The full Arabic name of the country translates to The Western Kingdom. Al Maghrib (meaning The West) is commonly used. For historical references, historians used to refer to Morocco as Al Maghrib al Aqşá (The Furthest West). The name Morocco in many other languages originates from the name of the former capital, Marrakech.
The Kingdom of Morocco is a country in northwest Africa. It has a long coastline on theAtlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into theMediterranean Sea. It borders Algeria to the east, theMediterranean Sea and Spain to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to its west.
Morocco's official language isclassical Arabic. The country's distinctive Arabic dialect is called Moroccan Arabic. Approximately 12 million (40% of the population), mostly in rural areas, speak Berber --which exists in Morocco in three different dialects (Tarifit, Tashelhiyt, and Tamazight)-- either as a first language or bilingually with the spoken Arabic dialect.French, which remains Morocco's unofficial second language, is taught universally and still serves as Morocco's primary language of commerce and economics. It is also widely used in education and government. About 20,000 Moroccans in the northern part of the country speak Spanish as a second language in parallel with Tarifit. , while still far behind French and Spanish in terms of number of speakers, is rapidly becoming the foreign language of choice among educated youth. As a result of national education reforms entering into force in late 2002, English will be taught in all public schools from the fourth year on.
Morocco remains a peaceful country and the Moroccan people have a positive attitude towards tourists. So, there is no animosity against our vistors. More than that, Moroccans treat people as an individual and never as belonging to a community or to an ethnic group. |
