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Most Moroccans are Sunni Muslims of Arab, Berber, or mixed Arab-Berber stock. 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 Beber and Romano-Berber principalities, laying the foundation for the emergence of an Arab-Berber culture. A portion of the population is identified as Haratin and Gnaoua, black or highly mixed "race" Moroccans. Morocco's Jewish minority has decreased significantly and numbers about 7,000 (See History of the Jews in Morocco). Most of the 100,000 foreign residents are French or Spanish, largely professionals working for European multinationals.
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.[1]. However, and according to the European Journal of Human Genetics, North-Western Africans were genetically closer to Iberians and to other Europeans than to Sub-Saharan Africans. [2].
Arabic is Morocco's official language (it is the "classical" Arabic of the Qur'an, literature and news media). The country has a distinctive dialect known as Moroccan-Arabic.
Approximately 15 million Moroccans speak Berber --which exists in Morocco in three different dialects (Tarifit, Tashelhit, and Tamazight)--either as a first language or bilingually with the spoken Arabic dialect. French, which remains Morocco's unofficial third language, is taught universally and still serves as Morocco's primary language of .
About 20,000 Moroccans in the northern part of the country speak Spanish. English, while still far behind French and Spanish in terms of number of speakers, is rapidly becoming the second foreign language of choice among educated youth, after French. As a result of national education reforms entering into force in late 2002, English will be taught in all public schools from the fourth year on.
Most people live west of the Atlas Mountains, 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; "Arab" Fez is the cultural and religious center; and "Berber" Marrakech is a major tourist center.
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 has been stuck at around 50% for some years but reaches as high as 90% among girls in rural regions. In July 2006, Prime minister Driss Jettou announced that illetracy rate has dropped by 39% while two million people have attended literacy courses during the past four years [2]
Morocco has about 230,000 students enrolled in 14 public universities. The oldest and in some ways 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. Morocco has one private university, Al Akhawayn University, in Ifrane. Al-Akhawayn, founded in 1993 by King Hassan II and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, is an English-medium, American-style university comprising about 1,000 students.
33,241,259 (July 2006 est.)
0-14 years: 31.6% (male 5,343,976; female 5,145,019)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 10,505,018; female 10,580,599)
65 years and over: 5% (male 725,116; female 941,531) (2006 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
total population: 70.94 years
male: 68.62 years
female: 73.37 years (2006 est.)
Arabic (official), Spanish, Berber dialects (Morocco does not recognise them as languages but as dialects of a Berber language), French often the language of business, government, and diplomacy.
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 51.7%
male: 64.1%
female: 39.4% (1995 est.)
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