Morocco
or MAROCCO, known to the natives as Maghreb-el-Aksa, "the farthest West," is a former empire or sultanate which, though at one time comprising a portion of Algeria in one direction, and exercising in the other a modified jurisdiction as far as Timbuktu, is now confined to that part of northwest Africa bounded on the E. (at the Wad Kiss) by Algeria, and on the S. by Cape Nun and the Wad Draa, though both here and on the Sahara side of the Atlas the limits of the empire are rather indeterminate. Area, about 219,000 square miles; pop. estimated at 6,000,000. Politically, Morocco comprises at present the old kingdoms of Fez and Morocco and the territories of Tafilet (Tafilalet) and MOROCCO Sus; but the two latter are almost independent, recognizing the Sultan only as the Prince of True Believers, an office which he holds as the most powerful of the Shereefs or descendants of Mohammed. These four principal governments are divided into 17 primary provinces or "amalats," each presided over by a Kaïd or "Bashaw," as the Europeans call him.
Topography.- Morocco is, as a rule, mountainous, the Atlas traversing it in several chains from S. W. to N. E., and by various spurs both to the coast country and to the desert. There are, however, numerous level plains, some of which are of great extent, and very rich, the soil being in many places a deep, black loam, evidently the bed of an ancient lake or of a primeval forest. There are also numerous more or less level plateaus similar to those of Algeria. But with the exception of parts of the Atlas, the forest of Mamora, the date and argan groves of the S., and a few straggling copses around the burial places of saints, Morocco has, in the course of the last thousand years, been almost denuded of timber, the palmetto scrub being about the most common representative of woodland.
Climate. The climate of Morocco varies much, though the W. slope, being tempered by the sea breezes and protected from the hot desert winds by the Atlas, is temperate, the thermometer seldom falling below 40° or rising above 90°. But in summer the interior valleys are very hot, and in winter snow often falls in Fez and Mequinez, where ice an inch thick is by no means uncommon.
Farther S. extremes of heat and drought are more common, though as a rule the climate is equable. In the Sus country and the region of Tafilet rain is scarce and in places almost unknown. But farther N., and on the Atlantic and Mediterranean slopes, it falls with tolerable regularity every year between October and April.
Trade. The total value of imports in 1918 was $73,706,922, and for the exports, $24,654,973. The imports were chiefly cotton goods, sugar, tea, and wine. The exports consisted of eggs, breadstuffs, hides and skins, seeds, and vegetables.
Agriculture. The principal products of the country are cattle, eggs, barley, corn, hides, vegetables. Among the fruits grown in quantities are figs, lemons, olives, oranges, and dates. Cotton growing was introduced in 1911. The soil is capable of extensive cultivation.
Education. - In 1918 there were 191 schools open to the public. There were 21,520 pupils, with 668 teachers.
MOROCCO Finance. The public debt of the French protectorate is about $80,000,000.
The estimated annual income is about $17,000,000, and the expenditure is about the same.
Transportation. - The French have spent large sums of money in the development of roads. There are about 1,300 miles of first-class roads in the protectorate and about 400 miles of secondary roads. Transportation is carried on to a considerable degree by motor trucks.
A large number of railroads have been built, chiefly for military purposes. In 1919 a line from Taza to Fez, linking the eastern and the western systems, was in the process of construction. There are about 3,000 miles of telegraph lines in Morocco. The most important ports are Tetuan and Tangier, Tangier, El Arish, Casa Blanca, and Mogador.
People. The inhabitants consist of six principal groups. (1) The Berbers (Braber) or Kabyles, of whom the Amazigh, Shelluh, and Tuareg are only branches, are the aborigines. They inhabit for the most part the mountain regions, and are still only half subdued. (2) The Arabs are descendants of the invaders who came in the 7th century. (3) The Jews were very early settlers, semi-independent colonies still subsisting in the Atlas and the Sus country, though most of them in the towns are refugees driven out of Spain and Portugal. (4) A few thousands of Europeans, chiefly Spaniards, are almost entirely confined to the coast towns. (5) The "Moors," a term vaguely applied to all the Mohammedan inhabitants, are really Arabs with a large admixture of Spanish and other European bloods, and the name ought properly to be restricted to the inhabitants of the cities. (6) The Negroes, of whom there are large numbers, were brought from the Sudan as slaves.
