جامعة الدول العربية Jāmaʻat ad-Duwal al-ʻArabiyya League of Arab States
Flag
Headquarters		Cairo, Egypt1
Official languages		Arabic
Membership		22 Arab states 3 observer states
Leaders
-	Secretary General	Amr Moussa (since 2001)
-	Council of the Arab League	Sudan
-	Speaker of the Arab Parliament	Nabih Berri
Establishment
-	Alexandria Protocol	March 22, 1945
Area
-	Total area with Western Sahara	13,953,041 km² (2nd2) 5,382,910 sq mi
-	Area excluding Western Sahara	13,687,041 km2 ( 5,280,291 sq mi)
Population
-	2007 estimate	339,510,535 (3rd2)
-	Density	24.33/km²  63/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$2,364,871 million (6th2)
-	Per capita	$11,013 (70th)
Currency		see footnote 3 below
Time zone		(UTC+0 to +4)
Website (Arabic) http://arableagueonline.org/
1	From 1979 to 1989: Tunis, Tunisia.
2	If ranked.
3	ISO 4217 codes bracketed: Algerian dinar (DZB) • Bahraini dinar (BHD) • Comorian franc (KMF) • Djiboutian franc (DJF) • Egyptian pound (EGP) • Iraqi dinar (IQD) • Jordanian dinar (JD) • Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) • Lebanese livre (LL, LBP) • Libyan dinar (LYD) • Mauritanian ouguiya (MRO) • Moroccan dirham (MAD) • Omani rial (OMR) • Qatari riyal (QAR) • Saudi riyal (SAR) • Somali shilling (SOS) • Sudanese pound (SDD) • Syrian pound (SYP) • Tunisian dinar (TND) • United Arab Emirates dirham (AED) • Yemeni rial (YER)

The Arab League (Arabic: الجامعة العربية‎), officially called the League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية‎), is a regional organization of Arab States in Southwest Asia and North Africa. It was formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan after 1946), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on May 5, 1945. The Arab League currently has 22 members (see below: Members/dates).

The main goal of the League 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."^[1]

The Arab League is involved in political, economic, cultural, and social programs designed to promote the interests of member states. The Arab League has served as a forum for member states to coordinate their policy positions and deliberate on matters of common concern, settling some Arab disputes and limiting conflicts such as the Lebanese civil wars of 1958. The Arab League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of almost all landmark documents promoting economic integration among member states, such as the creation of the Joint Arab Economic Action Charter, which set out the principles for economic activities of the League. It has played an important role in shaping school curricula, and preserving manuscripts and Arab cultural heritage. The Arab League has launched literacy campaigns, and reproduced intellectual works, and translated modern technical terminology for the use of member states. It encourages measures against crime and drug abuse and deals with labor issues (particularly among the emigrant Arab workforce).

The Arab League has also fostered cultural exchanges between member states, encouraged youth and sports programs, helped to advance the role of women in Arab societies, and promoted child welfare activities.

Each member has one vote on the League Council, decisions being binding only on 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. The signing on April 13, 1950, of an agreement on Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation also committed the signatories to coordination of military defense measures.

The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative

Main article: Arab Peace Initiative

At the Beirut Summit on 28 March 2002 the Arab League adopted the Arab Peace Initiative[1], a Saudi-inspired peace plan for the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

The Initiative offered full normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the Occupied Territories, including the Golan Heights, the recognition of "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees.

The Peace Initiative was again endorsed in 2007 in the Riyadh Summit. In July 2007 the Arab League sent a mission, consisting of the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers, to Israel to promote the Initiative, which has been welcomed by Israel, with reservations.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Arab League

The Arab League is rich in resources, with enormous oil and natural gas resources; it also has great fertile lands in South of the Sudan, usually referred to as the food basket of the Arab World. The region's instability has not affected its tourism industry, that is considered the fastest growing industry in the region, with Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Tunisia and Jordan leading the way. Another industry that is growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications. Within less than a decade, local companies such as Orascom and Etisalat have managed to compete internationally.

Arab League Provinces (only map of its kind)

Economic achievements initiated by the League amongst member states have been less impressive than those achieved by other smaller Arab organizations such as the GCC. However, several promising major economic projects are set to be completed soon. Among them are the Arab Gas Pipeline, scheduled to be finished by the year 2010, which will connect Egyptian and Iraqi Gas to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, and also to Turkey (and, therefore, Europe), as well as a free trade Agreement (GAFTA) stated for completion by the January 1, 2008, making 95% of all Arab products free of customs.

Economic development in the Arab League is very disparate, with a significant difference in wealth and economic conditions between the rich oil states of the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, on the one hand, and poor countries like the Comoros, Mauritania, and Djibouti.

