History UsefulNotes / Morocco

* Part of ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries The Bourne Ultimatum]]'' takes place in Tangier, Morocco.

* ''{{Casablanca}}''

* Marlene Dietrich's first American movie was simply called "Morocco".

* The 1956 version of ''TheManWhoKnewTooMuch'' takes place in Marrakesh, before the action moves on to London.

* In [[CommandAndConquer Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge]], Premier Romanov's plane is shot down over Morocco and the Premier takes refuge in the city, finding it surprisingly pleasant by the time the Commander reaches him.

* John Milius's 1975 film ''TheWindAndTheLion'' is mostly set in Morocco, drawing [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely]] on a diplomatic incident in 1904.

->The red field symbolizes courage and strength, as well as the personal color of the Alaouite Dynasty, the current ruling family of Morocco, which claims direct descent from Muhammad through his daughter Fatima; the five-pointed green star is an Islamic interpretation of the Seal of Suleiman (King Solomon from TheBible).

Despite its French legacy, Morocco might fairly be called the Britain of the Arab world: Morocco doesn't seem to like sudden change. Not for nothing is the current (Alouite) dynasty the longest-lasting (400 years!) royal family of a sovereign state outside of Europe and Japan. This tendency was seen most recently during the Arab Spring, where Morocco ''did'' see protests--and much as the bobbies didn't (or rather couldn't, as they weren't given firearms) fire on the British protesters in 1848, [[KnowWhenToFoldEm the Moroccan police kept well away from the protesters in 2011. As a result, the Moroccan protest movement didn't get enough momentum to become a full-on uprising or revolution]], and in July 2011, the Moroccan people approved constitutional reforms that put the system of government within shouting distance of democracy (although the king's powers remain extensive). The subsequent elections gave a plurality to the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD,[[note]]French acronym of ''Parti de la justice et du développement''[[/note]] modeled on the [[UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} Turkish]] party of the same name); by the terms of the constitutional amendments, the government is currently led by Abdelilah Benkirane of the PJD.

* '''Fez''' is Morocco's cultural and religious capital, featuring not one but ''two'' Old Cities, the Al-Karaouine University (an Islamic institution of higher learning founded in 859, making it one of the world's oldest universities), and a great number of mosques and institutions of religious learning besides. And yes, the hats are originally from here, too; they were dyed with local berries, and fezzes made in Fez tend to be lower and wider than the ones made famous by the Turks.

* '''Fez''' is Morocco's cultural and religious capital, featuring not one but ''two'' Old Cities, the Al-Karaouine University (an Islamic institution of higher learning founded in 859, making it one of the world's oldest universities), and a great number of mosques and institutions of religious learning besides.

* '''Meknes''' is the fifth-largest city (when you count Rabat and Sale together), and has a bit of history to it, as it was the capital of the country before being moved to Marrakesh and then Rabat. As a result, it has a large number of very old royal buildings. It is also very close to the very attractive ruins of the [[TheRomanEmpire Roman]] colony of Volubilis.

The Kingdom of Morocco is a constitutional monarchy (increasingly liberal at that) in North-West Africa, just on the far edge of the Middle East.

* ''DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' has the main character (Zoë) live in Casablanca.

* ''DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' has the main character (Zoë) live in Casablanca.

It is a member of the Arab League, has strong ties with UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and is a major US ally, in spite of its population, being the first nation to recognize the United States (the USA has rather bad PR, but with Obama, that might change). However, it is also the only country in Africa that is not part of the African Union, due to the AU recognising the independence of Western Sahara. There may also be a cultural subtext to this: Moroccans steadfastly refuse to think of themselves as "African" -- visit Fes, Marrakesh, or Rabat and ask what continent you're in, and they'll [[BerserkButton adamantly reply]] "extremely Southern Europe."

* '''Tangier''' was a TruceZone for a very long time, making it yet another CityOfSpies. Being on the southern side of the Strait of Gibraltar, it has a strong Spanish influence (they even call sandwiches ''bocadillos'').

It is a member of the Arab League, has strong ties with the EuropeanUnion and is a major US ally, in spite of its population, being the first nation to recognize the United States (the USA has rather bad PR, but with Obama, that might change). However, it is also the only country in Africa that is not part of the African Union, due to the AU recognising the independence of Western Sahara. There may also be a cultural subtext to this: Moroccans steadfastly refuse to think of themselves as "African" -- visit Fes, Marrakesh, or Rabat and ask what continent you're in, and they'll [[BerserkButton adamantly reply]] "extremely Southern Europe."

It currently rules the disputed territory of UsefulNotes/WesternSahara, where a fragile ceasefire holds sway.

* '''Chef Chaouine''' is famous for the beauty of the Rif Mountains, but foreigners are more attracted to the ''ridiculous'' amount of cannabis grown in the surrounding countryside. This region grows an appreciable fraction of the hashish in Europe.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Morocco_svg_7164.png

It is a member of the Arab League, has strong ties with the EuropeanUnion and is a major US ally, in spite of its population, being the first nation to recognize the United States (the USA have rather bad PR, but with Obama, that might change). However, it is also the only country in Africa that is not part of the African Union, due to the AU recognising the independence of Western Sahara. There may also be a cultural subtext to this: Moroccans steadfastly refuse to think of themselves as "African" -- visit Fes, Marrakesh, or Rabat and ask what continent you're in, and they'll [[BerserkButton adamantly reply]] "extremely Southern Europe."

Despite its French legacy, Morocco might fairly be called the Britain of the Arab world: Morocco doesn't seem to like sudden change. Not for nothing is the current (Alouite) dynasty the longest-lasting (400 years!) royal family of a sovereign state outside of Europe and Japan. This tendency was seen most recently during the Arab Spring, where Morocco ''did'' see protests--and much as the bobbies didn't (or rather couldn't, as they weren't given firearms) fire on the British protesters in 1848, [[KnowWhenToFoldEm the Moroccan police kept well away from the protesters in 2011. As a result, the Moroccan protest movement didn't get enough momentum to become a full-on uprising or revolution]], and in July 2011, the Moroccan people approved constitutional reforms that put the system of government within shouting distance of democracy (although the king's powers remain extensive).

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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Morocco-map_3786.gif
[[caption-width:330:Shown without UsefulNotes/WesternSahara, just to be safe. Just don't [[BerserkButton show it to anyone in Morocco]]. ]]

* '''Agadir''' is primarily notable as Morocco's attempt to recreate UsefulNotes/{{Monaco}} and {{Dubai}} all in one. It has a reputation for attracting Eurotrash who can't afford either of those two, but still want to have a debauched time in a place with nice weather. Locals tend not to approve.

* John Milius's 1975 film ''TheWindAndTheLion'' is mostly set in Morroco, drawing [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely]] on a diplomatic incident in 1904.

<<|UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}|>>
<<|UsefulNotes/TheMiddleEast|>>

* Part of ''{{The Bourne Ultimatum}}'' takes place in Tangier, Morocco.

* The largest city and commercial capital is '''Casablanca'''. Casablanca is famous, of course for ''{{Casablanca}}'', and indeed it was something of a CityOfSpies during WorldWarII. Today, it's famous for playing host to a gigantic mosque and having pretty much everything. A foreigner going to Morocco is likely to come through Casablanca's gigantic Mohammed V Airport, and Casa (as locals call it) is more or less the center of the nation's transit network.