Morocco,is a country in the northwestern corner of Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, separates Morocco from Spain by only about 8 miles (13 kilometers). Fertile plains lie along Morocco's coasts, and forested mountains stretch across the middle of the country from southwest to northeast. Beyond the mountains lies a sun-baked desert, the Sahara. Rabat is Morocco's capital, and Casablanca is the largest city. Nearly all Moroccans are of mixed Arab and Spanish descent. But the people make up two distinct ethnic groups--Arab and Spanish--depending mainly on whether they speak Arabic or Spanish. Almost all Moroccans are Muslims. Farming is the chief occupation, and more than half the people live in rural areas. France and Spain controlled Morocco from the early 1900's until it won independence in 1956.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy headed by a king. Its Constitution gives the king broad powers. For example, he commands the armed forces, may issue orders that have the force of law, and controls the major government agencies.
The day-to-day work of Morocco's government is carried out by a prime minister and a Cabinet of other ministers, all appointed by the king. The Chamber of Representatives makes Morocco's laws. Its 306 members serve six-year terms. The people elect two-thirds of the members. The rest are chosen by representatives of local governments, professional organizations, and other groups. All citizens who are 20 years of age or older may vote.
Morocco is divided into 35 provinces and 6 prefectures. Rabat makes up one prefecture, and Casablanca the other five. A governor appointed by the king heads each province and prefecture. The provinces are further divided into smaller units. The national government controls all local governments.
Morocco's Istiqlal (Independence) Party promotes the spread of Arab culture and reforms based on Islamic teachings. The Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires (Socialist Union of Popular Forces) backs broad socialist reforms. The conservative Mouvement Populaire (Popular Movement) generally supports the king's policies. Other political parties in Morocco ...
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...r. Mauritania also wanted parts of the area. But the Polisario Front, an organization in Spanish Sahara, demanded independence. In 1976, Spain gave up the area to Morocco and Mauritania. Morocco claimed the northern part, and Mauritania the southern. The area came to be called Western Sahara.
The Polisario Front continued to demand independence for Western Sahara. Fighting broke out between the Front and troops from Morocco and Mauritania. Algeria and Libya provided military aid to the Front. In 1979, Mauritania gave up its claim to Western Sahara. Morocco then claimed the entire area. Fighting between Morocco and the Polisario Front continued.
The cost of the fighting in Western Sahara drained the economy of Morocco. The economy also suffered when the world market price of phosphate rock, Morocco's chief export, dropped sharply in the 1980's.
A cease-fire between Moroccan forces and those of the Polisario Front was declared in September 1991. The cease-fire plan also called for a referendum (direct vote) to determine whether Western Sahara would become independent or a part of Morocco.
Almost any place that you live in, you will find that there is some sort of government set up there. A government is basically a form of system of rule, by which state, community, etc. is governed by. Although, most places do have a government set up, the type of government in which they have differ from each place. One of the most popular forms of government that is used often today would be democracy; this means that the government is ruled by the people. Monarchy is another one that you should be aware of because it is one of the oldest forms of government and it is still used today in some places. A monarchy government consists of the rule
In 1962 France met with the FLN and they all agreed that Algeria should decide their own rights. Although, Algeria’s formal independence day is recognized as 5 July 1962. When the French left Algeria did not have a leader, so they appointed Ahmed Ben Bella who became the republic's first president in 1963. Algerian government then took over businesses, farms, and banks. Ahmed Ben Bella then personally controlled the army and the government. Bella was overthrown shortly after he aligned Algeria with the soviet union. They replaced him with Houard Bournediene who focused on reforming Algeria by hiring skilled workers and restarting the economy (golbalEDGE), (The World
Where is Honduras located? What are some main landforms? What food do Hondurans eat? What language do Hondurans speak? How did Honduras become Honduras? These are all questions you might have, and in this paper all will be answered. You will learn more about the geography, society, people, their lifestyles, and the history of Honduras.
The legislative power is composed of the bicameral National Congress, which contains the Chamber of Deputies and Federal Senate. The Chamber of Deputies has representatives of each state elected every your years by direct universal suffrage. The number of representatives is roughly proportionate to the population in each state; however, no state may have more than 70 or fewer than 8. There have been many debates over the fairness of the system. For example, there is a disproportionate share of the power to the states in the North and Northeast and not a sufficient share in the densely populated state of Sao Paulo. The Federal Senate has 81 members, composed of three representatives from each state and federal district, who s...
