The Kingdom of Morocco

The direct neighbours are, in the north the Mediterranean Sea, to the east Algeria, to the south Mauritania and to the west the Altlantic Ocean.

Total Area: 458 730 square km (710 850 square km including West Sahara)

Population: approx. 27,3 million inhabitants

Time Zone: MEZ –1, -2 during the Summer period

Official Languages: Arabic, French (the business second language) and Spanish (in the northern regions), numerous Berber dialects.

Climate

There are three climate areas in Morocco: The coasts are Mediterranean, inland Steppe climate and in the south a desert climate.

There are four mountain ranges, stretching from the north east to the south west: The Rif (up to 2456 meters), Middle Atlas (3340 m), High Atlas ( 4164 m) and Anti-atlas (2531 m). To the north west of the Anti-Atlas there is a 200 km wide highland area up to 700 meters high. This slopes down to the Atlantic coast and is bordered to the north from the coastal Anti-Atlas chain.

The coastal regions experience a sub-tropical climate where the average temperatures vary only lightly.