MB)

Honor killing in national legal codes, Morocco (Wikipedia, May 3, 2009): Article 418 of the penal code grants extenuating circumstances to a person who murders, injures, or beats her/his spouse and/or her/his partner, when catching them in flagrante delicto while committing adultery.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Morocco, 2006 (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of U.S. Department of State)

Moroccan Agenda: Not Just an Islet. Envoy Revives Subject of Spain's North African Enclaves (Desmond Boylan, Wahington Post, Jul 20, 2002): "... dispute over ownership of a tiny island off North Africa, as Morocco injected the thorny subject of two enclaves that Spain controls on the Moroccan coast."

CIA World Factbook (Western Sahara, Apr 23, 2009): "Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals; several states have extended diplomatic relations to the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" represented by the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; most of the approximately 102,000 Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria."

CIA World Factbook (Morocco), Apr 23, 2009: "one of the world's largest producers of illicit hashish; shipments of hashish mostly directed to Western Europe; transit point for cocaine from South America destined for Western Europe; significant consumer of cannabis."