Government. The country is theoretically an absolute monarchy, but since the establishment of the French protectorate the Sultan is obliged to follow the policies of the French resident-general in all matters. The Sultan in 1920 was Mulai Yussuf.
History. After being for more than four centuries a part of the Roman empire, and in the latter period of its sway veneered with a corrupt Christianity, "Mauritania Tingitana" fell (A. D. 429) into the hands of the Vandals, who held it till 533, when Belisarius having defeated them, it became subject once more to the Eastern empire. But in the year 680 the Arab invasion began, and with little intermission the Arabs have ever since been possessors of the country, and the entire population are now the most MOROCCO fanatical adherents of Mohammedanism.
At first, with Spain, part of the caliphate of Bagdad, it became divided into several independent monarchies, and during this period the country enjoyed a prosperity to which it has ever since been a stranger. Morocco, though now more contracted than formerly, has at present, with the exception of the Spanish "presidios," no foreign strongholds on its coast, as there were up to the year 1769, when the Portuguese evacuated Mazagan; and since the unsuccessful war with Spain in 1859-1860 the country has not been disturbed by foreign hostilities. But it is still very backward. A passive resistance is offered to every improvement, and, though Christian slavery and piracy by government vessels have been abolished since 1817- 1822 and foreign traders have nominally had access to all parts of the empire, the interior is not much different from what it was a thousand years ago. In 1902 an anti-Christian and anti-European rebellion broke out, and during that year and through 1903 the Sultan's forces were engaged in suppressing the uprising. The direct cause of the discontent was the Sultan's tendencies toward European ideas and his extravagance, together with the popular objection to various reforms instituted by him. After the repeated defeat of the Government forces, the Sultan began dismissing the Europeans employed in his army and his court. In 1905 and 1906 Morocco was brought under a concerted action of the Powers, and intrusted chiefly to France and Spain as their agents.
The German emperor strongly resented the domination of France in Morocco, and on March 31, 1906, arrived at Tangier and announced that German interests would be protected. War was at once threatened and was averted only by a conference of representatives of European countries, held at Algeciras, Spain, on June 16, 1906. By the terms of the agreement made by this conference, France was given wide powers in the regulation of Moroccan affairs, while to Spain was given the policing of several of the ports. During the first years of French domination there were several outbreaks, but the country was gradually restored to quietness under the wise and liberal French rule. France and Spain in 1911 entered into an agreement in regard to the administration of the country providing for co-operation. In the same year France and Germany signed an agreement concerning the French right to establish a protectorate, which was formally established in 1913.
This defeat of German diplomacy re- MOROCCO sulted in the immediate increase of the German army and was one of the steps toward the World War in 1914. In the World War Moroccan troops fought with great bravery in France and elsewhere.
The country under the French régime has steadily progressed.
MOROCCO (Arabian, Marakesch, by which name it is usually known among European residents), the S. capital of the empire of the same name; between 4 and 5 miles from the left bank of the Tensift, at the N. end of an extensive and fertile plain; 1,447 feet above the sea. It is surrounded by a lime and earth wall, more than 5 miles in circumference, between 20 and 30 feet high, and pierced by seven gates. In the bazaar and merchants' quarter a considerable local trade is carried on with the country people, the mountaineers from the neighboring Atlas, and with Sus, Tafilet, Mazagan, Saffi, and Mogador. Morocco possesses many mosques, one of which, the Kutubia, has a tower 320 feet high. There are several tanning and leather-dyeing establish ments of considerable extent, though of late years European goods have been gradually displacing native manufactures. Morocco was founded in 1072 by the Emir Jusef ben Tachefyn, and reached the summit of its prosperity in prosperity the 13th century. Population between 50,000 and 80,000.
MORÓN, town in Andalusia, Spain, on the Guadaira river, 32 miles S. E. of Seville. Region rich in cattle, olives, chalk, and marble quarries. Moorish quarries. castle in vicinity. Pop. about 18,000.