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National Geographic Magazine October 1996
Highlights From this Month's Issue
 
MOROCCO IMAGE Morocco: A vital mixture of ancient customs and modern ideas, of sudden beauty and persistent poverty, of tenacious past and imperfect present. A generation after regaining their independence from France, Erla Zwingle reports, “Moroccans are facing an array of challenges perhaps greater than all that have come before.” Nearly half of the people are under 20 years of age. Unemployment is rampant. Cities are overwhelmed with rural migrants. Moroccans cast an uneasy eye on the violent Islamic fundamentalism in neighboring Algeria. Over the years, scores of Western writers have tried to capture the essence of Morocco—most of them romantically. Zwingle finds that Morocco is less about romance and more—much more—about adversity, struggle, and hope.
 

    
Like a tile to be placed in the design, a pilgrim moves through the shrine of Moulay Ismail–the sultan who united Morocco in the 17th century and earned the country international renown. He also tortured his slaves and pampered his camels. Such incongruities are typical of Morocco, a land where beauty and adversity walk side by side.

Photographs by Bruno Barbey.

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