Host country

Nature

The geographical situation

Located at the North-West of the African continent, Morocco enjoys a privileged geo-strategic position with a maritime frontage which extends on 3.416 km opening on the Mediterranean sea in the North, with a coast of 512 km from Saïdia to the Cape Spartel, and on the Atlantic Ocean in the West, over a coast length of 2.934 km from Cape Spartel to Lagouira.

The borders are limited to the East by Algeria and the South by Mauritania. The surface of Morocco reaches approximately 710.850 km2 of which a great part is covered of mountainous zones made up of two chains: the Atlas and the Rif. The climax is Toubkal located in the High Atlas (4.165m).

Climate and vegetation

The climate of Morocco is varied according to areas': Mediterranean in the North, Atlantic in the West and Saharan in the South.

In winter, the weather in the mountainous areas of the South is often cold and wet (abundant snow on the Atlas on the end of which Marrakech is situated).

The annual temperature at Marrakech in the month of June ranges between 17°C as the lowest temperature and about 33°C as the highest temperature.

In the Northern part of the country, the weather knows one dry season (from May to the end of September) and a moderate and wet period (from the beginning of October until the end of April).

The vegetation is of Mediterranean type, including, in mountain areas, the thuja, the holm oak, the cedar, the juniper trees and various alpine plants.

In the plain, the cork oak, the olive-tree, the mastic tree and the Argan develop. In the steppes of the interior grows the esparto and the mugwort, while the Southern oases are the privileged field of palm trees.