Morocco 🇲🇦

Morocco is a country in Africa with a population of 37,457,971. Its capital is Rabat. The official currency is MAD, and the main languages are Arabic, Berber.

Quick facts

Capital: Rabat
Continent: Africa
Population: 37,457,971
Area: 446,550 km²
Density: 83.9 people per km²
Currency: MAD
Languages: Arabic, Berber
ISO code: MA

Where Morocco sits

Morocco 🇲🇦 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Rabat. It covers 446,550 square kilometres — 57th in the world — and is home to about 37,457,971 people, 40th globally.

The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.

How Morocco compares

Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Morocco sits closest to Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Uzbekistan and Sweden.

At 83.9 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.

Arabic is an official language in 25 countries here, among them Algeria, Bahrain, Chad and Comoros, and 20 others. The MAD is used by Morocco and no one else.

To see Morocco next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.

How to remember Morocco

Rabat is the capital, but Casablanca is the biggest city, so do not let the famous name fool you. R for Rabat, R for Red: the flag is red with a green star drawn as an outline.

The flag of Morocco: red and green

🇲🇦 The flag is a red flag with a green five-pointed star outline, known as Solomon's seal, in the centre. Red and green are traditional colours in Arab flags. The five-pointed star stands for the Five Pillars of Islam and the bond between God and the nation. The design dates from 1912.

Region and neighbours

Morocco is a country in the northwest corner of Africa, with coasts on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. It shares land borders with 2 countries: Algeria and Spain. The border with Spain is around Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities on the African coast. To the south is Western Sahara, a disputed territory that Morocco claims and largely controls.

Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
Spain 🇪🇸 — capital Madrid

Three facts about Morocco

Mount Toubkal, about 4,167 m high, is the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains.
At its narrowest, the Strait of Gibraltar between Morocco and Spain is only about 14 km wide.
The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez is cited by UNESCO and Guinness World Records as the oldest university in the world that is still working.

Sources: Wikipedia: Morocco, Wikipedia: Flag of Morocco, Wikipedia: Rabat, Wikipedia: Mount Toubkal, Wikipedia: University of al-Qarawiyyin, CIA World Factbook.

Quiz yourself on Morocco

African capitals quiz — match Morocco to Rabat
African flags quiz — spot the Morocco flag among its neighbours

Quizzes that include Morocco

Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Morocco those are:

Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
Africa capitals quiz — match it to Rabat
Morocco capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Morocco
Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day

Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.

Nearby countries

Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
Burundi 🇧🇮 — capital Gitega
Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville

Frequently asked questions

What are the colours of the Morocco flag?

The flag of Morocco is a red flag with a green five-pointed star outline, known as Solomon's seal, in the centre. Red and green are traditional colours in Arab flags. The five-pointed star stands for the Five Pillars of Islam and the bond between God and the nation. The design dates from 1912.

Which countries border Morocco?

Morocco shares land borders with Algeria and Spain. The border with Spain is around Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities on the African coast. To the south is Western Sahara, a disputed territory that Morocco claims and largely controls.

How can I remember the capital of Morocco?