Demographics of Morocco
Encyclopedia
This article is about the demographic
features of the population
of Morocco
, including population density
, ethnicity
, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Most Moroccans
are Sunni Muslims, mainly of Arab-Berber
, Arabized Berber
or Berber
stock. Morocco was inhabited by Berbers since at least 5000 years ago. The Arabs conquered the territory that would become Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries, at the time under the rule of various late Byzantine Roman princips and indigenous Berber and Romano-Berber principalities, such as the one of Julian, count of Ceuta
, laying the foundation for the emergence of the Morish culture. A small minority of the population is identified as Haratin
and Gnaoua, dark-skinned sedentary agriculturalists of the southern oases that speak either Berber or Arabic. Morocco's Jewish minority has decreased significantly and today numbers about 5,000. Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French
or Spanish
.
Recent studies make clear no significant genetic
differences exist between Arabic and non-Arabic speaking populations, highlighting that in common with most of the Arab World, Arabization
was mainly via acculturation of indigenous populations over time and intermarriage between Arabs and Berbers. According to the European Journal of Human Genetics
, Moroccans from North-Western Africa
are genetically closer to Iberians
and other South Europeans than to Middle Easterners and Sub-Saharan Africans.
is Morocco's official language (it is the "classical" Arabic of the Qur'an
, literature and news media). The country has a distinctive dialect of Arabic known as Moroccan Arabic
.
More than 30 million Moroccans of Berber origin speak Berber in three varieties (Riff, Shilha, and Central Atlas Tamazight), either as a first language or bilingually with Moroccan Arabic. French
, which remains Morocco's unofficial third language, is taught throughout school and still serves as Morocco's primary language of commerce and economics
; it is also widely used in education and government. Morocco is a member of La Francophonie
. Berber activists have struggled for half a century for the recognition of their language as an official minority language of Morocco in the Moroccan constitution.
About 20,000 Moroccans in the northern part of the country speak Spanish
. English
, while still far behind French
and Spanish in terms of the number of speakers, is rapidly becoming the second foreign language of choice among educated youth, after French. It has been taught to Moroccan students after the fourth year of school since the education reforms of 2002.
rate is 51 percent for males and 42.5 percent for females. 26 percent of the non-agricultural labor is female. The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary schools is 87.9. In the past 20 years, the government has taken initiatives to improve the status of women in society. For instance, the Moudawana 2003 code of law has greatly improved the family status code. It has given women the right to make decisions on marriage, divorce, and custody of children in the case of remarriage/divorce. Nevertheless, gender bias is still commonplace in education, employment and the law.
, a range that insulates the country from the Sahara Desert. Casablanca
is the center of commerce and industry and the leading port; Rabat
is the seat of government; Tangier
is the gateway to Morocco from Spain
and also a major port; Fez is the cultural and religious center; and Marrakech
is a major tourist center.
announced that illiteracy rate has declined by 39 percent, while two million people had attended literacy courses during the past four years.
Morocco has about 230,000 students enrolled in 14 public universities. The oldest and among the most prestigious is Mohammed V in Rabat, with faculties of law, sciences, liberal arts, and medicine. University of Karueein, in Fez, has been a center for Islamic studies for more than 1,000 years. Al Akhawayn University
in Ifrane
, founded in 1993 by King Hassan II
and King Fahd
of Saudi Arabia
, is an English-medium
, American-style university comprising about 1,700 students.
15-64 years: 65.4% (male 10,009,928/female 10,437,103)
65 years and over: 6% (male 851,190/female 1,019,377) (2010 est.)
under 15 years:1.03 male(s)/female
15–64 years:0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over:0.83 male(s)/female
total population:0.97 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
75.47 years
male:72.42 years
female:78.68 years (2010 est.)
Total population: 61.55% (2007)
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
features of the population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, including population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
, ethnicity
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Most Moroccans
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
are Sunni Muslims, mainly of Arab-Berber
Arab-Berber
Arab-Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb who is of mixed Arab and Berber origin and whose native language is a dialect of Arabic and who also has an Arab ethnic identity...
, Arabized Berber
Arabized Berber
Arabized Berber is a term to denote an inhabitant of the North African Maghreb of Berber origin whose native language is a dialect of Arabic. According to these persons, the Arab identity in North Africa is a myth coming from the Arabization of the official institutions after French rule.They...
or Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
stock. Morocco was inhabited by Berbers since at least 5000 years ago. The Arabs conquered the territory that would become Morocco in the 7th and 11th centuries, at the time under the rule of various late Byzantine Roman princips and indigenous Berber and Romano-Berber principalities, such as the one of Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania — a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and...
, laying the foundation for the emergence of the Morish culture. A small minority of the population is identified as Haratin
Haratin
Haratin are oasis-dwellers in the Sahara, especially in southern Morocco and Mauritania, who make up a socially and ethnically distinct group of largely sedentary dark colored workers speaking either Berber or Arabic...
and Gnaoua, dark-skinned sedentary agriculturalists of the southern oases that speak either Berber or Arabic. Morocco's Jewish minority has decreased significantly and today numbers about 5,000. Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
or Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
.
Recent studies make clear no significant genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
differences exist between Arabic and non-Arabic speaking populations, highlighting that in common with most of the Arab World, Arabization
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
was mainly via acculturation of indigenous populations over time and intermarriage between Arabs and Berbers. According to the European Journal of Human Genetics
European Journal of Human Genetics
The European Journal of Human Genetics is the official journal of the European Society of Human Genetics. It focuses on human genetics, and is published monthly by the Nature Publishing Group...