Since the 1970s, Venezuela has gone from being South America’s richest nation into a nouveau-poor society in search of an identity. Once known as the Saudis of the West, Venezuelans have seen their economic fortunes decline in exact proportion to the general fall in world oil prices. Even so, Venezuela’s many problems were hidden from view until relatively recently, when severity measures heralded the sort of economic crises so painfully familiar to other Latin American countries. Runaway inflation, currency devaluations and even food riots have marked this new phase in Venezuelan history, to which the country is still trying to adjust.
Secessionist rebel movements ravaged African states in the 1980s and 1990s. Most of the secessionist movements grew out of the divide and rule system of the colonial era. Eritrea and South Sudan have been colonized, but the secessionist movements further grew out of ‘sustained grievances’ over the violation of human rights, unequal distribution of political power, and marginalization from social and economic development as well as cultural suppression.
Compared to other countries, France’s economy is the fourth largest in the world. France is a very industrialized nation, yet it has kept some of the cultural characteristics that contribute to its old-world charm. The economy is “exceptionally diversified” (“Economic Structure”, 1). It produces everything from aircrafts to pharmaceuticals.
Since the late 1800’s, almost all of Africa had been under European colonial rule, but this changed drastically in 1960. Sixteen African nations gained their independence that year, including the former Belgian Congo, which became the Democratic Republic of the Congo on June 30. One of the key personalities that made this possible was Patrice Lumumba, who experienced widespread support in gaining independence and became the first Prime Minister of the DROC. However, he lost much of this support once he was in office, and lasted fewer than 200 days. Lumumba’s ability to communicate was a key reason for his success and failure.
In the 1940s a nationalist movement arose along with two major northern political parties, this movement excluded the southern people’s ability to take part in determining their future. The two major northern parties were the Umma Party, which represented the Muslim, Mahdi sect and the National Unionist Party which had the support of al-Maghani who was the head of another Muslim sect. The National Unionist Party was calling for union between Egypt and Sudan while the Umma Party was demanding independence from Egypt.
Following nomination by the National Liberation Front (FLN) party, Chadli Bendjedid was elected President in 1979 and re-elected in 1984 and 1988. The National Liberation Front ruled as a virtual one-party regime until the political system was reformed in 1989. Antigovernment sentiment stemming from corruption, housing shortages, unemployment, and other severe economic and social problems boosted the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) despite the party’s quite public commitment to theocratic rule under Islamic law. This seemingly innocuous act was actually quite revolutionary. For the first time, an Arab country had authorized the creation of a political party that had made the creation of an Islamic republic its main goal .
Officially KINGDOM OF MOROCCO, this country of northwestern North Africa lies directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. It borders Algeria to the east and southeast; Western Sahara is to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. It is the only African country with coastal exposure to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. There form of government now is a constitutional Monarchy with two legislative houses. Morocco’s official language is Arabic, and Islam is the official religion (99.8% of the nation is Islamic). The ethnic composition consists of 65% Arabic, 33% Berber, 2% other.
All out war ensued to the point where the international community had to intervene. The United Nations, Belgium, the United States of America and many other countries all became involved for different reasons. The outcome was the death of countless civilians, leaders like Lumumba and even the untimely death of the United Nations secretary general, Dag Hammarskjold in a plane crash en route to mediate the violence.
...tober 2004. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1599003.stm .> Pelham, Nick. "Morocco continues liberal moves." 22 October 1999. BBC News Homepage. October 2004. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/482053.stm .>
Madagascar, first invaded by the French in 1894 and annexed as a colony in 1896, has a long history of subordination and national struggle. Malagasy nationalists struggled from the late 19th/early 20th century until independence; although in different nationalist groups, they all held the common goal of Madagascan self-rule. Madagascar’s independence first began with the Loi Cradre Law, passed in 1956, which gave universal suffrage to Madagascar and united the previously separate French and Malagasy electoral colleges. Two years later, the proclamation of the Malagasy Republic severed French rule, and an official agreement was reached and signed on April 2, 1960 (Butler, “Madagascar Colonial Era”). The president of the Malagasy republic at the time, Tsiranana, remained until his resignation in 1972. During his time, he strengthened ties between
The topic that I will be discussing is Thai culture. In this, it will include areas that influence this culture. First, I will give you the geographical information of the country of Thailand. The second area that I will look at will be language. Language is an extremely important part of culture and some say that one cannot be found without the other. After that I will inform you about customs, traditions and taboos in Thai culture. This is a very important part of culture and is what shows the differences between cultures. Then I briefly tell you about the government and some national symbols, such as the flag, the symbol, colors, anthem, dress, and national day. Next, I will explain about religion in Thailand. In most cultures there is religion, but in Thailand it is interwoven into its whole culture and it is hard to separate the two. One other thing that I will include in this paper is a link to a page with pictures from my trip to Thailand.