Official name: Kingdom of Morocco Independent since: 1956 Former colonial ruler: France Location: northwest Africa Area: 172,413 square miles Capital: Rabat
Population: 31 million (2002 est.)
Official language: Arabic Major religion: Islam
Gross domestic product: US$112 billion (2001 est.) Major exports: food; consumer goods; minerals Military expenditures: US$1.4 billion (2000)
In the year 740 the Berbers of Morocco revolted against the Umayyad Dynasty, which ruled most of the Muslim world from Damascus, in the region now known as Syria. For about three hundred years, Morocco was controlled by various, often warring, leaders. In the eleventh century, the Almoravids, a Berber dynasty, gained strength by promising to purify and strengthen Islam. The Almoravids brought all Morocco under their rule and extended their power into Spain, which had been under Muslim control since the beginning of the eighth century. In the twelfth century, another Berber dynasty, the Almohads, rose up against the Almoravids.
The third Berber dynasty to rule Morocco, the Merinids, defeated the Almohads in 1269. While the Almoravids and the Almohads had both promised to restore orthodox Islam, the Merinids appealed to the religious beliefs of the tribal Berbers.
These beliefs were based on Islam, but also contained mystical views and practices not found in orthodox Islam. Cults of marabouts, or holy men, and the form of Muslim mysticism known as Sufism became important parts of Moroccan life during the Merinid period.
By the sixteenth century the Berber dynasties had declined and members of the Arab minority came to political dominance. Sharifs, members of families who could claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad, had the personal prestige to exercise authority. One Sharifi Arab clan that had migrated from Yemen, the Alawis, gained power in the seventeenth century. In 1666 an Alawite leader became sultan of Morocco. The government of that Alawite Sultanate became the basis for the modern Kingdom of Morocco.
World History
