The dirham (Arabic: درهم, plural: دراهم) is the currency of Morocco. The plural form is pronounced darahim, although in French and English "dirhams" is commonly used. Its ISO 4217 code is "MAD". It is subdivided into 100 santimat (singular: santim, Arabic singular: سنتيم, plural: سنتيما or سنتيمات). The dirham is issued by the Bank Al-Maghrib, the central bank of Morocco. It is also the de facto currency in Western Sahara. While the dirham is a fully convertible currency, export of the local currency is prohibited by law, but seldom controlled.
A banknote (often known as a bill, paper money or simply a note) is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money. With the exception of non-circulating high-value or precious metal commemorative issues, coins are used for lower valued monetary units, while banknotes are used for higher values.
The banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), as merchants and wholesalers desired to avoid the heavy bulk of copper coinage in large commercial transactions. During the Yuan Dynasty, banknotes were adopted by the Mongol Empire. In Europe, the concept of banknotes was first introduced during the 14th century, with proper banknotes appearing in the 17th century.