Daniel Jacobs - The Rough Guide to Morocco 9

This Rough Guide is one of a new generation of informative and easy-to-use travel-guide eBooks that guarantees you make the most of your visit before, during and after your stay. Use this eBook both to plan your trip and explore your destination when visiting. So, before you depart, check out the illustrated Introduction, plan your itinerary using the wealth of suggestions on offer, or simply browse the guide and be inspired.

The best way to explore this guide is to begin at the main table of contents. The first section of the eBook gives you a flavour of the destination, with must-see sights and suggested itineraries. This is followed by: the Basics essential practical information; the best sights, area by area; listings on everything from hotels and restaurants to festivals; and Contexts, the history of the destination and its presence in popular culture.

Shorter contents lists appear at the start of every section in the guide, and are designed to make chapter navigation quick and easy. You can jump back to these by tapping the chapter-heading links that sit with an arrow icon at the end of every article.

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For Westerners, Morocco holds an immediate and enduring fascination. Though just an hours ride on the ferry from Spain, it seems at once very far from Europe, with a culture Islamic and deeply traditional that is almost wholly unfamiliar. Throughout the country, despite the years of French and Spanish colonial rule and the presence of modern and cosmopolitan cities like Rabat and Casablanca, a more distant past constantly makes its presence felt. Fes, perhaps the most beautiful of all Arab cities, maintains a life still rooted in medieval times, when a Moroccan empire stretched from Senegal to northern Spain, while in the mountains of the Atlas and the Rif, its still possible to draw up tribal maps of the Berber population. As a backdrop to all this, the countrys physical make-up is also extraordinary: from a Mediterranean coast, through four mountain ranges, to the empty sand and scrub of the Sahara.

All of which makes Morocco an intense and rewarding experience, and a country that is ideally suited to independent (or, for activities, small-group) travel. If you have time enough, you can cover a whole range of experiences hike in the Atlas, drive through the southern oases, relax at the laid-back Atlantic resorts like Asilah or Essaouira, and lose yourself wandering the old streets of Fes or Marrakesh. It can be hard at times to come to terms with the privilege of your position as a tourist in a country with severe poverty, and there is, too, occasional hassle from unofficial guides. But Morocco is essentially a safe and politically stable country to visit: the death in 1999 of King Hassan II, the Arab worlds longest-serving leader, was followed by an easy transition to his son, Mohammed VI. And your enduring impressions are likely to be overwhelmingly positive, shaped by encounters with Moroccos powerful tradition of hospitality, generosity and openness. This is a country people return to again and again.

Tomb of Sidi Abdel Aziz, Marrakesh Medina

Erg Chebbi dunes, Merzouga

Fact file

Moroccos area of 446,550 square kilometres (722,550 sq km including the Western Sahara) makes it slightly smaller than France or Spain, slightly larger than California. The population of just over 34 million compares with just eight million at independence in 1956.

Nearly 99 percent of Moroccans are Muslim, with tiny minorities of Christians and Jews. The literacy rate is 52.3 percent (65.7 percent for men, 39.6 percent for women).

The main languages are Arabic, Berber (Tarfit, Tamazight and Tashelhat) and French. English is increasingly spoken by young people, especially in tourist areas.

Morocco gained independence from French and Spanish rule on March 2, 1956. The head of state is King Mohammed VI, who succeeded his father Hassan II on July 30, 1999. The government is chosen from an elected legislature and is currently a coalition of four political parties under prime minister Abbas el Fassi of Moroccos oldest political group, the Istiqlal (Independence) Party. The main opposition is the moderate Islamist PJD (Party of Justice and Development). All legal political parties operate within a political consensus, and are not allowed, for example, to oppose the monarchy.

Moroccos principal legal exports are clothing, fish (notably sardines), phosphates, fruit and vegetables. Cannabis, though illegal, is also an important export. Moroccos main trading partners are France and Spain.

Blue-painted door, Chefchaouen

Arabs and Berbers

The Berbers were Moroccos original inhabitants. The Arabs arrived at the end of the seventh century, after sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East in the name of their new revolutionary ideology, Islam. Eventually, nearly all the Berbers converted to the new religion and were immediately accepted as fellow Muslims by the Arabs. When Muslim armies invaded the Iberian peninsula from Morocco, the bulk of the troops were Berbers, and the two ethnic groups pretty much assimilated. Today, most Moroccans can claim both Arab and Berber ancestors, though a few (especially Shereefs, who trace their ancestry back to the Prophet Mohammed, and have the title Moulay) claim to be pure Arabs. But in the Rif and Atlas mountains, and in the Souss Valley, groups of pure Berbers remain, and retain their ancient languages (Tarfit, spoken by about 1.5m people in the Rif; Tamazight, spoken by over 3m people in the Atlas; and Tashelhat, spoken by 34m people in the Souss Valley region). Recently, there has been a resurgence in Berber pride (often symbolized by the Berber letter ). TV programmes are now broadcast in Berber languages, and they are even taught in schools, but the countrys majority language remains Arabic.

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