Morocco has an area of approximately 446,550 sq km (172,413 sq mi) located in the northwestern corner of the African continent. Forming its western perimeter is the Atlantic Ocean. Bounded by the Mediterranean Sea from the north. To the east and southeast lies the Algerian border and extending from the far south is the Moroccan Sahara.

Morocco has four distinct geographic regions:

In the north is the Rif mountains rising as high as 2,440m(8,000ft), in line with Mediterranean coast.

Extending across the country is the the Atlas mountains from southwest to northeast between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rif.

Wide coastal plains forming an arc extending along the country's western seaboard and bounded Rif and Atlas mountains. This where most Moroccan lives.

South of the Atlas merging with Sahara along the southeastern borders are the lowlands.

Moderate and subtropical, cooled by the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The average temperature hovers at around 20°C.

In the interior the temperatures are more extreme -- winters can be quite cold and the summers very hot. In the mountain ranges temperatures can drop to 0°F and mountain peaks in both the Atlas and Rif mountain ranges are snow capped throughout most of the year.

The winter in the north of the country is wet and rainy. Winter in the south at the edge of the Moroccan Sahara is dry and bitter cold.

People

The Berber were the original people of Morocco and the majority of modern day Moroccans (about40%) are pure Berber with another 35% of Berber extraction.

Arabs, who trace their presence in Morocco to the Muslim conquests in the 7th century A.D., are the second largest grouping and coalesce in the country's urban areas. There is a small minority of black African descent and a European community, predominately French, of about 100,000.