Morocco

Morocco (Arabic: المغرب al-Maghrib, Berber: Amrruk / Murakuc), officially the Kingdom of Morocco (Arabic: المملكةالمغربية al-Mamlaka al-Magribiyya), is a country located in North Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Europe by the Gibraltar Strait. Its neighbouring countries are: Algeria (the Algerian border is closed due to a border dispute caused by the Moroccan expansionism), south of Mauritania (Including Western Sahara, a militarily territory occupied by Morocco) and northern Spain, who maintains strong trade ties and share both sea and land borders (Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla). There are other Spanish enclaves on the Mediterranean coast (Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera and Chafarinas islands). It is the only African country that currently is not a member of the African Union (AU) and in 1984 the assembly of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), predecessor of the AU accepted as a member of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) occupied militarily by Morocco since 1975 with the only votes against Morocco and its ally Zaire. Since then, Morocco has not shown interest in joining. However, it is a member of the Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, the Francophonie, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Union for the Mediterranean and the Group of 77. It´s also a major non-NATO ally of the United States.