Geography (Morocco)
===================


     Total area:
         446,550 km2
     Land area:
         446,300 km2
     Comparative area:
         slightly larger than California
     Land boundaries:
         2,002 km; Algeria 1,559 km, Western Sahara 443 km
     Coastline:
         1,835 km
     Maritime claims:
       Contiguous zone:
         24 nm
       Continental shelf:
         200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
       Exclusive economic zone:
         200 nm
       Territorial sea:
         12 nm
     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:
         mostly mountains with 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%; includes irrigated 1%
     Environment:
         northern mountains geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes;
         desertification
     Note:
         strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar