Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Western Sahara

Map references: Africa

Area: total area: 446,550 sq km land area: 446,300 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than California

Land boundaries: total 2,002 km, Algeria 1,559 km, Western Sahara 443 km

Coastline: 1,835 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: claims and administers Western Sahara, but sovereignty is unresolved; the UN is attempting to hold a referendum; the UN-administered cease-fire has been currently in effect since September 1991; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla which Morocco contests as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas

Climate: Mediterranean, becoming more extreme in the interior
Terrain: northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains

Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt

Land use: arable land: 18% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 28% forest and woodland: 12% other: 41%
Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: land degradation/desertification (soil erosion resulting
from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation); water supplies contaminated by raw sewage; siltation of reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters
natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and subject to earthquakes; periodic droughts international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

Note: strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar