Morocco is the crossroads of east and west, a bridge between Africa and Europe that possesses the best of all possible worlds. Morocco’s fusion of rock, sand and sea gives it some of North Africa’s most diverse topography.

Morocco could lay claim to the title of Africa’s most homogeneous country: 99.1 percent of the population are Arabs and Berbers. A mere 98.7 percent are Muslim. The population of Morocco is also overwhelmingly young and many of the country’s brightest young stars, frustrated by a lack of opportunities in their home country, seek their fortunes abroad.

Most Moroccan animal species are endangered, from the shy addax antelope that defies the desert’s dictates and can survive its whole life without water, to the equally reticent leopards which are thought to cling to remote mountain redoubts. The iconic and abundantly maned Barbary lion was last seen in the Atlas Mountains in 1922.