The mainland consists of the southern half of Morocco as it was before the conquest of the Spanish Sahara. The northwest, Marrakech-Tensift-al Houz, includes part of the coastal plain, specifically the southern half of the Tensift area. The High Atlas are along that province's southern border and continue along the eastern part of the northern bound of Souss Massa-Draa. They rise above 4000 meters in two peaks, Toubkal the higher. South of the High Atlas, in western Souss Mass-Draa, is more coastal plain; that province's southern border follows the Anti-Atlas. The Draa River flows from the High Atlas southeast beyond the Anti-Atlas's eastern reach, then turns southwest, on or near the national boundary, crossing through the middle of Guelmim Province to the Atlantic. Beyond it, in easternmost Souss Massa-Draa the Sarhro Mountains head northeast. Southern Guelmim is part of the Sahara Desert.
There is no majority mother tongue. Maghrebi Spoken Arabic accounts for around four in ten; Tachelhit(4) for almost the same amount; Spanish(5) for two in ten. So Afro-Asiatic languages--Semitic and Berber--account for 80%, the same percentages as Moslems. Roman Catholic Christians account for the rest.
Marrakech, the largest city with nearly 900 thousand residents, is located at the inland end of the Tensift plain, north of the High Atlas mountains. Its most notable building is the Al Kutubiyyah Minaret, 67 meters high, completed at the end of the 12th century.
Long ago--more than two thousand years ago--speakers of Berber languages moved intothis area, giving rise to Tachelhit on the mainland and Guanche on the Canaries. Arabs moved into Morocco around the turn of the eighth century, introducing Islam. The Spanish, bringing Christianity, conquered the islands in the late 15th century and Guanche died out by 1600.
northeast
southeast and south
northwest
(1) al Maghreb in transliterated Arabic; Maroc in French; the Arabic translates as 'the West'.
(2) Islas Canarias in Spanish.
(3) España in Spanish.
(4) Or Southern Silha.
(5) Español in Spanish.