Administrative Organizations:

Morocco is divided into 16 regions, themselves divided into 44 provinces and 24 prefectures. Each region has the status of community east locale. La capital Rabat.

Currency:

Dirham
In 2008: DH 1 = 0.16 €
€ 1 = 10.60 DH

Area:

710. 850 km2

Climate:

The prevailing climate is Mediterranean in Morocco, tempered in the West and the North Atlantic Ocean.
In the interior, the climate is continental with significant differences in temperature.
The area east of the Atlas wet snow there is frequent.
The South has a desert climate.
The annual sunshine is more than eight hours a day in Agadir, Fez, Marrakech and Ouarzazate with an average temperature of 21 degrees.
If you are too hot or too cold, browse a few kilometres.
You can in a single day rise from the snow of the Atlas of the Sahara desert!

Religion:

Islam
The Moroccan Muslims belong to the branch Malékite, one of the four Orthodox branches of Islam.
The religion based on the holy book, the Koran, dictated by Allah to the Prophet Mohamed and the Hadith.
The word Islam means submission to Allah.
Muslims are monotheistic. This distinguishes Islam from other monotheistic religions, mainly Christianity, which by its doctrine of the Trinity goes to the uniqueness of God.

To convert to Islam, we must respect the five pillars of religion:
Achahada - There is only one God but Allah, the 5 prayers, Fasting during the month of Ramadan, zakat - the gift to the poor and the pilgrimage to the holy places - Mecca (hajj)

Language:


The Arabic is the national language.
Three Berber dialects are used in the mountains on the plateau and in the region of Souss.
The French is widely spoken and understood in most major cities.
The Spanish meanwhile is used in the North and the old Spanish enclaves of southern Morocco.

The souks:

The souk is attracting the most unusual of the rural world. This place is a place where any kind of negotiations and exchange. Because the population is predominantly rural, each tribe has a number of souks in its region. These souks on place outdoors or inside an enclosure. Fauna and Flora:
On the coast, soil type are halomorphique with humus. Within the land, the steppe is typical podzolique. The desert covers the southern tip.
The mountainous regions oriented Atlantic are covered with forests, including large tracts of cork oaks, oaks, juniper, cedar, fir and pine benefiting from the rains of autumn and winter, but droughts, increasingly long in the South, this fragile vegetation subject to fires, cutting and soil erosion.
The farmland occupy almost all the plains, otherwise it is the jungle that dominates with Bush.
In the plain of Souss, near the southern border, there is a vast forest arganiers a thorny endemic to North Africa. The vegetation in the valleys Wadi présahariens is identical to that of the arid region, in the oasis, vegetable crops and fruit trees are sheltered by date palms.
Morocco, at the crossroads of Europe and Africa, has a diverse wildlife.
The Roman mosaics of Volubilis show elephants, now missing, and lions whose last specimens were still living in the Atlas XIXesiècle.
 

The Berbers:

Indigenous Inhabitants of Morocco, are divided into three main tribes:
• The Masmoudas - The West Rif, Middle and High Atlas.
• The Sanhajas - The High Atlas and Tafilalet, the Mediterranean coast
• the Zenatas - In the East of Morocco, Region of Taza and Meknes.

Customs

-- Se shoes before entering a room if you see shoes lodged near the door.
-- Answer all questions that you pose and, sometimes, you appear indiscreet.
-- Extend the tea break, accepting several glasses, even if we no longer thirsty.
-- If you have been invited to a family, leave a small gift rather than money.
-- If you have photographed her Moroccan friends, do not forget to send their shots back.
  
Gazelles:

It's crazy there as "gazelle" in Morocco.
Each woman tourist was so named. As for men, are "gazeaux" or "gazous."

Festivals and ceremonies:

You may be lucky to see a circumcision, which gives rise to great rejoicing, proportional to the wealth of the family.
But mostly you the opportunity to attend a wedding, where they dance for three days.
The ceremony is the most frequent remains that mint tea.

Muslim religious holiday season:

They are determined according to the lunar calendar and thus, their date varies each year. The dates we give for the years 2003 and 2004 are valid for 2 or 3 days around.

Eid el Fitr: Feast of Breaking the Fast,
which comes the day after the end of Ramadan.
Eid el Kebir or el Adha: feast of the sacrifice of sheep.
Ras el Am: 1st day of the 1st calendar month hegirien. The AH corresponds to the exile of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
The Ashura: feast of the dead.
El Mouled: commemoration of the birth of the prophet Muhammad.
1st Ramadan

Hammam:

Initially, the hammam is a Roman invention. They allow the ablution full accordance with the Koran. The hammams also serve as public bathrooms. They are also an important meeting place for women. Generally, men bathe in the morning and women in the afternoon: a towel hanging on the door of the facility indicates the presence of women. The hours are normally from 7 am to 30 pm and 11 pm to 18 pm for 20 men and 11 h 30 to 17 hours for women. Bathing close later eve of the feast.

Mosques:

If the french word "mosque" has masdjid, we must not misunderstand the meaning of this term. Masdjid means the place where one bows (to Allah). This may be of course the mosque, but also anywhere, provided it is in a state of cleanliness and sacred. Friday is the day of assembly (yôm el djamaa) and also the day the mosque, since that is where we come together for the great collective worship.