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Updates: 

As of 2015, ISO had not provided subdivision codes for the twelve new regions. Now, however, the ISOmaintenance committee has circulated a document N849, dated 2015-10-15. If it is approved, theregion codes will be the same as the Direction de la Statistique codes as shown in the table below.

In 2010, a commision (Commission consultative de la régionalisation) prepared a report proposing toreorganize Morocco into 12 regions. These regions constituted a regrouping of the existing provinces andprefectures. The plan has now been put into effect.

Update 7 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS standard 10-4, was issued with the date2012-02-01. It changes the spelling of Guelmim-Es Smara to Guelmim-Es Semara. On 2014-11-03, ISO issued anupdate to ISO 3166-2, making the same spelling change.

FIPS 10-4 Change Notice 11, dated 2006-07-11, has assigned a FIPS code to Laâyoune - Boujdour - Sakia ElHamra region, as shown below.

FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 10, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2006-03-23. It assigns newFIPS codes to the current Moroccan regions, superseding the province codes formerly in effect. Among thenew codes, there are none that apply to the southernmost regions. Perhaps FIPS now considers them part ofWestern Sahara, but I don't have any FIPS codes for them under that heading, either.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-6 was published on 2004-03-08. The only change to the Morocco listing is tocorrect the spelling of Laayoune to Laâyoune in two places. This page has always included the accent.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-2 was published on 2002-05-21. It replaces the former seven economic regionswith a completely new set of sixteen economic regions, shown in the following table (which I had posted abouta year earlier). The ISO standard retains the same list of second-level administrative divisions (wilayasand provinces) as before, although a few spellings and one code are corrected. I have inserted the ISO codesfor the economic regions in the table below. The changes are also reflected on thePrefectures page.

On this page, I reported that the province of Aousserd was split from Oued Ed-Dahab - Lagouira, which wascorrect. However, I misinterpreted it as meaning that Aousserd should be added to the table. In fact, itis a second-level subdivision and as such it should only be listed as a secondary division (see thePrefectures page). In correcting this error, I've also restored the HASC code forOued Ed-Dahab - Lagouira fromMA.OD toMA.OL.

Country overview: 

In 1900, Morocco was an independent sultanate, although several European countries had sought varyingdegrees of influence. Spain, in particular, had possessed exclaves on the Mediterranean coast for manyyears. Spain also claimed, and later occupied, the coastal exclave of Ifni in the south. The French andGermans agreed on 1911-11-04 to respect French pretensions to Morocco in exchange for a French cession in theCameroons. In the Treaty of Fez (1912-03-30), the sultan agreed to a Spanish protectorate over two strips ofterritory at the north and south ends, and a French protectorate over the rest of the country. From 1925 to1956, Tangier, with its environs, was administered jointly by the European powers. In 1956, the sultanateonce again became independent, first in the French protectorate, then the Spanish, and finally Tangier. In1976, Spain relinquished Spanish Sahara. Mauritania and Morocco promptly divided it between them. However,Mauritania ceded its portion to Morocco three years later. Morocco has administered the region since then.The United Nations intends to hold a referendum to determine the future of this territory, now known asWestern Sahara. Pending the decision, other governments have withheld recognition of Morocco's sovereigntyover Western Sahara.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: al-Mamlaka al-Maghrebia (formal)
2. Danish: Marokko
3. Dutch: Marokko, Koninkrijk Marokko (formal)
4. English: Kingdom of Morocco (formal)
5. Finnish: Marokko
6. French: Marocm
7. German: Marokkon
8. Icelandic: Marokkó
9. Italian: Maroccom
10. Norwegian: Marokko, Kongeriket Marokko (formal)
11. Portuguese: Marrocosn (mp in Brazil), Reinom de Marrocos (formal)
12. Russian: Королевство Марокко (formal)
13. Spanish: Marruecos, Reinom de Marruecosm (formal)
14. Swedish: Marocko
15. Turkish: Fas Krallığı (formal)

Origin of name: 

from Medieval Latin Morroch, which came in turn from the city name Marrakech. Arabic name wasal-Maghreb: the west,al-aksa: farthest

Primary subdivisions: 

Morocco is divided into twelve regions.