, Moroccans from North-Western Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
are genetically closer to Iberians
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
and other South Europeans than to Middle Easterners and Sub-Saharan Africans.
Languages
Classical ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
is Morocco's official language (it is the "classical" Arabic of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, literature and news media). The country has a distinctive dialect of Arabic known as Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco. For official communications, the government and other public bodies use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries. A mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in business...
.
More than 30 million Moroccans of Berber origin speak Berber in three varieties (Riff, Shilha, and Central Atlas Tamazight), either as a first language or bilingually with Moroccan Arabic. French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, which remains Morocco's unofficial third language, is taught throughout school and still serves as Morocco's primary language of commerce and economics
Economy of Morocco
Morocco's economy is considered a relatively liberal economy governed by the law of supply and demand. Since 1993, the country has followed a policy of privatization of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government. Morocco has become a major player in the African...
; it is also widely used in education and government. Morocco is a member of La Francophonie
La Francophonie
Francophonie is an international organization of politics and governments with French as the mother or customary language, where a significant proportion of people are francophones , or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture.Formally known as the Organisation...
. Berber activists have struggled for half a century for the recognition of their language as an official minority language of Morocco in the Moroccan constitution.
About 20,000 Moroccans in the northern part of the country speak Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, while still far behind French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Spanish in terms of the number of speakers, is rapidly becoming the second foreign language of choice among educated youth, after French. It has been taught to Moroccan students after the fourth year of school since the education reforms of 2002.
Status of women
The literacyLiteracy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
rate is 51 percent for males and 42.5 percent for females. 26 percent of the non-agricultural labor is female. The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary schools is 87.9. In the past 20 years, the government has taken initiatives to improve the status of women in society. For instance, the Moudawana 2003 code of law has greatly improved the family status code. It has given women the right to make decisions on marriage, divorce, and custody of children in the case of remarriage/divorce. Nevertheless, gender bias is still commonplace in education, employment and the law.
Main populated areas
Most people live west of the Atlas MountainsAtlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
, a range that insulates the country from the Sahara Desert. Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
is the center of commerce and industry and the leading port; Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
is the seat of government; Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
is the gateway to Morocco from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and also a major port; Fez is the cultural and religious center; and Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
is a major tourist center.
Education
Education in Morocco is free and compulsory through primary school (age 15). Nevertheless, many children—particularly girls in rural areas—still do not attend school. The country's illiteracy rate is usually around 50 percent for most of the country, but reaches as high as 90 percent among girls in rural regions. In July 2006, Prime minister Driss JettouDriss Jettou
-Early life and education:Jettou was born in the town of El-Jadida. After secondary studies at El Khawarizmi college in Casablanca, he obtained a technical Baccalauréat in mathematics in 1964. He then joined the Faculty of Sciences of Rabat where he graduated in physics and chemistry in 1966...
announced that illiteracy rate has declined by 39 percent, while two million people had attended literacy courses during the past four years.
Morocco has about 230,000 students enrolled in 14 public universities. The oldest and among the most prestigious is Mohammed V in Rabat, with faculties of law, sciences, liberal arts, and medicine. University of Karueein, in Fez, has been a center for Islamic studies for more than 1,000 years. Al Akhawayn University
Al Akhawayn University
Al Akhawayn University is a university located in Ifrane, Morocco, just 60 kilometers away from the imperial city of Fez, in the midst of the Middle Atlas Mountains. The creation of Al Akhawayn University was largely funded by the King of Saudi Arabia from a large endowment intended for the...
in Ifrane
Ifrane
Ifrane [p] is a town and ski resort in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco .Ifrane is 1665 metres in altitude and is part of the Meknès-Tafilalet region...
, founded in 1993 by King Hassan II
Hassan II of Morocco
King Hassan II l-ḥasan aṯ-ṯānī, dial. el-ḥasan ettâni); July 9, 1929 – July 23, 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999...
and King Fahd
Fahd of Saudi Arabia
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, was King of Saudi Arabia from 1982 to 2005...
of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, is an English-medium
Medium of instruction
Medium of instruction is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. Where the first language of students is different from the official language, it may be used as the medium of instruction for part or all of schooling. Bilingual or...
, American-style university comprising about 1,700 students.
Statistics
The following demographic statistics for 2010 are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.Age structure
0-14 years: 28.7% (male 4,548,808/female 4,418,768)15-64 years: 65.4% (male 10,009,928/female 10,437,103)
65 years and over: 6% (male 851,190/female 1,019,377) (2010 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth:1.05 male(s)/femaleunder 15 years:1.03 male(s)/female
15–64 years:0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over:0.83 male(s)/female
total population:0.97 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population:75.47 years
male:72.42 years
female:78.68 years (2010 est.)
Ethnic groups
Arab-Berber 99.1%, other 0.7%, Jewish 0.2%- :Category:Ethnic groups in Morocco
Religions
Muslim 98.7%, Christian 1.1%, Jewish 0.2%.- :Category:Religion in Morocco
- Moroccan Jews
Literacy
Definition: age 10 and over can read and writeTotal population: 61.55% (2007)
- :Category:Education in Morocco