The Kingdom of Morocco is at the farthest west point of te Arab World and North Africa just Ander the Strait of Gibraltar. Morocco is strategically located with botch Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, and a rugged mountainous interior.

Morocco was a French protectorate from 1912 to 19567, when Sultan Mohammed became a king. He was succeeded in 1961 by his son, Hassan II and then in 1999 he was succeeded by his son King Mohammed VI. Morocco’s capital city is Rabat. Other major cities in Morocco are Marrakech and Fes as well as the ports of Casablanca and Tangier.

According to Times online (a UK based online newspaper), Morocco is the fastest growing destination for holidaymakers who buy flights through lastminute.com. Airlaines have been engaged in an aggressive fares war because of the record number of flights, with London-Marrakech fares dropping as little as L27 (€38 or $48) return including taxes and charges.

Magreb Arabe Presse has reported that during summer 2006 flight bookings to Marrakech leapt 295% year-on-year, maintained by the increased number of flights operating between UK and Morocco. The other popular Moroccan destination is Tangier, which is the fifith fastest growing destination with bookings of up to 132% year-on-year.

Written by Thomas Spyker    - July 13, 2007-12-20

The people of Morocco have a rich diversity and unique cultural blended from Arab, Berber, European and African influences.
Moroccans are some of the most generous hospitable people in the world. It’s not uncommon to get invited to dinner upon meeting and chatting with a Moroccan for only ten minutes and if you are honoured with such an opportunity you will be treated to an experience you will never forget. Typical Moroccan meals for guest are two to three courses that extend over several hours of lively conversation. Mint Tea is an integral part of Moroccan hospitality and daily life that you are almost sure to experience.
The official language in Morocco is Arabic and various Berber dialects ar spoken. French is widely spoken in business, government and academic circles and Spanish is also spoken in the north. English is also widely used in hotles, restaurants and cafes where there are a larger number of tourists.

Morocco has a free market economy that has grown by an average of 4% a year since 1983. The government has adopted a proactive privatization creating opportunities in the telecommunications, utilities and automotive sectors.
There is a free trade zone at the port and airport of Tangier and merchandise entering these zones is except from customs, fiscal and exchange control.
There is also a small but active stock exchange in Casablanca.
Morocco’s exports include fish, citrus fruits, energy, finished products, phosphantes phosphoric acid and raw materials. Other key areas of the economy are tourism, agriculture, fishing and forestry.

The unit of currency in Morocco is the Dirham (DH), wich is divided into 100 centimes. Business visitors are advised to consult their banks for the current rate of exchange. No import of disham is allowed. Overseas visitors need to change their currency into dirhams locally.

The Moroccan Central Bank (Bank Al Maghrib) fixes the value of the Dirham using a basket of currencies including the Euro, Dollar and Yen. The dirham is not yet fully convertible.

Mohammed VI Dirham