Note: Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara. Other governments have withheldrecognition of this claim, pending a referendum in the territory. The regions of Ed Dakhla-Oued ed Dahab andpart of Laâyoune-Saguia al Hamra correspond roughly to Western Sahara.

Postal codes: 

Morocco uses five-digit postal codes. The first two digits indicate the prefecture or province.

Further subdivisions:

See thePrefectures of Morocco page.

The regions are subdivided into provinces and prefectures. Those, in turn, are subdivided into cercles,municipalities or communes urbaines (urban communes), and (in some metropolitan areas) arrondissements. Thecercles are subdivided into communes rurales. The municipalities and arrondissements should probably bethought of as fourth-level subdivisions, on the same level as communes rurales. Karem Abdalla reports thatMorocco is introducing a new level of administration between the regions and the provinces/prefectures,called wilaya't (lands).

Territorial extent: 

Morocco does not include the Spanish places of sovereignty in Africa, namely, the coastal cities of Ceutaand Melilla with small surrounding enclaves, and the islands of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Peñón deAlhucemas, its nearby neighbors Isla de Mar and Isla de Tierra, and the Islas Chafarinas (Isabel II,Congreso, and del Rey).

TheUN LOCODE page  for Morocco lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Agadir: Touareg for wall, possibly from Semiticgadir: walled place
2. Casablanca: Spanishcasa: house,blanca: white, a calque of the city's Arabic name, Dar elBeida
3. El Jadida: Arabic for the new one, so named when the city was rebuilt
4. Essaouira: from Arabic for the beautiful
5. Fès-Médina: from a Berber word for springs + Arabicmadinat: city
6. Marrakech: Classic Arabicmarrukuch: the well adorned one; or from Berber for "sons of Kutch"; orMasmooda for "do not linger"
7. Rabat: after the city, originallyar-Ribat al-fath: the stronghold of victory
8. Tétouan: Berbertitawin: little wells

Change history: 

