Morocco is a country located 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 the east and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south . Morocco also claims the exclaves of Ceuta , Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (all of which are Spanish jurisdiction) and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast The capital is Rabat and the largest city is Casablanca . Morocco spans an area of 710,850 km2 (274,460 sq mi) and has a population of over 37 million. Since the foundation of the first Moroccan state by Idris I in 788 AD, the country has been ruled by a series of...