Arab League

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

League of Arab States

‫جامعة الدول العربية‬
Jāmiʿat ad-Duwal al-ʿArabiyya

Flag

Emblem
 Member states shown in dark green.

Administrative center Cairo, Egypta

 Arabic
Official languages

Demonym(s) Arabs

Type Regional organization

Members   Algeria
  Bahrain
  Comoros
  Djibouti
  Egypt
  Iraq
  Jordan
  Kuwait
  Lebanon
  Libya
  Mauritania
  Morocco
  Oman
  Palestine
  Qatar
  Saudi Arabia
  Somalia
  Sudan
  Syria
  Tunisia
   United Arab
Emirates
  Yemen

Leaders

• Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit

• Parliament Speaker Ali Al-Daqbaashi
• Council Presidency  Sudan

Legislature Arab Parliament

Establishment
• Alexandria Protocol 22 March 1945
• Joint Defence and Economic 18 June 1950
Co-operation Treaty
• Greater Arab Free Trade February 1997
Area (GAFTA)

Area
• Total area 13,132,327 km2 (5,070,420 sq mi)
(2nd)

Population
• 2022 estimate 462,940,089[1] (3rd)
• Density 27.17/km2 (70.4/sq mi)

GDP (nominal) 2022 estimate
• Total $3.4 trillion[2] (5th)
• Per capita $6,600

Currency   Algerian dinar

  Bahraini dinar
  Comorian franc
  Djiboutian franc
  Egyptian pound
  Iraqi dinar
  Jordanian dinar
  Kuwaiti dinar
  Lebanese pound
  Libyan dinar
  Mauritanian
ouguiya
  Moroccan dirham
  Omani rial
   Qatari riyal
  Saudi riyal
  Somali shilling
  Sudanese pound
  Syrian pound
  Tunisian dinar
  UAE dirham
  Yemeni rial

Time zone UTC+0 to +4

Website
www.leagueofarabstates.net

a. From 1979 to 1989, Tunis, Tunisia.

Part of a series on the

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The Arab League (Arabic: ‫الجامعة العربية‬, al-Jāmiʿa al-ʻArabiyya Arabic

pronunciation: [al.d͡ʒaː.mi.ʕa al.ʕa.ra.bij.ja] ( listen)), formally the League of Arab
States (Arabic: ‫جامعة الدول العربية‬, Jāmiʿat ad-Duwal al-ʿArabiyya), is a regional
organization in the Arab world, which is located in North Africa, West Asia, and part
of East Africa. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially
with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
[3]
 Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League has 22
members.
The League's main goal is to "draw closer the relations between member states
and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and
sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab
countries".[4] The organization has received a relatively low level of cooperation
throughout its history.[5]
Through institutions, notably the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific
Organization (ALECSO) and the Economic and Social Council of its Council of
Arab Economic Unity (CAEU), the League facilitates political, economic, cultural,
scientific, and social programmes designed to promote the interests of the Arab
world.[6][7] It has served as a forum for the member states to coordinate policy,
arrange studies of and committees as to matters of common concern, settle inter-
state disputes and limit conflicts such as the 1958 Lebanon crisis. The League has
served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of many landmark documents
promoting economic integration. One example is the Joint Arab Economic Action
Charter, which outlines the principles for economic activities in the region.

Arab League of states establishment memorial stamp.

Showing flags of the 8 establishing countries: Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (North Yemen), Syrian Republic,
Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanese Republic
and Palestine
Each member state has one vote in the Council of the Arab League, and decisions
are binding only for those states that have voted for them. The aims of the league
in 1945 were to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic and
social programs of its members and to mediate disputes among them or between
them and third parties. Furthermore, the signing of an agreement on Joint Defence
and Economic Cooperation on 13 April 1950 committed the signatories to
coordination of military defence measures. In March 2015, the Arab League
General Secretary announced the establishment of a Joint Arab Force with the aim
of counteracting extremism and other threats to the Arab States. The decision was
reached while Operation Decisive Storm was intensifying in Yemen. Participation in
the project is voluntary, and the army intervenes only at the request of one of the
member states. Heightened military arsenal in many member states and, in a small
minority, civil wars as well as terrorist movements were the impetuts for the JAF,
financed by the rich Gulf countries.[8]
In the early 1970s, the Economic Council put forward a proposal to create the Joint
Arab Chambers of Commerce across European states. That led, under its decree
K1175/D52/G to the setting up of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce,
mandated to promote, encourage and facilitate bilateral trade between the Arab
world and significant trading partner, the United Kingdom.

History
Following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was
founded on 22 March 1945.[9] The official headquarters of the League was the
Boustan Palace in Cairo.[10] It aimed to be a regional organisation of Arab states
with a focus to developing the economy, resolving disputes and coordinating
political aims.[9][better  source  needed] Other countries later joined the league. [11] Each country
was given one vote in the council. The first major action was the joint intervention,
allegedly on behalf of the majority Arab population being uprooted as the state
of Israel emerged in 1948 (and in response to popular protest in the Arab world),
but a major participant in this intervention, Transjordan, had agreed with the
Israelis to divide up the Arab Palestinian state proposed by the United
Nations General Assembly, and Egypt intervened primarily to prevent its rival
in Amman from accomplishing its objective.[12] It was followed by the creation of a
mutual defence treaty two years later. A common market was established in 1965.
[13]

The Arab League has achieved relatively low levels of cooperation throughout its
history. According to Michael Barnett and Etel Solingen, the design of the Arab
League reflects Arab leaders' individual concerns for regime survival: "the politics
of Arab nationalism and a shared identity led Arab states to embrace the rhetoric of
Arab unity in order to legitimize their regimes, and to fear Arab unity in practice
because it would impose greater restrictions on their sovereignty." [5] The Arab
League was "specifically designed to fail at producing the kind of greater
collaboration and integration that might have weakened political leaders at home." [5]

Geography
Main article: Geography of the Arab world

Joining dates of member states; the Comoros

(circled) joined in 1993.
  1940s   1950s   1960s   1970s
The Arab League member states cover over 13,000,000 km2 (5,000,000 sq mi) and
straddles two continents: Africa and Asia. The area largely consists of arid deserts,
such as the Sahara. Nevertheless, it also contains several highly fertile lands like
the Nile Valley, the Jubba Valley and Shebelle Valley in the Horn of Africa,
the Atlas Mountains in the Maghreb, and the Fertile Crescent that stretches
over Mesopotamia and the Levant. The area comprises deep forests in
southern Arabia and parts of the world's longest river, the Nile.

Membership
Main article: Member states of the Arab League
The Charter of the Arab League, also known as the Pact of the League of Arab
States, is the founding treaty of the Arab League. Adopted in 1945, it stipulates that
"the League of Arab States shall be composed of the independent Arab States that
have signed this Pact."[14]
Initially, in 1945, there were only six members. Today, the Arab League has 22
members, including three African countries among the largest by area
(Sudan, Algeria and Libya) and the largest country in Western Asia (Saudi Arabia).
There was a continual increase in membership during the second half of the 20th
century. As of 2023, there are 22 member states: