Atlantic Ocean Lies to the West

THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Robin Nelson

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nelson, Robin, 1971– Morocco / by Robin Nelson. p. cm. — (Country explorers) Includes index. ISBN 978–0–7613–6419–1 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Morocco—Juvenile literature. I. Title. DT305.N45 2012 964—dc22 2010044475

Manufactured in the United States of America 1 – MG – 7/15/11 2 Table of Contents

Welcome! 4Living in the Country 30 Looking at Europe 6Family Is Everything 32 Western Sahara 8School 34 The Coast and the Plains 10 Food 36 Mountains and Desert 12 Carpets and Crafts 38 Natural Resources 14 Music 40 Special Trees 16 Holidays 42 The Berber People 18 The Flag of Morocco 44 The Arab People 20 Fast Facts 45 Religion 22 Glossary 46 Language 24 To Learn More 47 The King 26 Index 48 Living in the City 28

3 E U R mountains O P E highlands SPAIN Morocco high plateau Welcome! desert a Strait of Gibraltar a n S e You’ve come to Morocco! This country’s official country’s capital M e d i t e r r a n e equator Tangier name is the Kingdom of Morocco. But most people city N E just call it Morocco. R R I F M T N S . E R S I V E B R O U Y A R I V E R U L O U O Rabat . M Fez S The country sits on the northwest corner of the T N B O U R E G R E G M R I V E R A S continent of Africa. Western Sahara lies to the T L E A south. Along its eastern border, Morocco touches Casablanca D L M I D MOROCCO O U M Algeria. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the west. To the E R R B I A R I V E R . north is the Mediterranean Sea. Marrakech S N Z T E T I Z N S I M F T R I V E R R S I A R V

L H E T R A E R N D I S G R A R I V E R Mount ATLANTIC Toubkal T N S . R S O U S R I V E R M T E OCEAN L A S A T S The Atlantic Ocean T I - E A N D crashes into the ancient A F R walls of this western A I R C Moroccan city. A H A A ALGERIA S miles 0 50 100 150

0 100 200 4 kilOmeters WESTERN SAHARA E U R mountains O P E highlands SPAIN Morocco high plateau desert a Strait of Gibraltar a n S e country’s capital M e d i t e r r a n e equator Tangier city N E R R I F M T N S . E R S I V E B R O U Y A R I V E R U L O U O Rabat . M Fez S T N B O U R E G R E G M R I V E R A S T L E A Casablanca D L M I D MOROCCO O U M E R R B I A R I V E R . Marrakech S N Z T E T I Z N S I M F T R I V E R R S I A R V

L H E T R A E R N D I S G R A R I V E R Mount ATLANTIC Toubkal T N S . R S O U S R I V E R M T E OCEAN L A S A T S T I - E A N D A F R A I R C A H A A ALGERIA S miles 0 50 100 150

0 100 200 kilOmeters WESTERN SAHARA Looking at Europe Morocco is only about 9 miles (14 kilometers) away from the continent of Europe. The Strait of Gibraltar separates Morocco from the European country of Spain.

This photo of Morocco was taken from Spain. The waterway in the photo is the Strait of Gibraltar. 6 Map Whiz Quiz Take a look at the map on page 5. Many Moroccans take a ferry across the A map is a drawing or a chart of strait to go to Spain. The Strait of Gibraltar a place. Trace the outline of the flows between the Mediterranean Sea and map onto a sheet of paper. Look the Atlantic Ocean. for Spain. Mark it with an N for north. Can you find Western Sahara? Mark it with an S for south. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the west. Mark it with a W. Find Algeria. Mark it with an E for east. Color Morocco yellow. Color the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea blue.

A ferry docks at the Moroccan city of Tangier on the Strait of Gibraltar. 7 Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territory, not a country. Morocco claims Western Sahara. It’s mostly desert. Only about five hundred thousand people live there.

These people are walking in the desert in Western Sahara. 8 But the people of Western Sahara want to be an independent country. Morocco wants the territory’s natural resources. Over time, control of this land has caused many battles and arguments.

The Atlantic Coast of Western Sahara has great fishing.

9 The Flag of Morocco Morocco’s flag is red with a green, five-pointed star in the center. Red and green are colors that are often used in Arab flags. The star is called the Seal of Solomon. It stands for the country’s devotion to Islam and for life, wisdom, and good health.

44 FAST FACTS FULL COUNTRY NAME: Kingdom of ANIMALS AND THEIR HABITATS: Morocco hedgehogs, jackals, porcupines, rabbits, AREA: 172,413 square miles (446,550 (coasts and plains); mountain cats, sheep, square kilometers). That is a little bigger wild boars (highlands); eagles, hawks, than the state of California. monkeys, owls, vultures (mountains); desert fox, hyenas, jackals, rats, scorpions, MAIN LANDFORMS: the mountain ranges snakes, squirrels (desert); dolphins, fish, Anti-Atlas, Er Rif, Grand Atlas, and Middle monk seals, porpoises (seacoast). Atlas; the desert Sahara; high plateaus; valleys; lowlands CAPITAL CITY: Rabat MAJOR RIVERS: Bou Regreg, Moulouya, OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Arabic Oum er Rbia, Rheris, Sebou, Sous, Tensift, POPULATION: about 31,285,200 and Ziz

