Prefectures and provinces of Morocco

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In Morocco , the 75 second-level administrative subdivisions are 13 prefectures and 62 provinces. They are subdivisions of the 12 regions of Morocco. [1] Each prefecture or province is subdivided into arrondissements (only in prefectures of some metropolitan areas), municipalities (communes, sing. commune) or urban municipalities (communes urbaines, sing. commune urbaine) in other urban areas, and districts (cercles, sing. cercle) in rural areas. The districts are subdivided into rural municipalities (communes rurales, sing. commune rural). One prefecture (Casablanca) is also subdivided into préfectures d'arrondissements (sing. préfecture d'arrondissements), similar to districts (cercles) except they are grouping a few arrondissements instead of rural municipalities.

Contents

Note: The arrondissements and (urban) municipalities should probably be thought of as fourth-level subdivisions, on the same level as the rural municipalities, but they are not part of any district. [2]

Moroccan administrative division Moroccan administrative division 2015.svg
Moroccan administrative division

List of prefectures and provinces

[1]

Seats / Headquarters

LocationRegionProvince / PrefectureSeat
Mainland Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region Azilal Province Azilal
Mainland Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region Béni-Mellal Province Beni Mellal
Mainland Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region Fquih Ben Salah Province Fquih Ben Salah
Mainland Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region Khénifra Province Khenifra
Mainland Morocco Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region Khouribga Province Khouribga
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Benslimane Province Benslimane
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Berrechid Province Berrechid
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Casablanca Prefecture Casablanca
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region El Jadida Province El Jadida
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Médiouna Province Mediouna
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Mohammedia Prefecture Mohammedia
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Nouaceur Province Nouaceur
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Settat Province Settat
Mainland Morocco Casablanca-Settat Region Sidi Bennour Province Sidi Bennour
Mainland Morocco Drâa-Tafilalet Region Errachidia Province Errachidia
Mainland Morocco Drâa-Tafilalet Region Midelt Province Midelt
Mainland Morocco Drâa-Tafilalet Region Ouarzazate Province Ouarzazate
Mainland Morocco Drâa-Tafilalet Region Tinghir Province Tinghir
Mainland Morocco Drâa-Tafilalet Region Zagora Province Zagora
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Boulemane Province Boulemane
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region El Hajeb Province El Hajeb
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Fez Prefecture Fez
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Ifrane Province Ifrane
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Meknès Prefecture Meknes
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Moulay Yacoub Province Moulay Yacoub
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Sefrou Province Sefrou
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Taounate Province Taounate
Mainland Morocco Fès-Meknès Region Taza Province Taza
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Al Haouz Province Tahannaout
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Chichaoua Province Chichaoua
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region El Kelâa des Sraghna Province Kalaat Sraghna
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Essaouira Province Essaouira
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Marrakesh Prefecture Marrakesh
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Rehamna Province Ben Guerir
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Safi Province Safi
Mainland Morocco Marrakesh-Safi Region Youssoufia Province Youssoufia
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Berkane Province Berkane
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Driouch Province Driouch
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Figuig Province Figuig
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Guercif Province Guercif
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Jerada Province Jerada
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Nador Province Nador
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Oujda-Angad Prefecture Oujda
Mainland Morocco Oriental Region Taourirt Province Taourirt
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Kénitra Province Kenitra
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Khémisset Province Khemisset
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Rabat Prefecture Rabat
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Salé Prefecture Salé
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Sidi Kacem Province Sidi Kacem
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Sidi Slimane Province Sidi Slimane
Mainland Morocco Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region Skhirate-Témara Prefecture Temara
Mainland Morocco Souss-Massa Region Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane Prefecture Agadir
Mainland Morocco Souss-Massa Region Chtouka Aït Baha Province Biougra
Mainland Morocco Souss-Massa Region Inezgane-Aït Melloul Prefecture Inezgane
Mainland Morocco Souss-Massa Region Taroudant Province Taroudant
Mainland Morocco Souss-Massa Region Tata Province Tata
Mainland Morocco Souss-Massa Region Tiznit Province Tiznit
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Al Hoceïma Province Al Hoceima
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Chefchaouen Province Chefchaouen
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Fahs-Anjra Province Anjra
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Larache Province Larache
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region M'diq-Fnideq Prefecture M'diq
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Ouezzane Province Ouazzane
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Tangier-Assilah Prefecture Tangier
Mainland Morocco Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Tétouan Province Tétouan
Western Sahara Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab Region Aousserd Province Aousserd
Western Sahara Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab Region Oued Ed-Dahab Province Dakhla
Western Sahara Guelmim-Oued Noun Region Assa-Zag Province Assa
Western Sahara Guelmim-Oued Noun Region Guelmim Province Guelmim
Western Sahara Guelmim-Oued Noun Region Sidi Ifni Province Sidi Ifni
Western Sahara Guelmim-Oued Noun Region Tan-Tan Province Tan-Tan
Western Sahara Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Region Boujdour Province Boujdour
Western Sahara Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Region Es Semara Province Smara
Western Sahara Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Region Laâyoune Province Laayoune
Western Sahara Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Region Tarfaya Province Tarfaya

