Regions are currently the highest administrative divisions in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

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

Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. Before September 2015 it was known as Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira (). It is situated in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, considered by Morocco to be the southern part of the ...

) that lies completely within the disputed territory of

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

and two (

Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It is mainly located in the disputed territory of Western Sahara: the western part of the region is administered by Morocco and the eastern part by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic ...

and

Guelmim-Oued Noun Guelmim-Oued Noun () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco, regions of Morocco. The southeastern part of the region is located in the disputed territory of Western Sahara and a small strip of land in this area is administered by the Sahrawi A ...

) 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 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 The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

, 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 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 2015: Full unitary system

Between 1997 and 2015, Morocco had 16 regions. Morocco Regions 97-11 numbered

The entirety of

Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. Before September 2015 it was known as Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira (). It is situated in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, considered by Morocco to be the Southern Provinces, so ...

(1), the vast majority of Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra (2), and part of Guelmim-Es Semara (3) were situated within the

disputed territory A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of territories (land, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the ...

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

Polisario Front The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ), better known by its acronym Polisario Front, is a Sahrawi nationalism, Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement seeking to end the occupatio ...

which claims the territory as the independent

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), also known as the Sahrawi Republic and Western Sahara, is a partially recognized state in the western Maghreb, which claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara, but controls only ...

. Most of the region is administered by Morocco as its

Southern Provinces The Southern Provinces or Moroccan Sahara are the terms used by the Moroccan government to refer to the occupied territory of Western Sahara. These designations encompass the entirety of Western Sahara, which spans three of Morocco's 12 top- ...

. The Polisario Front, based in headquarters at

Tindouf Tindouf () is the main town, and a Communes of Algeria, commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Algeria–Mauritania border, Mauritanian, Algeria–Western Sahara border, Western Saharan and Algeria–Morocco border, Moroccan borders. Th ...

in south western

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, controls only those areas east of the

Moroccan Wall The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or the Berm, also called the Moroccan sand wall (), is an approximately berm running south to north through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It separation barrier, separates the Morocca ...

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

Regions since 2015

1997 to 2015: Full unitary system

Regions before 1997

See also

References

External links