Territorial organization of Morocco

Morocco is divided into twelve regions. These in turn are divided into thirteen prefectures and sixty-two provinces. Each prefecture is divided into districts (cercles), municipalities, communes and, in the case of metropolitan areas, neighborhoods (arrondissements). The districts are subdivided into rural municipalities. The prefecture of Casablanca is subdivided into prefectures (préfectures d'arrondissements), which are similar to districts, except that they group together a few neighborhoods.

Three of Morocco's regions are part (in whole or in part) of Western Sahara, a territory administered by Morocco, but which the United Nations includes on its list of non-autonomous territories.

Regions since 2015

According to a decree of February 2015, Morocco is divided into 12 regions (including Western Sahara).

Cod.	Location	Region	Capital	Prov. and pref.	Municipalities	Inhabitants (2014)	%	Area (km2)	%	Population density
1		Tangier-Tetuán-Alhucemas	Tangier	7	110	3 556 729	10.51	13 712	1.93	259.39
2		East	Uchda	8	147	2 314 346	6.84	36 241	5.10	63.86
3		Fez-Mequinez	Fez	9	194	4 236 892	12.52	40 075	5.64	105.72
4		Rabat-Salé-Kenitra	Rabat	7	114	4 580 866	13.53	18 194	2.56	251.78
5		Beni Melal-Jenifra	Beni Melal	6	164	2 520 776	7.45	41 033	5.77	61.43
6		Casablanca-Settat	Casablanca	9	153	6 861 739	20.27	19 448	2.74	352.82
7		Marrakech-Safi	Marrakech	8	251	4 520 569	13.36	39 167	5.51	115.42
8		Draa-Tafilalet	Er-Rachidía	5	109	1 635 008	4.83	132.	18.59	12.37
9		Your-Masa	Agadir	6	175	2 676 847	7.91	53 789	7.57	49.77
10		Guelmim-Rio Nun	Guelmim	4	53	433 757	1.28	46 108	6.49	9.41
11		The Aaiun-Saguía el-Hamra	The Aaiun	4	20	367 758	1.09	140 018	19.7	2.63
12		Villa Cisneros-Río de Oro	Villa Cisneros	2	13	142 955	0.42	130 898	18.41	1.09
			Total	75	1503	33 848 242	100	710 850	100	47.62

The regions are divided into 75 provinces and prefectures and 1,503 municipalities.

Historical divisions

1954-1971

In 1954, after independence, Morocco was divided into 12 zones, 7 in the French Protectorate of Morocco and 5 in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco, with official names:

• After independence a new provincial organization was launched: 19 provinces and 5 urban prefectures:

1971-1981

In 1971 Morocco carried out the first division into regions formed according to economic criteria. Seven regions were created.

• South region
• Tensift Region
• Region of the Centre
• Northwest region
• Centre-North Region
• Eastern Region
• Centre-South Region

1981-1991

In 1981, Morocco was divided into 37 provinces, 2 wilayas*, subdivided into 6 prefectures (fragmented urban management of large urban agglomerations) and 801 municipalities (66 urban and 735 rural):

1991

In 1991, Morocco was divided into 41 provinces and 18 wilayas/prefectures and 859 municipalities (99 urban and 780 rural).

1992-1997

In 1992, Morocco was still divided into 41 provinces and 18 wilayas/prefectures but with 1,544 municipalities (247 urban and 1,587 rural).

1997-2015

With the reform of the Moroccan territorial administration in 1997, Morocco was divided into three levels:

1. The 16 regions, headed by a Wali and a regional council. These regions had the status of local communities, according to article 101 of the Moroccan Constitution.
2. The regions were divided into 45 provinces and 27 prefectures (the urban equivalent of the former), which constituted the second layer of the administration and were led by a governor.
3. Each province or prefecture was in turn subdivided into districts (loops), municipalities, communes and, in the case of metropolitan areas, in neighborhoods (arrondissements).

• Finally, vilayato was an administrative division created in 1981, which brought together provinces and prefectures. Therefore, they were framed between the first (regions) and the second (provinces) level. However, the term vilayato was frequently used as a synonym for region or province/prefecture.

Since the 1997 decentralization/regionalization law, 16 new regions were created (provided below), although full details are limited:

Region		Capital
1	Chauía-Uardiga	Settat
2	Dukala-Abda	Safi
3	Fez-Bulmán	Fez
4	Garb-Chrarda-Beni Hsen	Kenitra
5	Grand Casablanca	Casablanca
6	Guelmim-Esmara	Guelmim
7	The Aaiun-Bojador-Saguia el Hamra	The Aaiun
8	Marrakech-Tensift-Al Hauz	Marrakech
9	Mequinez-Tafilalet	Mequinez
10	East	Uchda
11	Rio de Oro-La Güera	Villa Cisneros
12	Rabat-Salé-Zemur-Zaer	Rabat
13	Your-Masa-Draa	Agadir
14	Tadla-Azilal	Beni Melal
15	Tangier-Tetuán	Tangier
16	Taza-Alhucemas-Taunat	Alhucemas
Regions that, in whole or in part, form part of the territory of Western Sahara, whose sovereignty is in dispute.

Between 1997 and 2015, Morocco was divided into 16 regions, 45 provinces and 26 wilayas/prefectures, a total of 71 containing 1,547 municipalities (249 urban and 1,298 rural). With a local communities law open to modifications (create or eliminate regions, provinces or municipalities).