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Morocco

Morocco: Political System

Morocco is a parliamentary monarchy with Islam as the state religion. The bicameral parliament consists of the National Assembly with 325 members directly elected every 5 years and the Senate with 270 members indirectly elected every 9 years. The king is the head of state of Morocco.

According to Digopaul.com, the official name of the country is:

National anthem

The national anthem of Morocco is the anthem Chérifien. It was introduced in 1956. The text (in the original Arabic) is by Ali Squalli Houssaini, the music was composed by Léo Morgan's in 1970.

It reads in the English translation

National flag

The national flag (country flag) of Morocco dates from November 17, 1915 and was adopted after Morocco gained independence in 1956. The red stands for the color of the Aliden, the green of the pentagram - also known as Drudenfuß - for Islam. Based on flag descriptions by Countryaah.com, the Alides are the descendants of ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib - a cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed.

Morocco: Known People

Actors and actresses

Stephanie Beacham (born 1947)

The British film actress, born in Casablanca in 1947, first became known through the television series "The Colbys" and later through her participation in the "Denver Clan".

Nadia Farès (born 1973)

The French actress, who was born in Marrakech, appeared in Les Amies de ma femme in 1993, making her first film. She became known to a wide audience in 2000 for her role in the thriller The purple rivers (French: Les rivières pourpres).

Jacques Monod (1918-1985)

Born in Casablancais, Jacques Monod made a name for himself as a French actor. He was repeatedly seen in roles that obliged him as a general, judge or director.

Jean Reno (born 1948)

The film actor, who was actually born in 1948 as Juan Moreno y Anyique Jiménez in Casablanca, became world famous primarily for his role as Léon - The Professional of Luc Besson.

Politicians and rulers

Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur (d. 1199)

Caliph of the Almohads (1184-1199); had Rabat generously expanded, built the great Hassan Mosque and raised the city to the capital of his empire; The building of the 5 km long city wall goes back to him.

Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (born 1953)

French politician of the democratic-conservative party UMP; Prime Minister of France since May 2005; he was born in Rabat.

Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1009-1106)

The legendary ruler of the Almoravids led the movement from 1061 until his death in 1106. The mysterious Yusuf ibn Tashfin is said to have never shown his face openly. The founding of the city of Marrakech attributed to him has meanwhile been relegated to the realm of legends. The fact is, however, that ibn Tashfin was the successor of Abu Bakr and had conquered what is now northern Morocco (and Andalusia). He made Marrakech the capital of his great empire, expanded and beautified the city considerably.

King Mohammed VI (born 1963)

Has been King of Morocco since 1999, resides mainly in Rabat, where he was born.

Athletes

Serge Chiesa (born 1950)

The young, former French football player, who was born in Casablanca, spent almost his entire football career as a professional at the club, Olympique Lyon. His fans affectionately referred to him as the "little Mozart".

Hicham El Guerrouj (born 1974)

multiple world record holder in 1,500 and 5,000 m. He was world champion over 1500 meters in Athens in 1997 and in Seville in 1999. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he was Olympic champion over 1500 m and 5000 m.

Nawal El Moutawakel (born 1962)

The jump from athletics to politics is certainly not an everyday one. The Casablanca-born Nawal El Moutawakel, however, made it. The former Olympic champion, who became the first African and Muslim woman to win a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, served as State Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sport in 1997 and 1998 and has headed this ministry since 2007.

Just Fontaine (born 1933)

The former French football player and coach was born in Marrakech in 1933. "Justo", as he was also affectionately known, played for many years in various clubs and the French national team before he became the French national coach in 1967.

Guy Forget (born 1965)

Before Guy Forget was coach of the French Davis Cup team in 1998, he had won 11 singles and 28 doubles tournaments, which catapulted him to 3rd place in the double world rankings and 4th place in the tennis world rankings was.

Ahmed Reda Madouni (born 1980)

The Algerian professional footballer Madouni currently plays for the German second division club 1. FC Union Berlin and also acted as a national player for Algeria.

Ghizlane Samir (born 1976)

The French inline speed skater from Casablanca won the French Inline Cup twice and in 2005 her first French championship title.

Richardirusesque (born 1969)

The former French cyclist Richardirusesque also came from Casablanca.

Other personalities

Tahar Ben Jelloun (born 1944)

Writer. He now lives and works mainly in Paris, but he always stays several months a year in his native Morocco.

Franck Goddio (* 1947)

The French mathematician became famous for numerous important discoveries and discoveries in the field of underwater archeology.

Dominique François Joseph Mamberti (born 1952)

Mamberti, a French Curial Archbishop of the Catholic Church, was born in Marrakech in 1952. In 2006 he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. appointed secretary for relations with the states and thus quasi the Vatican foreign minister.

Philippe Morillon (* 1935)

Morillon, born in Casablanca in 1935, is a French army general who has served as a member of the European Parliament since 1999. He was also employed as a military expert at the French National Assembly from 1984 to 1986 and was in command of the United Nations armed forces in Bosnia between 1992 and 1993.

Jens Olesen (* 1950)

This Danish historian from Casablanca has put his focus on the history of Northern Europe. He currently holds the chair for Nordic history at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald.

Michel Pinseau (1924-1999)

The French architect designed the tallest minaret in the world for Morocco's largest mosque, the Hassan II in Casablanca. He has also implemented numerous projects in the Paris area around the Champs-Elysées.

Christian de Portzamparc (* 1944)

Portzamparc, a French architect, urban planner and native of Casablancais, built the French Embassy on Pariser Platz in Berlin in 2002.

Morocco: animals

Mammals

The more common mammals in Morocco include the fennec (desert fox), hyenas, jackals and gazelles as well as the Cuvier gazelles that live in the dunes and the shy Dorcas gazelles. The latter are among the smallest gazelle species with a shoulder height of 55-65 cm.

They have a sand-colored fur, which offers them ideal protection from enemies, as they practically blur with their surroundings in the dry savannas and semi-deserts and cannot be made out. The greatest enemy is humans, who continue to hunt the vulnerable gazelle.

Other typical and equally common animals are wild boar, rabbits, otters, squirrels, eyelash shrews, wild goats and baboons. Other species of monkeys are native to North Africa and counting to the macaques Magots and classified as endangered Barbary apes, of which there are the last major holdings in Morocco. There are still smaller stocks in Algeria and Tunisia and Gibraltar. The diurnal monkeys belong to the vervet family and live in higher-lying oak and cedar forests, where they feed on fruits, leaves, roots and buds. The pink face with the thick whiskers is characteristic.

Horses, donkeys, mules and camels are probably the most traditional means of transport and are accordingly widespread.

Occasionally mouflons and mane sheep can be seen in the mountain gorges. Mouflons are rather shy animals and are also known as European wild sheep. They reach a size of 65 to 90 cm and live on average 8 to 10 years. Typical is the gray to yellowish saddle spot on the brown fur and the horns of the males, which grow throughout life and can reach a length of 0.45 m. The horns of the females are much shorter or nonexistent. The mouflons have a strong sense of hearing and smell, but the sense of sight is best developed. Their diet includes grasses, herbs and woody plants, but also mushrooms and fruits.

The occurrence of porcupines is also interesting. Other insectivores are wandering hedgehogs and the red-white-toothed shrews. The Gundi is related to the guinea pigs and is about 15-23 cm tall. You can meet him in the Atlas Mountains, but you can only see him in the morning and evening at dusk. He overslept the rest of the time.

The caracal is becoming increasingly rare , but other desert animals such as the servals are now threatened with extinction. The caracal belongs to the cat family and has a lynx-like appearance with its pointed and brushed ears, which has earned it the nickname "desert lynx".

The black and white drawing of the face and the black colored back of the ears are characteristic. The coat color varies between ocher yellow and reddish tones. It is not only widespread in deserts, but also in semi-deserts and steppes and dry forests throughout Africa, Arabia and Western Asia. The nocturnal big cat hunts rabbits, rodents, birds and dwarf antelopes. The longer rear legs make it a powerful jumper, which is not only an enormous advantage when hunting birds.

Reptiles, amphibians

Reptiles,

geckos, skinks and lizards are not uncommon in Morocco. In the desert you can quickly come across fringed fingers, desert runners, thorntails and vole lizards.

Chameleons are widespread in arid areas, and tortoise can be encountered in open terrain, although this is rare.

