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Location of Morocco on the globe

Morocco

MA

North Africa

Morocco is home to 2 documented ethnic groups in North Africa — led by Arab Moroccan (~56%), Berber Moroccan (~44%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
Arab MoroccanArab Moroccan56.0%Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP) Morocco 2014 Census plus 2024 update demographic estimates; Morocco does not directly enumerate Arab vs Berber ethnicity in census instruments — the composition derived from linguistic / cultural self-identification surveys plus academic estimates. Arab-Moroccan (~56%) is the dominant ethno-linguistic self-identification reflecting Arabic-language adoption and Arab-cultural identity post-7th-c. conquest
Berber MoroccanBerber Moroccan44.0%HCP plus academic estimates; Berber-Moroccan / Amazigh (~44%, ~14-18M+); the largest national Berber-Amazigh population in any country. Major sub-groups: Riffian (Northern Morocco / Rif Mountains, ~6-8M), Shilha / Tashelhit (Southern Morocco / Souss Valley + Anti-Atlas, ~6-8M), Central Atlas Tamazight (Middle Atlas, ~3-4M), plus smaller Saharan and Eastern Berber communities. Tamazight became co-official with Arabic in Morocco's 2011 constitutional reform

Morocco Phenotype Profile

Morocco's population reflects the broader North African demographic structure — approximately 56% Arab-Moroccan and 44% Berber-Amazigh per linguistic-cultural self-identification estimates. Importantly, the Arab-Moroccan / Berber-Moroccan distinction is primarily cultural-linguistic rather than population-genetic — both populations share substantial Berber-Indigenous demographic substrate, with the Arab-Moroccan self-identification reflecting Arabic-language adoption rather than substantial Arabian-Peninsula descent. Genome-wide studies place average Moroccan ancestry at approximately 70-85% North African Indigenous / Berber-source plus ~10-15% Arabian-Peninsula-derived plus smaller Sub-Saharan African and Iberian admixture.

Skin tone across the population spans Fitzpatrick II-V with III the modal value nationally — among the lighter-skinned North African populations on average. Hair texture is most often straight to wavy with some curly variants; hair color is predominantly dark brown to black with non-trivial frequencies of medium brown and rarely lighter shades. Eye color is predominantly brown with elevated frequencies of hazel and rarely green/blue variants in some Berber populations (Riffian in particular has documented light-eye frequencies higher than most North African populations). Facial features track North African source populations. Build is intermediate; adult Moroccan male mean stature is approximately 173-176 cm in 2010s-2020s urban cohorts.

The country is approximately 99% Sunni Muslim (Maliki school) with smaller Christian, Jewish (the historic Moroccan Jewish community of approximately 280,000 in 1948 has largely emigrated to Israel and France with current Moroccan Jewish population approximately 2,500), and Bahai communities.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Morocco population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights are estimated based on the Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP) Morocco 2014 Census plus 2024 demographic-update estimates. Morocco does not directly enumerate Arab vs Berber ethnicity in census instruments — the composition derived from linguistic / cultural self-identification surveys plus academic estimates. Caveats: (1) the Arab-Moroccan / Berber-Moroccan boundary is socially fluid given that the Arab-Moroccan population is genealogically substantially Berber-descended; (2) the various Berber sub-groups (Riffian, Shilha, Central Atlas Tamazight) maintain meaningful linguistic and cultural distinctness; (3) the historic Moroccan Jewish community has been substantially reduced through post-1948 emigration; (4) the substantial Moroccan diaspora globally (~5-6M+ predominantly in France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel) is not captured in source-country composition; (5) the small remaining Sub-Saharan African migrant communities and the substantial transit-migration population (Morocco is a major migration corridor for Sub-Saharan African populations seeking to reach Europe via Spain) produce demographic complexity for citizen-vs-resident enumeration.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP). Recensement Général de la Population et de l'Habitat 2014. Rabat: HCP; 2015.
  2. 2.Henn BM, Botigué LR, Gravel S, et al. Genomic ancestry of North Africans supports back-to-Africa migrations. PLoS Genet. 2012;8(1):e1002397.
  3. 3.Arauna LR, Mendoza-Revilla J, Mas-Sandoval A, et al. Recent historical migrations have shaped the gene pool of Arabs and Berbers in North Africa. Mol Biol Evol. 2017;34(2):318-329.
  4. 4.Hoffman KE. We Share Walls: Language, Land, and Gender in Berber Morocco. Wiley-Blackwell; 2008.
  5. 5.Pennell CR. Morocco Since 1830: A History. NYU Press; 2000.

Other countries in North Africa

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring North Africa nations, weighted by demographic composition.

Browse all North Africaethnic groups & countries →