Climate: Mediterranean, becoming more extreme in the interior
Terrain: northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas
of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains
Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish,
salt
Land use: arable land: 18% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 28% forest and woodland: 12% other: 41%
Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: land degradation/desertification (soil erosion
resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of
vegetation); water supplies contaminated by raw sewage; siltation of
reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters
natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and subject
to earthquakes; periodic droughts
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
Note: strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar
@Morocco:People
Population: 29,168,848 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 38% (female 5,486,176; male 5,659,410)
15-64 years: 58% (female 8,456,525; male 8,327,560)
65 years and over: 4% (female 641,236; male 597,941) (July 1995 est.)