1. Note: The situation in Morocco is particularly messy. From independence to 1997, Morocco was dividedinto provinces and prefectures. They are supposed to be at the same administrative level. However, theprefectures are much smaller in area, as each one contains only one or two cities and their suburbs. Manysources don't even list the prefectures. The numbers of provinces and prefectures have grown fairly steadilyover the years. This history is only an approximation to the changes that have occurred. The treatment ofprefectures is incomplete.
2. In 1900, Morocco was an independent sultanate, although several European countries had sought varyingdegrees of influence. Spain, in particular, had possessed exclaves on the Mediterranean coast for manyyears. Spain also claimed, and later occupied, the coastal exclave of Ifni in the south.
3. 1911-11-04: France and Germany agreed to respect French pretensions to Morocco in exchange for a Frenchcession in the Cameroons.
4. 1912-03-30: Morocco divided into a French protectorate and a Spanish protectorate. The Spanishprotectorate consisted of strips of territory at the north and south ends of the country.
5. 1925-06-01: Tangier established as an international zone (effective date).
6. ~1946: French protectorate consisted of the regions of Agadir, Casablanca, Fès, Marrakech, Meknès,Oujda, and Rabat. Spanish protectorate consisted of the regions of Gomara, Kert, Lucus, Rif, and Yebala(northern area) and the Southern Protectorate of Morocco.
7. 1956-04-07: Morocco became independent. The Spanish protectorate ended on this date; the Frenchprotectorate had ended earlier in the same year.
8. 1956-10-29: Status of Tangier changed from international zone to province of Morocco.
9. ~1957: Morocco divided into provinces. The provinces of Agadir, Beni-Mellal, Casablanca, Fès,Marrakech, Mazagan, Meknès, Ouarzazate, Oujda, Rabat, Safi, Tafilalet, and Taza corresponded to FrenchMorocco. The provinces of Chauen, Larache, Nador, Rif, Tangier, and Tetuan corresponded to Spanish Morocco(the northern protectorate). Southern Protectorate of Morocco became the province of Tarfaya.
10. 1960: The administrative decrees of 1959 and 1960 provided that Morocco's primary divisions were theprovinces and prefectures. They were subdivided into cercles (circles), which were further subdivided intocirconscriptions rurales and circonscriptions urbaines (rural and urban constituencies). The ruralconstituencies were subdivided into communes; the urban into arrondissements.
11. 1962-07-09: Name of Kenitra (the city) officially changed to Mina Hassan Tani (Port Hassan II, in honorof the king); however, the new name has not been in use.
12. 1965-01: Rabat province split into Rabat prefecture and Kenitra province.
13. 1965-06-15: Safi province split from Marrakech.
14. ~1967: Name of Tafilalet province and its capital changed to Ksar es Souk. Name of Rif province andits capital changed to Al Hoceïma. Chauen, Larache, and Tetuan provinces merged to form Tétouan. Mazaganprovince merged with Casablanca.
15. 1969-06-30: Ifni restored to Morocco by Spain, becoming part of Agadir province.
16. ~1970: El Jadida (formerly Mazagan), Khouribga, and Settat province split from Casablanca; name ofRabat province changed to Rabat-Salé.
17. 1971-06-23: By decree 1-71-71, dated 1971-06-16 but published a week later, a new level of localgovernment was created. Seven "administrative regions" were formed by combining the existing 19 provincesand two prefectures, which remained in place as secondary divisions. The regions were as follows:

1. 1973-08-13: El Kelâa des Sraghna province split from Marrakech. Khémisset province split from Rabat.Khénifra province formed from parts of Ksar es Souk and Meknès.
2. 1974-01-14: Figuig province formed from parts of Ksar es Souk and Oujda.
3. 1976: Spain relinquished control of Spanish Sahara. Mauritania and Morocco promptly divided it betweenthem. This action was not recognized as legal by the international community. The United Nations intends tohold a referendum to determine the future of this territory, now known as Western Sahara. Pending thedecision, other governments have withheld recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.
4. ~1978: Azilal province formed from parts of Beni-Mellal and Marrakech. Ben Slimane province splitfrom Casablanca. Boulemane province formed from parts of Fès and Taza. Chefchaouen (formerly Chauen)province split from Tétouan. Essaouira province split from Safi. Taounate province split from Fès. Tataprovince formed from parts of Agadir and Ouarzazate. Tiznit province split from Agadir.
5. 1979: Mauritania ceded its portion of Western Sahara to Morocco.
6. ~1980: Tarfaya province split into three parts. Two of the parts became Guelmim and Tan-Tanprovinces. The third part merged with Laâyoune province in Western Sahara. Since Morocco's sovereigntyover Western Sahara is not internationally recognized, we must regard this third part as a separateLaâyoune province in Morocco.
7. 1981: Casablanca divided into five prefectures: Aïn Chock-Hay Hassani, Aïn Sebâa-Hay Mohammedi,Ben M'sick-Sidi Othmane, Casablanca-Anfa, and Mohammedia-Zenata.
8. ~1982: Ifrane province split from Meknès. Name of Ksar es Souk province and its capital changed toErrachidia.
9. ~1986: Sidi Kacem province split from Kenitra. Taroudannt province split from Agadir.
10. The changes from ~1990 to ~1997 may or may not be completely accurate, but they do help account for someof the discrepancies in the standards.
11. ~1990: Larache province split from Tétouan. Rabat-Salé province split into three prefectures:Rabat, Salé, and Skhirate-Témara.
12. ~1993: Agadir province split into Chtouka-Aït Baha province and Agadir-Ida-Tenane and Inezgane-AïtMelloul prefectures. Meknès province split into El Hajeb province and Meknès-El Menzeh prefecture.Oujda province split into Berkane-Taourirt, Jerada, and Taourirt provinces and Oujda-Angad prefecture.Assa-Zag province split from Guelmim. Chichaoua and Al Haouz provinces split from Marrakech. Sefrou provincesplit from Fès.
13. ~1994: Mohammedia-Zenata prefecture split into Al Fida-Derb-Sultan, Méchouar de Casablanca, Mohammedia,and Sidi Bernoussi-Zenata (possibly with annexations from other prefectures). Marrakech split intoMarrakech-Ménara province and Marrakech-Médina and Sidi-Youssef-Ben-Ali prefectures. Fès provincesplit into Fès el Jadid-Dar Dbibagh, Fès-Médina, and Zouagha-Moulay Yacoub prefectures.Al Ismaïlia prefecture split from Meknès-El Menzeh, El Hajeb, or parts of both.
14. ~1997: Berkane-Taourirt province split into Berkane and Taourirt.
15. 1997-03: Sixteen regions created as primary subdivisions, relegating provinces and prefectures to thesecondary level. These were the regions:

