| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Mauritania |
| Geographic coordinates | 28 30 N, 10 00 W |
| Map references | Africa |
| Area | total: 716,550 sq km land: 716,300 sq km water: 250 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than twice the size of California |
| Land boundaries | total: 3,523.5 km border countries (3): Algeria 1941 km, Mauritania 1564 km, Spain (Ceuta) 8 km and Spain (Melilla) 10.5 km note: an additional 75-meter border segment exists between Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Penon de Velez de la Gomera |
| Coastline | 2,945 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Climate | Mediterranean in the north, becoming more extreme in the interior; in the south, hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew note: data does not include former Western Sahara |
| Terrain | mountainous northern coast (Rif Mountains) and interior (Atlas Mountains) bordered by large plateaus with intermontane valleys, and fertile coastal plains; the south is mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Jebel Toubkal 4,165 m lowest point: Sebkha Tah -59 m mean elevation: 909 m |
| Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt |
| Land use | agricultural land: 67.5% (2018 est.) arable land: 17.5% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 2.9% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 47.1% (2018 est.) forest: 11.5% (2018 est.) other: 21% (2018 est.) note: does not include the area of the former Western Sahara, which is almost exclusively desert |
| Irrigated land | 14,850 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 29 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) note: data does not include former Western Sahara |
| Natural hazards | in the north, the mountains are geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes; periodic droughts; windstorms; flash floods; landslides; in the south, a hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility |
| Geography - note | strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar; the only African nation to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines; the waters off the Atlantic coast are particularly rich fishing areas |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