45 GLOSSARY capital: a city where the government of a mountain: a part of Earth’s surface that state or country is located rises high into the sky continent: any one of seven large areas natural resources: things that are of land. The continents are Africa, supplied by nature and are useful to Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North people America, and South America. plain: a big area of flat land desert: a dry, sandy region territory: land that is under the control of ethnic group: a group of people with a government many things in common, such as language, religion, history, and customs

46 TO LEARN MORE BOOKS WEBSITES Alalou, Elizabeth, and Ali Alalou. Time for Kids around the World: Morocco The Butter Man. Watertown, MA: http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/ Charlesbridge Publishing, 2008. This aw/wr/article/0,28138,1983086,00.html picture book captures the Moroccan Explore Morocco and celebrate the culture and landscape through a story culture, people, landmarks, and about patience, perseverance, and hope. geography. Douglas, Susan. Ramadan. Minneapolis: Yahoo! KIDS Millbrook Press, 2004. Look at the http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/world- history of and customs surrounding factbook/country/mo Ramadan. World Factbook contains maps, pictures Raabe, Emily. A Primary Source Guide of flags, statistics, and information to Morocco. New York: PowerKids Press, on Morocco’s history, land, people, 2005. This book gives a brief overview of government, and money. Morocco’s past and present. Riley, Nancy. Moroccan Mystery. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2008. Learn about Islam, Moroccan culture, and the trade in endangered animal products in this book.

47 Index cities, 7, 10, 28–29 map, 4–5 music and dance, 40–41 families, 32–33 food, 15, 36–37 people, 8, 18–21 holidays, 42–43 religion, 21, 22–23 homes, 30–31 school, 34–35 King Mohammed VI, 26–27, 43 sports, 33 language, 24–25 weather, 11, 12, 13

The images in this book are used with the permission of: © Ian Cumming/Axiom/Photolibrary, p. 4; © Laura Westlund/Independent Picture Service, pp. 4–5, 44; © Thomas Dressler/Gallo Images/Getty Images, p. 6; © Xulio Villarnio/Cover/Getty Images, p. 7; © Eye Ubiquitous/Glow Images, p. 8; © Christine Osborne/ Worldwide Picture Library/Alamy, p. 9; © Witold Skryczak/Alamy, p. 10; © Walter Bibikow/The Image Bank/Getty Images, p. 11; © Mark Eveleigh/Alamy, p. 12; © 2008 Michael Mellinger/Flickr/Getty Images, p. 13; © age fotostock/SuperStock, p. 14; © Godong/Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images, p. 15; © John and Lisa Merrill/Danita Delimont Agency/Alamy, p. 16; © Natalie Tepper/Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images, p. 17; © Patrick Forget/SagaPhotos.com/Alamy, p. 18; © akg-images/Werner Forman, p. 19; © imagebroker.net/SuperStock, pp. 20, 36 © Will Steeley/Alamy, p. 21; © Joachim Hiltmann/imagebroker/Alamy, p. 22; © Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images, p. 23, 29; © Robert Fried/Alamy, p. 24; © Martin Child/Digital Vision/Getty Images, pp. 25, 30, 38; © RIA Novosti/Alamy, p. 26; © Dorling Kindersley/Alamy, p. 27; © Hisham Ibrahim/Photographer’s Choice RF/Getty Images, p. 28; © Penny Tweedie/Stone/Getty Images, p. 31; © Paul Maguire/Alamy, p. 32; © Bruno Morandi/The Image Bank/Getty Images, p. 33; © Boaz Rottem/Alamy, p. 34; © Trippin’ Out/Alamy, p. 35; © Image&Stories/Alamy, p. 37; © Steve Vidler/SuperStock, p. 39; © Chris Heiller/Alamy, p. 40; © Rafael Marchante/Reuters/CORBIS, p. 41; © Hemis.fr/SuperStock, p. 42; © Chris Jackson/ Getty Images, p. 43. Front Cover: © samotrebizan/Shutterstock Images.

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48 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Pack your bags! We’re headed to Morocco. On this whirlwind tour, you’ll learn all about the country’s landscape, culture, people, and more. We’ll explore Morocco’s seacoasts, mountains, and desert; visit its busy cities and quiet villages; and shop for crafts in bustling outdoor markets. We’ll also find out what kind of foods people eat and learn about Throne Day, when Morocco honors its king. A special section introduces Morocco’s capital, language, population, and flag. Hop on board and take a fun-filled look at your world!

Read all the books in the Country Explorers series: Argentina Cuba India Kenya Peru Spain Australia Egypt Indonesia Madagascar Philippines Switzerland Brazil France Iran Mexico Poland Tanzania Canada Germany Ireland Morocco Puerto Rico Thailand Chile Ghana Israel New Zealand Russia Turkey China Greece Italy Nigeria Saudi Arabia United Kingdom Colombia Guatemala Jamaica Norway South Africa Venezuela Costa Rica Iceland Japan Pakistan South Korea Vietnam