1. 2015-09-04: Morocco reorganized from sixteen regions to twelve. Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima region formedby annexing Al Hoceima and Ouezzane provinces to Tanger-Tétouan region. Driouch and Guercif provinces annexedto Oriental region. Fès-Meknès region formed by merging Fès-Boulemane region with the northern part ofMeknès-Tafilalet region and annexing Taounate and Taza provinces. Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region formed by mergingFès-Boulemane and Meknès-Tafilalet regions. Béni Mellal-Khénifra formed by annexing Fqih Ben Salah, Khouribga,and part of Khénifra provinces to Tadla-Azilal region. Casablanca-Settat region formed by merging GrandCasablanca and Chaouia-Ouardigha regions and annexing El Jadida province. Marrakech-Safi region formed byannexing Safi province to Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region. Drâa-Tafilalet region formed from Errachidia,Ouarzazate, and Zagora provinces, taken from Meknès-Tafilalet and Souss-Massa-Draâ regions, and part ofKhénifra province. Souss-Massa region formed by annexing Tata province to Souss-Massa-Draâ region. Guelmim-OuedNoun region formed by annexing Sidi Ifni province to Guelmim-Es-Semara region. Laâyoune-Saguia al Hamra regionformed by annexing Es-Semara province to Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra region. Ed Dakhla-Oued ed Dahabregion is equivalent to the former Oued Ed-Dahab-Lagouira region.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Casablanca-Settat: Grand Casablanca-Settat (variant)
2. Laâyoune-Sakia al Hamra: Laâyoune-Saguia al Hamra (variant)
3. L'oriental: Oriental et Rif (variant)

SeePrefectures of Morocco page under this heading. Some region names includeprovince or prefecture names. Here are other names of the 1971 regions:

1. Central: Center (variant); Centre (French)
2. Eastern: East (variant); Est, Oriental (French)
3. North-Central: Centre-Nord (French); North Center (variant)
4. Northwestern: Nord-Ouest (French); North-West (variant)
5. South-Central: Centre-Sud (French); South Center (variant)
6. Southern: South (variant); Sud (French)
7. Tansift: Tensift (variant)

Sources: 

1. [1] Moroccan Direction de la Statistique (http://www.statistic.gov.ma/codegeo.xls, dead link, retrieved 2005-02-23).
2. [2] Haut Commisariat au Plan (http://www.recensement.hcp.ma/index.php3, dead link, retrieved 2005-02-23).
3. [3] "Découpageterritorial: La nouvelle carte du Maroc dévoilée ", Medias24 online Moroccan news site(dated 2015-01-21, retrieved 2015-03-05).
4. [4]Recensement Général de la Populationet de l'Habitat 2014  (retrieved 2015-03-21).