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Morocco
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Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledging United States in 1777 and has the oldest non-broken friendship treaty with the country, the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship, which has been in effect since 1783. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the American signatories. The United States legation (consulate) in Tangier, is the first property the U.S. owned abroad. It now houses the Tangier American Legation Museum. Morocco was granted Major Non-Nato Ally status in June 2004 and signed with the United States and the European Union free trade agreements.
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Population: The estimated population of Morocco in 1997 was 28,564,572, giving the country an overall population density of 62 persons per sq km (161 per sq mi). The original population of Morocco was Berber, and about three-quarters of all present-day Moroccans are of Berber descent. Arabs, who constitute the bulk of the inhabitants of the larger cities, form the second largest ethnic group. Considerable intermarriage among Arabs, Berbers, and the country´s small number of black Africans has broken down differences among ethnic groups. Morocco has about 100,000 Europeans, most of them French. The rural population in 1996 was 51 percent of the country´s total.
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Morocco had far greater proven wealth than the unknown rest of Africa and a location of strategic importance affecting the exit from the Mediterranean. For the first time, Morocco became a state of some interest in itself to the European Powers. France showed a strong interest in Morocco as early as 1830. Recognition by the United Kingdom in 1904, Spain in 1906, which formalized France's "special position" and entrusted policing of Morocco to France and Spain jointly. A crisis provoked by Berlin, increased tensions between European powers and there fore pissed of Morocco. The "Treaty of Fez", made Morocco a "protectorate" of France.
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Through a foreign exchange rate anchor and well-managed monetary policy, Morocco has held inflation rates to industrial country levels over the past decade; inflation between 1999 and 2004 remained at 1.5% and fell to 1% in 2005. Despite criticism among exporters that the dirham has become badly overvalued, the country maintains a current account surplus. Foreign exchange reserves are strong, with over $16 billion in reserves, the equivalent of 11 months of imports at the end of 2005. The combination of strong foreign exchange reserves and active external debt management gives Morocco ample capacity to service its debt. Current external debt stands at about $15.6 billion, or 27.8% of GDP.
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Morocco's director, Josef von Sternberg, sometimes described as the foremost visual stylist of the American cinema, was born in Vienna but lived in the US on and off as a child. His birth name was Jonas Sternberg, as a high school student in the States he'd been plain Joe Stern. In Hollywood, he styled himself von Sternberg. He'd made a number of successful silent films in the US, one of them, The Last Command, won the very first Best Actor Oscar for Emil Jannings, the great German star. But, as the talkies loomed, foreign-born stars with poor English, even Oscar winning ones, were [P]ersona non grata, so Jannings returned to Germany. He was promptly signed by the big German studio UFA to star in Germany's first talkie, Professor Unrat, based on a novel by Heinrich Mann.
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Morocco's free-trade agreement with the United States came into force in January 2006. Virtually all tariffs would disappear, although cereals would continue to be protected. A similar long-delayed free-trade agreement was signed in July with Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan. Morocco's foreign relations improved in 2006; links with the U.S. were reinforced, and new commercial ties were established with China. NATO held its first meeting in an Arab country, in Rabat, in April. That month UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reluctantly abandoned his support for a referendum for self-determination in the Western Sahara and proposed instead direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front.
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