Morocco, officially Kingdom of Morocco, kingdom (1954 est. pop. 29,161,000), 171,834 sq mi (445,050 sq km), NW Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea (N), the Atlantic Ocean (W), Mauritania (which lies beyond the disputed territory of Western Sahara, S), and Algeria (E). Principal cities include Rabat (the capital), Casablanca, Marrakech, and Fès. The Atlas Mts., rising to 13,671 ft (4,167 m) in Jebel Toubkal in the southwest, dominate most of the country. In the south lie the sandy wastes of the Sahara desert, but in the north is a fertile coastal plain, home of most of the population. Agriculture and mining are economic mainstays. Morocco is a leading producer and exporter of phosphates; other important minerals include iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, manganese, and coal. Food processing and the manufacture of leather goods and textiles are also important. Half the labor force is employed in agriculture, growing cereals, citrus fruits, and vegetables. Tourism and fishing also contribute to the economy. Most Moroccans are of mixed Arab-Berber descent and are Muslim; Islam is the state religion. There are small Christian and Jewish minorities. Arabic is the official language; Berber dialects, French (a main language of commerce), and Spanish are also spoken.

History
Originally inhabited by Berbers, Morocco became a province of the Roman Empire in the 1st cent. AD After successive invasions by barbarian tribes, Islam was brought by the Arabs in 685. An independent Moroccan kingdom was established in 788; its dissolution in the 10th cent. began a period of political anarchy. The country was finally united in the 11th cent. by the Almoravids, a Berber-Muslim dynasty, who established a kingdom reaching from Spain to Senegal. Unity was never complete, however, and conflict between Arabs and Berbers was incessant. European encroachment began in 1415, when Portugal captured Ceuta, and ended with the Portuguese defeat at the battle of Ksar el Kebir (Alcazarquivir) in 1578. In the 19th and early 20th cent. the strategic importance and economic potential of Morocco once again excited the European powers, sparking an intense, often violent, rivalry among France, Spain, and Germany. Finally, in 1912, most of Morocco became a French protectorate; a small area became a Spanish protectorate. Nationalist feelings began to surface in the 1930s, becoming more militant after World War II, and in 1956 Morocco gained its independence. In 1957 the sultan became King Muhammad V. He was succeeded in 1961 by his son, Hassan II, whose early reign, plagued by internal unrest, coups, and assassination attempts, was repressive. Hassan's position was strengthened in 1976, when Spain relinquished the Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) to joint Moroccan-Mauritanian control. Challenged by the Polisario Front, a guerrilla movement backed by Algeria and seeking independence for the area, Mauritania withdrew in 1979, but Morocco continued battling there and claimed the entire territory. King Hassan died in 1999 and was succeeded by his son Muhammad VI.

 

History and Religion:

Morocco has a rich and varied history. For several centuries before the arrival of the Arabs in 681 AD, the Northern part of the country was inhabited only by Berbers, who were to some extent urbanized.

The Arabs brought with them a new language, Arabic, and a religion, Islam, which was soon accepted by the majority of the population. The region has since been ruled by a number of dynasties whose authority extended over areas of varying size, including, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, most of Portugal and Spain. Many coastal cities (Tangiers, Casablanca, Eljadida, and Essaouira) were occupied at different times for many years by European powers, notably Portugal, Span, and England.

Internal difficulties in Morocco at the beginning of the twentieth century induced France and Spain to intervene. In 1912, Southern and Northern Morocco became French and Spanish protectorates.

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Western Sahara, territory (1995 est. pop. 217,000), 102,703 sq mi (266,000 sq km), occupied by Morocco, NW Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (W), Morocco (N), Algeria (NE), and Mauritania (E and S). Part of the Sahara Desert, the land is extremely arid and is covered with stones and sand. The main towns are Laayoune (formerly El Aaiún), the capital, Dakhla (formerly Villa Cisneros), Boujdour, and Essemara. The traditional economy is based on the raising of goats, camels, and sheep and the cultivation of date palms. There is some fishing. Rich deposits of phosphates were first exploited in the 1970s; potash and iron have also been found. The people are Arabs and Berbers, most of whom are Sunni Muslim. Arabic is the chief language.

History
Although visited by the Portuguese in 1434, the area that is now Western Sahara had little contact with Europeans until the 19th cent. In 1884 Spain proclaimed a protectorate over the coast, and a Spanish province, known as Spanish Sahara, was established in 1958. In 1976 Spain transferred the territory to Morocco and Mauritania, but following guerrilla action by the Polisario Front, a nationalist group based in Algeria and seeking self-government for the Saharans, Mauritania withdrew in 1979. Morocco then occupied the Mauritanian portion. The guerrillas continued attempts to liberate Western Sahara, renaming it the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. A temporary truce signed in 1990 was made permanent (1991), but a referendum on the area's status was delayed in the following years by disputes over who would be permitted to vote.

History of the Western Sahara

When the Spanish pulled out of this territory in 1976, it was partitioned between Morocco, which took the larger part, and Mauritania. Local nationalists of the POLISARIO movement proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on 27 February 1976.

The flag of the SADR follows the pan-Arab colours and is similar to the PLO flag (now the flag of the Palestine Authority, ed.), with the addition of a crescent and star on the white stripe.

POLISARIO was originally closely aligned with the Algerian regime. So it is quite likely that the SADR flag's star and crescent would be like that of the Algerian flag which would certainly be more like the one you describe.
Stuart Notholt, 9 February 1996

I vaguely remember a flag for the Spanish possessions in Northern Africa: identical in design to the Moroccan flag, but colours white pentagram on dark green (or was that the flag of the Free City of Tangier?).
Harald Müller, 12 February 1996

The POLISARIO flag and the SADR flag are the same. Three movements exist in the country: one by the pro-Moroccan sheiks (10%), another by the pro-Ould Dada (Mauritania) people (0.1%), both with wellknown flags. The third was the Pro-Algerian Polisario (90%). When Polisario proclaimed the SADR their own flag was hoisted.
Jaume Oll?/em>, 23 August 1998

Before Spanish Sahara was a unified province it was divided in two provinces, the Saguiat el-Hamra (the SA of poliSArio... and the EH of the ISO country code) and Rio de Oro (the RIO). The POLI means POr la LIbercaion (for the liberation).  Spanish Sahara was also known as Spanish West Africa, but that one included other bits like Ifni (to Morocco in 1969), Cape Juby (the southernmost part of Morocco not including WS) and La Aguera.
JF Blanc, 16 November 1999

The Polisario Flag was at first a party flag. When Spanish troops yielded control of the country to the Morroco ("Marcha verde") when Franco was near the death, Polisario proclaimed the SADR on 27 February and hoisted same flag (like FLNA and Algeria). At that time the SADR would be a single party country and logically the identification between party symbol and state symbol was total. More than half of Africa (and many others countries in the world) recognized SADR and it was accepted in the African Union Organization.  The SADR-POLISARIO flag was very popular and no change was ever proposed.
The flag with a map of the Western Sahara in the center is (I believe) fictional.
Jaume Oll?, 20 November 1999

The United Nations now seem to accept a new plan concerning the political future of Western Sahara. Since Morocco and POLISARIO have not been able to reach an accord on a self-determination referendum (the problem is who is allowed to vote in this predominantly nomadic region), UN will prefer to postpone the decision, form an autonomous region within Morocco, and (maybe) organize the referendum in five years.
Jan Zrzavy, 26 June 2001