Regions are currently the highest administrative divisions in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. Since 2015, Morocco officially administers 12 regions, including one (

Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab ( ar, الداخلة - وادي الذهب, ad-dāḵla - wādī ḏ-ḏahab; ber, ⴷⴷⴰⵅⵍⴰ ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏ ⵡⵓⵕⵖ, ddaxla asif n wuṛɣ) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. Before September 2015 it ...

) that lies completely within the disputed territory of

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

and two (

Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra ( ar, العيون - الساقية الحمراء, al-ʿuyūn as-sāqiya l-ḥamrāʾ; ber, ⵍⵄⵢⵓⵏ ⵜⴰⵔⴳⴰ ⵜⴰⵣⴳⴳⵯⴰⵖⵜ, lɛyun targa tazggʷaɣt) is one of the twelve regions of Moroc ...

and

Guelmim-Oued Noun Guelmim-Oued Noun ( ar, ڭلميم-وادي نون, gulmīm wādī nūn; ber, ⴳⵓⵍⵎⵉⵎ ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏⵓⵏ, gulmim asif nun) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. The southeastern part of the region is located in the disputed ...

) that lie partially within it. The regions are subdivided into a total of 75 second-level administrative divisions, which are prefectures and provinces. A region is governed by a directly

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

regional council. The president of the council is responsible for carrying out the council's decisions. Prior to the 2011 constitutional reforms, this was the responsibility of the

Wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

, the representative of the central government appointed by the King, who now plays a supporting role in the administration of the region.

Regions since 2015

On 3 January 2010, the Moroccan government established the Consultative Commission for the Regionalization (CCR), which aimed to decentralize power to the regions, and confer a greater autonomy to the regions coinciding with the Western Sahara. The commission published provisional names and numbers for the new regions, and their names were officially fixed in the Bulletin Officiel dated 5 March 2015. The new regional councils elected their presidents on 14 September 2015 and regional governors were appointed on 13 October 2015. A.Lies partially or completely within the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

1997 to 2010: Full unitary system

Between 1997 and 2010, Morocco had 16 regions. Morocco Regions 97-11 numbered

The entirety of

Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab ( ar, الداخلة - وادي الذهب, ad-dāḵla - wādī ḏ-ḏahab; ber, ⴷⴷⴰⵅⵍⴰ ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏ ⵡⵓⵕⵖ, ddaxla asif n wuṛɣ) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. Before September 2015 it ...

(1), the vast majority of

Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra () was one of the sixteen regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It was mainly located in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, covered an area of and had a population of 301,744 as of the 2004 census. Its cap ...

(2), and part of

Guelmim-Es Semara Guelmim-Es Semara () was one of the sixteen former regions of Morocco from 1997 to 2015. It covered an area of 122,825 km² and had a population of 501,921 (2014 census). The regional capital was Guelmim. Geography The southern half of Guelmin-Es ...

(3) were situated within the

disputed territory A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources su ...

. The sovereignty of Western Sahara is disputed between Morocco and the

Polisario Front The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

which claims the territory as the independent

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (; SADR; also romanized with Saharawi; ar, الجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية ' es, República Árabe Saharaui Democrática), also known as Western Sahara, is a p ...

. Most of the region is administered by Morocco as its

Southern Provinces The Southern Provinces ( ar, الأقاليم الجنوبية, Al-Aqalim al-Janubiyah, french: Provinces du Sud) or Moroccan Sahara ( ar, الصحراء المغربية, Assahra al-Maghribiya, french: Sahara marocain) are the terms used by th ...

. The Polisario Front, based in headquarters at

Tindouf Tindouf ( Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...

in south western

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, controls only those areas east of the

Moroccan Wall The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or Berm is an approximately sand wall or berm running south to north through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It separates the Moroccan-controlled areas (the Southern Provinces) on the w ...

Regions before 1997

Before 1997, Morocco was divided into seven regions: Central, Eastern, North-Central, Northwestern, South-Central, Southern, and Tansift.

References

External links

Administrative divisions of Morocco
{{Regions of Morocco Morocco, Regions Geography of Morocco Government of Morocco Morocco, Regions Morocco geography-related lists Subdivisions of Morocco