Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It has a population of roughly 37 million, the official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber; French and the Moroccan dialect of Arabic are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, African and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca.
Western Sahara, formerly the Spanish colony of Spanish Sahara, is a disputed territory claimed by both the Kingdom of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro, which is an independence movement based in Tifariti and Bir Lehlou. The Annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco took place in two stages, in 1976 and 1979, and is considered illegal under international law.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, often known by his initials KSM, is a Kuwaiti or Pakistani terrorist and the former Head of Propaganda for al-Qaeda. He is currently held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-related charges. He was named as "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks" in the 2004 9/11 Commission Report.
Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 25 March 1975 to his death in 1982. Prior to his ascension, he was Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia from 29 March 1965 to 25 March 1975. He was the fifth son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), founded in 1959, is an international organization for higher education situated 40km north of Bangkok, Thailand. It specializes in engineering, advanced technologies, sustainable development, and management and planning. It aims to promote technological change and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region, through higher education, research, and outreach.
Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population. In 2024, France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion rights in its constitution.
Al Hoceima is a city in the north of Morocco, on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains and on the Mediterranean coast. It is the capital city of the Al Hoceima Province. The city is a known tourist destination despite its small size. It has a population of about 56,716, according to the 2014 census.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a Lebanese-American essayist, mathematical statistician, former option trader, risk analyst, and aphorist. His work concerns problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty.
The National Rally of Independents, is a political party in Morocco. Despite self-identifying as social-democratic, the party has been described as pro-business and liberal, and the party has a history of cooperating with two other parties with a liberal orientation, the Popular Movement and the Constitutional Union, since 1993. Since September 2021, it has been the country's ruling party.
The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, also known as Majlis ash-Shura or The Shura Council, is the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia. It is a deliberative assembly that advises the King on issues that are important to Saudi Arabia. It has the power to propose laws to the King of Saudi Arabia and his cabinet to prove it and pass it. It has 150 members, all appointed by the king and chosen "from amongst scholars, those of knowledge, expertise and specialists". Since 2013, the Assembly has included 30 female members out of the total of 150 members, after a 20 percent minimum quota for women was imposed. The Consultative Assembly is headed by a Speaker. As of 2016, the Speaker was Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh, in line with a tradition that kept the post in that family. The Assembly is based in al-Yamamah Palace, Riyadh.
Morocco became an independent country in 1956. At that time there were only 400 private practitioners and 300 public health physicians in the entire country. By 1992, the government had thoroughly improved their health care service and quality. Health care was made available to over 70% of the population. Programs and courses to teach health and hygiene have been introduced to inform parents and children on how to correctly care for their own and their families' health.
Taleb Rifai is a Jordanian businessman and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the United Nations' World Tourism Organization between 2010 and 2017. He was the first Jordanian to hold a UN agency Secretary General position.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27 February 1976, in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. SADR claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony; however, at present the SADR government controls approximately 20–25% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the "Liberated Territories", whilst Morocco claims its territories as the "Southern Provinces".
Abdellatif Maazouz is a Moroccan politician of the Istiqlal Party. Between 2007 and 2012 he was Minister of Foreign Trade in the Cabinet of Abbas El Fassi. On 3 January 2012, he was appointed Delegate-Minister for Moroccans Living Abroad in the cabinet of Abdelilah Benkirane, he held this post until 9 July 2013, when his party members quit the government. On 22 September 2021, he was elected as the president of the Council of the Casablanca-Settat region.
Youssef Aït Bennasser is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Samsunspor. Born in France, he represents Morocco at international level.
Ait Oulichek is an Amazigh Riffian tribe located in the North-Eastern province of Morocco. Ayt or Beni is referred to as 'Descendants of' with the latter being the most common form of address of the Oulichek tribe until the recent Arabization in Morocco initiative.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Morocco on 2 March 2020, when the first case COVID-19 case was confirmed in Casablanca. It involved a Moroccan expatriate residing in Bergamo, Italy, who arrived from Italy on 27 February. A second case was confirmed later that same day involving an 89-year-old Moroccan woman residing in Italy who had returned to Morocco on 25 February from Bologna, Italy. As the outbreak widened in Morocco, in mid-March the Government closed schools and suspended international passenger flights.
Khalid Aït Taleb is a Moroccan medical professor and politician serving as Minister of Health of Morocco.
Nabila Rmili is a Moroccan medic and National Rally of Independents (RNI) politician. In September 2021, she was elected as the mayor of Casablanca.
