m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: claims and administers Western Sahara, but
sovereignty is unresolved; the UN is attempting to hold a referendum;
the UN-administered cease-fire has been currently in effect since
September 1991; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de
soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of
Ceuta and Melilla which Morocco contests as well as the islands of
Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas

Climate: Mediterranean, becoming more extreme in the interior

Terrain: northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas
of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains

Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish,
salt

Land use:
arable land: 18%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 28%
forest and woodland: 12%
other: 41%

Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: land degradation/desertification (soil erosion
resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of
vegetation); water supplies contaminated by raw sewage; siltation of
reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters
natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and subject
to earthquakes; periodic droughts
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

Note: strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar

@Morocco:People

Population: 29,168,848 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 38% (female 5,486,176; male 5,659,410)
15-64 years: 58% (female 8,456,525; male 8,327,560)
65 years and over: 4% (female 641,236; male 597,941) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.09% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 27.93 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 5.97 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 45.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.98 years
male: 67.03 years
female: 71.02 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.69 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nat