Mainland Morocco

Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region

Oriental Region

Fès-Meknès Region

Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Region

Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region

Casablanca-Settat Region

Marrakech-Safi Region

Drâa-Tafilalet Region

Souss-Massa Region

Western Sahara (most under de facto Moroccan administration)

Most of Western Sahara is administered de facto by Morocco (where the area is informally named the Southern Provinces by the Moroccan government and media); the rest is administered by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

The United Nations considers the territory to be disputed, as it was not legally transferred by Spain when it abandoned its former colony in 1975, and several states (notably members of the African Union) either recognize the SADR as the sole legitimate government of Western Sahara, or consider that the status of the region (either as an independent state, or as part of Morocco, or as part of Mauritania that initially claimed a part of it) has still not been autodetermined by the local population prior to its annexation. The United Nations has no legal instruments confirming the claims on the region made by the governments of Morocco or the self-proclaimed SADR, and in international treaties, it is still a formal part of Spain that remains to be properly decolonized, even though Spain and Mauritania no longer claim any part of it.

Since the annexation, the situation is worsened by the fact that most of the historic Western Saharan population has fled either to the remaining free zone (now isolated by the Moroccan militarized berm) or to refugee camps in neighbouring countries (notably Algeria), due to lack of resources in the free zone. The remaining native Western Saharan population now lives as a minority among the new Moroccan occupants. The absence of a legal government with a permanent administration in the free zone has also introduced a threat to the security of the surrounding countries in the Saharan and Sahel regions, including Morocco itself.

Guelmim-Oued Noun Region

Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Region

Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab Region

Before 2015

Mainland Morocco

Chaouia-Ouardigha Region

Greater Casablanca Region

Tadla-Azilal Region

Doukkala-Abda Region

Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz Region

Fès-Boulemane Region

Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate Region

Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen Region

Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer Region

Tangier-Tétouan Region

Oriental Region

Meknès-Tafilalet Region

Souss-Massa-Drâa Region

Moroccan Sahara (most under de facto Moroccan administration)

Guelmim-Es Semara Region

Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra Region

Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira Region

Wilaya

In Morocco, a wilaya is an administrative division created in 1981 that "brings together many provinces or prefectures or both at the same time, and is intended to endow big urban units such as Casablanca with an administrative organization capable of meeting the needs that emerge from these expanding cities and their growing populations." [3] Therefore, strictly speaking, the level of wilayas are between the regions and prefectures/provinces (although wilayas only cover urban areas). However, they are often used synonymous with regions or prefectures/provinces in common usage. [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Population légale d'après les résultats du RGPH 2014 sur le Bulletin officiel N° 6354" (PDF). Haut-Commissariat au Plan (in Arabic). Retrieved 2015-07-11.
  2. HCP.ma List of districts and municipalities (communes) of Morocco by province/prefecture Archived 2009-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
  3. The Wilaya of Grand Casablanca Archived May 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Wilayas, Prefectures and Provinces Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine