Crosslinks Morocco facts

Morocco occupies the north-western tip of Africa. The coastal areas are fertile but much of the rest of the country is taken up by the Atlas mountains which rise to over 4,000m and the Sahara
desert.

The population is a mixture of Arab and Berber peoples, with the Arab culture and language dominant for the last five hundred years. French is also widely spoken but Arabic is taking precedence.

There are many remains of pre-historic man in Morocco. The first known people to occupy the area were the Berbers, white skinned agriculturalists who took over much of North Africa. Successively ruled by the Carthaginians, the Romans, and the Byzantines, the Berbers retained their culture and identity.

From the 7th century the whole of North Africa was gradually overrun by Muslim Arabs. The first independent Moroccan kingdom was established in the 11th century under Berber rule, the Berbers now being Muslims. Berber kings were in power until the 14th century when they lost control to the Arabs. The present ruling dynasty dates its origins as far back as the 16th century.

Morocco came increasingly under European influence in the 19th century; the French captured Algiers in 1830 and defeated the Moroccan army in 1844. After an invasion by Spain in 1860 and a series of threats from germany and by Berber insurgents, the king requested French protection and a Protectorate was set up in 1912. From then until 1956 Morocco was administered from France, with a small area in the north under Spanish control. Since independence, Morocco has been a kingdom in which the King has considerable power as both political and religious ruler.

	Morocco	UK equivalent
Population	28 million	59 million
Area	458,730 sq km	245,000 sq km
Urban population	51 %	90 %
Life expectancy	60 years	75 years
Income per person	$1260	$20,870
Christians % pop´n	0.1	68

Morocco is mainly an agricultural country; wheat, barley and maize are all grown and livestock is kept. Fruit and vegetables used to be the main exports together with canned fish. The entrance of Spain, Portugal and Italy to the Common Market has severely restricted these exports in recent years. Morocco also has the world's largest deposits of phosphates, much of which are in the Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco since 1976. However, the cost of holding this former Spanish colony against nationalist insurgents has been putting a severe strain on the economy. Tourism is growing in importance and provides the highest source of national income. The second highest
comes from Moroccans working in Europe (mainly France, Belgium, Holland and Italy), who send money to relatives in Morocco.

Islam is the state religion and the whole country and every aspect of life is under its influence. Other religious groups are tolerated so long as they do not proselytise, thus effectively confining non-Islamic worship to the expatriate community.

The Christian church was well established in North Africa in the 2nd century (more in Tunisia and Algeria than in Morocco), but persecutions from Rome, internal divisions and finally, invasion by the forces of Islam, destroyed it.

There are probably fewer than 1,000 Moroccans who are practising Christians, but there are many more believers who do not openly confess Christ for fear of persecution.

Crosslinks has had workers in Morocco since 1930. Their ministry has been to both Arabs and Berbers and included medical work as well as evangelism. At the end of the sixties government restrictions closed down much of this activity but one person still continues to serve there. The society also supports the broadcast of Christian radio programmes into North Africa from Europe.

Today, the only way of living and working in Morocco is in a professional "tent-making" capacity and Crosslinks is keen to encourage this.