Situated in North Africa at the western edge of the Islamic world, Morocco dominates the southern shore of the Straits of Gibraltar and has been an important strategic prize since ancient times.

Around 1100 BC, the Phoenicians established trading settlements along Morocco’s Atlantic coast. The territory was added to the Roman Empire after the fall of Carthage in 146 BC. During the 7th and 8th
Centuries AD, Morocco was conquered by Arab armies and converted to Islam. Gradually, Arabic replaced Berber as the primary spoken language.

By the 16th Century, Morocco had become an important Sultanate that confronted Spanish expansion and established diplomatic ties with other European states. In 1777, Sultan Sidi Mohamed Ibn Abdullah, the most progressive of Morocco’s Barbary leaders, was one of the first foreign heads of state to grant diplomatic recognition to the newly independent United States of America.

Gradually, European colonial expansion threatened Moroccan independence. By 1912, the country was partitioned by Spain and France.

Morocco was granted independence in 1956 under King Mohamed V. The Spanish territories were soon incorporated, except for the port cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the Spanish Sahara, which was retained by Madrid until 1975.

The power of Morocco’s monarchy has remained remarkably resilient since independence. After the death of Mohamed V in 1961, the new King, Hassan II, deftly forged an alliance with rural leaders that would pave the way for a successful constitutional referendum in December 1962 and parliamentary elections in April 1963.

In the wake of political unrest directed at the monarchy in the early 1970s, Hassan II initiated a “Moroccanization” program that sped the transfer of French-held businesses to Moroccans.

In the 1980s, opposition political parties were permitted to emerge. During the 1990s, the King brought opposition leaders into the political mainstream, which in 1997 yielded a parliament with an opposition majority.

The death of Hassan II on July 29 1999 ushered in an entirely new style of royal leadership. H.M. King Mohammed VI, the late king’s oldest son, implemented a sweeping agenda that sought to reduce social inequalities and implement democratic reforms.

On May 16, 2003, Morocco was the target of several suicide bombings perpetrated by Islamic extremists. Today, Moroccans frequently equate the bloody episode to the terror attacks that occurred the United States on September 11, 2001. The bombings served as an object lesson to the monarchy that an open society requires vigilance and balanced policies in protecting the country against threats while proceeding with critical reforms.