With a body length of up to 150 cm, the desert monitor (Varanus griseus) is a rare animal whose population is highly endangered.

Amphibians

The amphibian frogs, toads and salamanders are also widespread in the waters of Morocco.

Snakes (not poisonous)

Numerous snakes such as diadem and sand snakes live in the area of wadis and oases.

Venomous snakes, scorpions

Venomous snakes

The venomous snakes that can be found here include:

Horned viper

Atlas otter

Ordinary puff adder

Uraeus snake

Inverted viper

Scorpions

Especially in desert areas and there in the dunes one should watch out for scorpions .

In the most harmless case, their sting causes severe pain and swelling and in the worst case can even lead to death in some species - especially in (small) children.

Every now and then you can find them in your shoes, so it makes sense to take a look in the morning before you put them on.

Birds

Atlas warblers, blue bulls, bee-eater, double-tailed francoline, house hammer, hedge warbler, helmet guinea fowl, marmel ducks, rock sparrows, bald ibis in the Souss Massa National Park, desert sparrows and the scops owls.

The local birds of prey include buzzards, falcons, vultures, kites, sparrowhawks as well as little and golden eagles. The steppe, snake and hawk eagles have become rare.

Pharaoh Eagle-Owl

in the sand dunes of Bon Takaite the Pharaoh Eagle-Owl lives. It has a light, sandy-colored plumage and lives mainly in sandy deserts and mountains.

The crepuscular bird feeds on scorpions, insects and small vertebrates.

Cormorants

Cormorants are a family of birds belonging to the order of the coarse pods and are shorebirds found worldwide. They have a dark plumage with a skin color on the face that can vary from blue to red and orange to yellow. Their long, curved necks, long and rounded wings and long, wedge-shaped tail are characteristic. Also typical is the long and thin beak, which is curved like a hook at the tip. The cormorants are almost exclusively fish-eaters, but neither do they spurn water snakes.

There are also species that are isolated in Morocco and are usually found south of the Sahara, such as cap-eared owl, Senegalese chakra, gray-rumped song hawk, savanna eagle, glider and brown-throated sand martin.

In the scree and stone deserts, there are species of birds that are specially adapted to the extreme drought, such as desert ravens, desert sparrows, sandpipers, sandpipers and Sahara eared larks.

In addition, you can observe five different wheatear species and at least four species of fruit flies.

Ornithological "delicacies" such as Lanner falcons, racing birds, desert princes as well as Atlas and Sahara mosquitoes are also to be expected

Water birds include various ducks, herons, storks, flamingos, waders, sandpipers and water striders.

insects

There are many different species of insects in Morocco. The leaf beetles and weevils, as well as the mole crickets, cavort in dry locations in the forests.

The scarab, which in Egypt was a symbol of the resurrection and the cycle of the sun, also lives in Morocco. It belongs to the scarab beetle family and here in the subfamily of faeces and pill-toppers.

The black-greenish and 3 cm large beetles form balls from excrement or dung and roll them with their hind legs to another place, where they finally lay their eggs in the ball. The Egyptians linked this process with the idea that the beetle rolls the sun to the place of its rise.

There are also numerous locusts and the stag beetle, as well as bees, ants and moths. The stag beetle is the largest European beetle, with the males becoming 7.5 cm long, including the pincers, which are reminiscent of antlers.

However, these only occur in males. Its elytra are maroon, the legs, head and chest are black. It lives on tree sap that comes out of cracks in bark or tree wounds.

Despite its size, the stag beetle can fly and is a protected species.

And of course there are mosquitos here too that not only cause annoying and itchy wheals, but are also feared as carriers of diseases.

Underwater world

In the area of the rocky coasts there are an infinite number of sea urchins, starfish, mussels, crabs and fish species. It is no less colorful further out on the Atlantic. Heart hedgehogs, dragon fish and countless species of snails such as the horned snail, reticulated snail and the collar snail

live here on the sea sand. You can also expect sharks here and there. The local dolphins are a special attraction for boaters, for example.

For example, perch, trout and pike can be found in Moroccan waters - to name just a few.

