70 free Morocco trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Morocco is one of the world's oldest continuously existing states, the only North African country the Ottomans never conquered, and the first nation on earth to recognise the United States. This Morocco trivia quiz covers all of it: the geography of the Atlas and Rif mountains, the Sahara dunes and the Strait of Gibraltar; the history from Idris I and the Almohads through the French protectorate, the Green March and today's king; the culture of Fez's medina, Marrakesh's Jemaa el-Fnaa square, the blue town of Chefchaouen and the world's oldest university; the food (couscous, tagine, mint tea, argan oil, pastilla); the films shot at Ouarzazate; and the sport, from the Atlas Lions' 2022 World Cup run to Olympic champions El Moutawakel and El Guerrouj. The 70 questions start easy enough for anyone planning a first trip and finish with genuine stumpers for people who have lived there. It works for a travel night, a geography classroom or an Africa round in a pub quiz. Every answer is checked against encyclopaedic and primary sources, and the explanations add the detail that makes each fact stick.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the capital city of Morocco?
Rabat
Casablanca is the far bigger city and main port, but the seat of government sits on the Bou Regreg estuary.
Q 02Which body of water separates Morocco from Spain?
Strait of Gibraltar
At its narrowest the strait is only about 13 km wide, and ferries cross from Tangier in under an hour.
Q 03Which country borders Morocco to the east?
Algeria
The land border between the two has been closed since 1994, one of the longest shut borders in the world.
Q 04What is the highest peak in Morocco and all of North Africa?
Toubkal
At 4,167 metres it is visible from Marrakesh and is a popular two-day trek with no technical climbing.
Q 05Which mountain range runs like a backbone through central Morocco from northeast to southwest?
The Atlas Mountains
The range is divided into the Middle Atlas, High Atlas and Anti-Atlas, and most Moroccans live north of it.
Q 06Which two Spanish enclaves on Morocco's Mediterranean coast does Morocco claim as its own?
Ceuta and Melilla
Spain kept both when it gave up its protectorate in 1956; a third, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, is a tiny fortress rock.
Q 07What is Morocco's longest river?
The Draa
It rises in the High Atlas and mostly runs dry before reaching the Atlantic north of Tan-Tan.
Q 08Which Moroccan city is nicknamed the 'Blue Pearl' for its blue-washed houses?
Chefchaouen
Founded in 1471 as a small kasbah by a descendant of Idris I, it sits in the mountains of the far north.
Q 09Which Moroccan town, built by the French in 1929, is nicknamed 'Little Switzerland'?
Ifrane
It gets real snow in winter and hosts Al Akhawayn, the first English-language university in Northwest Africa.
Q 10Erg Chebbi, whose dunes rise up to 150 metres, lies on the edge of which desert?
The Sahara
The dune sea near Merzouga is about 28 km long and runs right along the Algerian border.
Q 11Roughly what is Morocco's population?
37 million
It was only 11.6 million at independence-era 1960, tripling in six decades.
Q 12Morocco was the first nation to recognise the independence of which country, in 1777?
The United States
Sultan Mohammed III declared American merchant ships under his protection, and the resulting 1786 treaty is still in force.
Q 13In which year did the Treaty of Fez make Morocco a French protectorate?
1912
Spain took the north and Tangier became an international zone, an arrangement that lasted until 1956.
Q 21The 1975 'Green March' of about 350,000 Moroccans was aimed at taking over which territory from Spain?
Spanish Sahara
Spain withdrew weeks later; the territory's status is still unresolved and patrolled by a UN mission.
Q 22Which two Allied leaders met at the January 1943 Casablanca Conference?
Roosevelt and Churchill
The meeting at the Anfa Hotel produced the demand for the Axis powers' 'unconditional surrender'.
Q 23Which rebel leader established the short-lived Republic of the Rif in the 1920s?
Abd el-Krim
Spain resorted to mustard gas bombing before a Franco-Spanish force crushed the republic in 1926-27.
Q 14In which year did Morocco regain independence from France?
1956
Sultan Mohammed V, exiled by the French to Madagascar three years earlier, returned to lead the new kingdom.
Q 15Which sultan founded the Idrisid dynasty in 788, the origin of the Moroccan state?
Idris I
He was a great-grandson of Hasan ibn Ali who fled an Abbasid massacre in Arabia and won over the local tribes.
Q 16Which dynasty has ruled Morocco since the 17th century?
The Alaouites
They claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and their dynastic red became the background of the national flag.
Q 17Morocco was the only North African nation never to fall under the rule of which power?
The Ottomans
Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli all became Ottoman provinces; the Saadi and Marinid dynasties kept the Turks out.
Q 18Morocco's Saadi dynasty conquered which West African state in the late 16th century, seizing Timbuktu?
The Songhai Empire
Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur sent an army with muskets across the Sahara to seize Timbuktu and its gold and salt trade.
Q 19Fes el Bali, the walled quarter holding the Chouara tannery, is a famous example of what kind of city core?
A medina
Its car-free lanes make it one of the largest urban pedestrian zones in the world.
Q 20The 1578 Battle of the Three Kings in Morocco killed the young king of which European country?
Portugal
Sebastian I disappeared on the field at Alcácer Quibir; without an heir, Portugal passed to Philip II of Spain for 60 years.
Q 24Which king has ruled Morocco since 1999?
Mohammed VI
He succeeded his father Hassan II, whose 38-year reign was known as the 'years of lead' for its repression.
Q 25The Roman ruins of Volubilis, near Meknes, were the capital of which ancient kingdom?
Mauretania
The city grew rich on olive oil and its town houses still have superb mosaic floors.
Q 26The 14th-century traveller Ibn Battuta was born in which Moroccan city?
Tangier
His account, the Rihla, covers some 117,000 km across Africa, Arabia, India and China.
Q 27Which two languages are official in Morocco?
Arabic and Berber (Amazigh)
French is widely used in business and government but has no official status; the Berber language became official in 2011.
Q 28What is the name of the Moroccan dialect of Arabic that serves as the everyday lingua franca?
Darija
It is peppered with French, Spanish and Berber loanwords and is often hard for other Arabic speakers to follow.
Q 29What is the currency of Morocco?
The dirham
It replaced the Moroccan franc in 1960 and is divided into 100 santimat.
Q 30What symbol sits at the centre of Morocco's red flag?
A green five-pointed star
The pentagram, said to stand for the five pillars of Islam, was added by Sultan Yusef in 1915.