Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco (Arabic: الْمَمْلَكَةُ ٱلْمَغْرِبِيَّةُ‎, al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiyya; Moroccan Amazigh Standard: ⵜⴰⴳⴻⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⴻⵖⵔⵉⴱ, Tageldit n Lmeɣrib), is a North African state in the Maghreb bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, and Algeria in the east, with three Spanish exclaves in the north. and with the claimed territories of Western Sahara to the south.[N 1] The capital is Rabat.

Inhabited since prehistoric times by Berber peoples, the country has seen various civilizations, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, and Byzantines, but the strongest influence was left by the Arabs, who arrived in the Middle Ages and spread Islam. Various Islamic dynasties, including the Idrisids, Almoravids, Almohads, Merinids, Wattasids, Sa'adians, and Alawids, succeeded one another over the centuries. Morocco then experienced interference from Western powers, particularly the Portuguese, until it was made a protectorate of the French and Spanish. The country regained independence in 1956.