Morocco is one of the more well-known states of Africa. Situated in the Maghreb region of North Africa, it is officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco. In Arabic, its national language, the name of the country is al-Mamlakah al-Magribiyah. Apart from Arabic, the country has Berber as its official language. According to the last census, the population of Morocco is over 30 million and political capital is at Rabat. The official religion of the country is Islam. The political system of the country is constitutional monarchy. So Morocco has a parliament of elected representatives. Although the power of the monarch is not absolute, he enjoys extensive executive and legislative authority as well as control of the army.

Although most people outside Africa are aware of Morocco and its position on the globe, there are facts which are unknown or less popular amongst the common people. Some of these facts are very interesting. Here are a few of them:

Morocco is one of only three nations and the only African nation to have Atlantic as well as Mediterranean coastlines, the other two countries being Spain and France, both in Europe.

The English name ‘œMorocco’ is a derivation from the Spanish word ‘œMarruecos’ which was a Spanish pronunciation of Marrakesh. The word is Berber which means Land of God.

Morocco has been involved in a territorial dispute over the Western Sahara, which has a non-self-governing territory. Since 1975, Morocco claimed this territory as her own and has indulged into military conflicts over it.

Morocco was part of the legendary Carthaginian Empire which had protracted military conflicts with the Roman Empire during the 3rd century B.C.E.

Morocco was the first nation in the world to recognize the United States as a sovereign country in 1777 C.E, at a time when the latter was still fighting for independence.

With Morocco, United States has a Treaty of Friendship which is the oldest non-broken treaty of the United States. It was signed in 1786.
In the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 geographical encoding standard, Morocco is represented by the symbol MA.

Morocco has a diversified Avifauna which includes 454 species. Of these species, 156 have been rarely seen in recent times.

Morocco is the only African state that is not a member of the African Union following its exit from the international council on 12th November, 1984. This was a consequence of the African Union granting full membership to Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Morocco is the only ally of USA who is not a member of the NATO.

The country has a rich heritage in pottery where artisans learn the craft from their youth. Moroccan clay is moulded into various shapes and then burnt in a kiln. Various colours are painted on them. They are sold in different stores throughout the country.

Mint tea is the country’s most popular beverage. It is served hot and is very sweet to taste. It has got a fresh minty flavour.

These are only some of the interesting facts about the state of Morocco. The country witnessed a glorious history as parts of the Carthaginian Empire as well as the Ottoman Empire during the medieval times.