Morocco: plants

Trees

Characteristic of Morocco and one of the few original species is the atlas cedar, which can be up to 900 years old and grows in the cedar forests of the Atlas and Rif mountains up to an altitude of 2200 m. The cedar, which belongs to the pine family, grows up to 40 m high and has a typically conical growth pattern with branches that grow steeply upwards. However, the growth of the Atlas cedar is very individual, so that the trees cannot always be clearly identified. Another typical tree is thuja, which is also known as the tree of life. The tips of its branches contain both essential oils and the poisonous thujone. Forests such as oak, cork oak and fir forests are generally found almost exclusively on the northern mountain slopes. Cork oaks grow in the regions of Rharb and Rif and in the dunes southeast of Iriki you will come across the tamarisk typical of Morocco . Ironwood trees are on the southern Atlantic coast.

Argan tree

The argan tree (Argania spinosa) occurs in southwest Morocco and in southeast Algeria. The trees reach a height of up to about 12 m and have a widely spreading, dense crown that can be up to 14 m in diameter.

Because of the tasty fruits and leaves, goats climb up to the top of the tree, so that the astonished viewer can admire a dozen of the animals in the crown of the tree.

Other plants

In the plains and arid regions, the original vegetation has been replaced by deforestation. In their place, maquis and garrigue have spread. Typical plants in these areas are shrubs and cushion plants such as the shrubby strawberry trees, laurel bushes, myrtle, juniper, gorse, buckthorn, tree heather and herbs such as rosemary, lavender and thyme.

The local prickly pear cactuses are also worth mentioning. Cattails, rushes and grasses are the most common sights on standing and flowing water. The Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, on the other hand, are rather poor in species.

Only salt-tolerant plants such as samphire, sod and brine can claim the location for themselves.

The samphire is between 5 and 30 cm tall and with its thick and fleshy leaves belongs to the salt plants. No other plant can withstand higher levels of salt. Shortly before it dies, the green samphire turns red.

Crops

Morocco is a cultivation country, which is why a large part of the natural vegetation had to give way to the fields. The most important crops for Morocco include grain, cotton, maize and eggplant. Olive trees on the coastal regions, date palms, pistachios, agaves, prickly pear cacti, almond and walnut trees, as well as fruits such as peaches, mulberries and bananas

are also very common. Halfagras grows in the eastern basin and in the Meseta areas

, which was discovered in the 19th century for paper production and thus became famous.

The grass, better known under the name Esparto, has 90 cm long, cylindrical and stalk-like leaves, which were used for wickerwork long before the discovery of grass to make paper.

Even melons grown here and exported to Europe.

Medicinal plants

The poisonous tree of life is used in homeopathy for gout, rheumatism, gastric catarrh, some neuralgia, and eye and ear infections.

The essential oil of the Atlas cedar has anti-depressant, erotic, mood-lifting and strengthening effects. The tree has many therapeutic properties, including a disinfectant, blood circulation-promoting and fungicidal effect.

Thyme supports the digestion of fatty and heavy foods, it relieves coughs and is expectorant. The essential oil is used as a disinfectant. The Egyptians are said to have used the plant to embalm the dead. Externally, thyme is used for inflammation of the mouth and throat mucosa.

rosemary has an antispasmodic and stimulating effect, helps with low blood pressure, indigestion and rashes.

Lavender grows as a heavily branched and partially woody, 20 - 60 cm large shrub. The purple flowers are collected in July and August. Used internally, they have a calming effect and are often recommended for restlessness and difficulty falling asleep. Lavender also has a diuretic, gas-inducing and antispasmodic effect. Applied externally, however, it is irritating to the skin. It is also said that lavender pillows are supposed to protect against moths in between washings.

Poisonous plants

The tree of life is very poisonous and repeated touching can cause skin inflammation. Internal intake leads to gastrointestinal inflammation, cramps, kidney and liver damage. The thujone can even be fatal.

The buckthorn is a shrub up to 3 m tall with thorny branches. It is also widespread in Europe, Western Asia, and North America. The pea-sized, black fruits can be used as a light laxative, but there is a risk of poisoning. As the berries are poisonous, gastrointestinal problems can occur.

The gorse grows in bright and sunny places on rocky or stony ground. All parts of the plant are poisonous and it can lead to abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and cardiovascular disorders.

Introduced plants

Most of the crops are not native, but come from Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, Mexico, South America and Australia.

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