ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Morocco. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Morocco. In 2001, Morocco's opposition faced an increasingly aggressive government campaign to stamp out political dissent. Morocco gained independence as a hereditary monarchy in 1956 after 44 years of French rule. Upon the death of his father, Mohammad V, in 1961, Hassan II assumed the throne and began a gradual and limited evolution of democratic institutions. Mohammad has attempted to win back public support by focusing primarily on socioeconomic issues. He has allocated funds for development projects in poverty-stricken areas and paid visits to rural communities to promote national reconciliation.
