Prefectures and provinces of Morocco
| Prefectures and provinces of Morocco عمالات وأقاليم المغرب (Arabic) ⵜⵉⵎⵏⴱⴰⴹⵉⵏ ⴷ ⵜⴰⵙⴳⵉⵡⵉⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ (Standard Moroccan Tamazight) | |
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.svg) Map of the Prefectures and provinces of Morocco (including Western Sahara, a disputed territory) | |
| Category | Unitary state |
| Location | Kingdom of Morocco |
| Number | 75 |
| Populations | 16,228 (Tarfaya Province) – 3,218,036 (Casablanca Prefecture) |
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| Subdivisions | |
The 12 Regions of Morocco are subdivided into 75 second-level administrative divisions, known as prefectures and provinces. These consist of 13 prefectures and 62 provinces.
Each prefecture or province is further subdivided into several types of administrative units. In urban areas, these include arrondissements (mainly within large metropolitan prefectures) and municipalities (communes, singular commune), also referred to as urban municipalities (communes urbaines). In rural areas, provinces and prefectures are divided into districts (cercles, singular cercle), which are themselves subdivided into rural municipalities (communes rurales, singular commune rurale).
One prefecture, Casablanca, is additionally subdivided into préfectures d'arrondissements (singular préfecture d'arrondissements), which function in a manner similar to districts (cercles), but group together several arrondissements instead of rural municipalities.
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 Morocco portal |
List of prefectures and provinces
[edit]Most of Western Sahara is administered de facto by Morocco (where the area is informally named the Southern Provinces by the Moroccan government and media); the rest is administered by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
The United Nations considers the territory to be disputed, as it was not legally transferred by Spain when it abandoned its former colony in 1975, and several states (notably members of the African Union) either recognize the SADR as the sole legitimate government of Western Sahara, or consider that the status of the region (either as an independent state, or as part of Morocco, or as part of Mauritania that initially claimed a part of it) has still not been autodetermined by the local population prior to its annexation. The United Nations has no legal instruments confirming the claims on the region made by the governments of Morocco or the self-proclaimed SADR, and in international treaties, it is still a formal part of Spain that remains to be properly decolonized, even though Spain and Mauritania no longer claim any part of it.
Since the annexation, the situation is worsened by the fact that most of the historic Western Saharan population has fled either to the remaining free zone (now isolated by the Moroccan militarized berm) or to refugee camps in neighbouring countries (notably Algeria),[citation needed] due to lack of resources in the free zone.[citation needed] The remaining native Western Saharan population now lives as a minority among the new Moroccan occupants. The absence of a legal government with a permanent administration in the free zone has also introduced a threat to the security of the surrounding countries in the Saharan and Sahel regions, including Morocco itself.
Before 2015
[edit]Mainland Morocco
[edit]- Prefecture of Casablanca
- Prefecture of Mohammedia
- Médiouna Province
- Nouaceur Province
- Prefecture of Marrakesh-Medina
- Prefecture of Marrakesh-Menara
- Prefecture of Sidi Youssef Ben Ali
- Al Haouz Province
- Chichaoua Province
- El Kelâat Es-Sraghna Province
- Essaouira Province
- Rehamna Province
- Prefecture of Rabat
- Prefecture of Salé
- Prefecture of Skhirat-Témara
- Khémisset Province
- Tangier Sub-Region
- Prefecture of Tangier-Assilah
- Fahs-Anjra Province
- Tétouan Sub-Region
- Assa-Zag Province (located in Mainland Morocco)
- Es Semara Province
- Guelmim Province (located in Mainland Morocco)
- Tan-Tan Province (located in Mainland Morocco)
- Tata Province (located in Mainland Morocco)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "Population légale d'après les résultats du RGPH 2014 sur le Bulletin officiel N° 6354". Haut-Commissariat au Plan (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2015-07-11.