Arab Economic Funding is being made, the Arab League agreed to Aid Sudanese Region of Darfur with 500 million dollars, and Egyptian and Libyan Companies are planning on building Several wells in the dry region.

List of member states by GDP

Arab Countries by nominal GDP.
Source: IMF (2005)

Country	GDP US$ (PPP)	GDP US$ per capita (PPP)
Arab League	2,323,453,000,000	-
Saudi Arabia	572,200,000,000	20,700
Egypt	431,900,000,000	5,400
Algeria	268,900,000,000	8,100
United Arab Emirates	145,800,000,000	55,200
Kuwait	138,600,000,000	55,300
Morocco	127,000,000,000	3,800
Sudan	107,800,000,000	2,500
Syria	86,590,000,000	4,500
Libya	78,790,000,000	13,100
Tunisia	77,160,000,000	7,500
Qatar	68,870,000,000	75,900
Oman	61,210,000,000	19,100
Yemen	52,610,000,000	2,400
Jordan	28,180,000,000	4,700
Bahrain	24,610,000,000	34,700
Lebanon	21,048,000,000	10,400
Mauritania	5,818,000,000	1,800
Somalia	5,575,000,000	600
Djibouti	1,878,000,000	1,000
Comoros	1,262,000,000	600

Geography

The Exclusive Economic Zone of Arab League

Arab League Member states divided in the two continents of Asia and Africa

The area of members of the Arab League covers around 14 million square km and straddles two continents: Western Asia North Africa and East Africa. The area consists of large arid desert areas (e.g., The Sahara) but also has several very fertile lands in the Nile Valley and the High Atlas Mountains of North Africa and the fertile crescent stretching from Iraq to Syria Lebanon and Palestine. It also has deep forests in southern Arabia and south Sudan. It has the longest river (The Nile).

The area has witnessed the rise and fall of many ancient civilizations - Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Phoenicia, Carthage, Kush, and Nabateans all lived within its modern day borders.

Members / Dates

Main article: Enlargement of the Arab League

The Arab League was founded in Cairo in 1945 by Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan from 1950), and Yemen. There was an increase in the membership of the League in the second half of the 20th century, with 15 Arab states and 3 observers being admitted.

Egypt's membership was suspended in 1979 after it signed a peace treaty with Israel, and the League's headquarters were moved from Cairo, Egypt, to Tunis, Tunisia. In 1987 Arab countries restored diplomatic relations with Egypt, and Egypt was readmitted to the League in 1989 with the League's headquarters moving back to Cairo. In September 2006, Venezuela was accepted as an observer, and India in 2007.

The current members and observers of the Arab League and their dates of admission (observers in italics) are:

Map showing the Arab League members colored by the decade of joining. Color codes are as follows:    1940's,    1950's,    1960's,    1970's. The Comoros (circled) joined in 1993.

Egypt[2]  Iraq[2]  Jordan[2]b  Lebanon[2]  Saudi Arabia[2]    Syria[2] March 22, 1945a  Yemen May 5, 1945  Libya March 28, 1953c  Sudan January 19, 1956  Moroccod  Tunisia October 1, 1958  Kuwait July 20, 1961  Algeria August 16, 1962

UAE June 12, 1972  Bahrain  Qatar September 11, 1971  Oman September 29, 1971  Mauritania   November 26, 1973  Somalia February 14, 1974  Palestine[2]e September 9, 1976  Djibouti April 9, 1977  Comoros November 20, 1993  Eritrea observer since 2003[3]  Venezuela observer since 2006[4][5]  India observer since 2007[6]

a Date of foundation. b As Transjordan. c Libya announced its withdrawal on October 24, 2002, which would have been effective one year later; however, Libya then retracted its decision to withdraw on January 16, 2003, reaffirmed it on April 3, 2003, before retracting it again on May 25, 2003. d The sovereignty of Western Sahara is disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front's Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic government. The Arab League recognizes it as a part of Morocco. e Representatives from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Israel is not a member in spite of having 20% of its citizens of Arab origin, and Arabic as an official language. Neither is Chad a member, although Arabic is in both official and vernacular use there.

Status of Palestine

Mindful of their previous announcements in support of the Arabs of Palestine the framers of the Pact were determined to include them within the League from its inauguration.^[7]

This was done by means of an annex that declared:

"Even though Palestine was not able to control her own destiny, it was on the basis of the recognition of her independence that the Covenant of the League of Nations determined a system of government for her. Her existence and her independence among the nations can, therefore, no more be questioned de jure than the independence of any of the other Arab States... Therefore, the States signatory to the Pact of the Arab League consider that in view of Palestine's special circumstances, the Council of the League should designate an Arab delegate from Palestine to participate in its work until this country enjoys actual independence."^[1]

At the Cairo Summit of 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people. The Palestinian National Council convened in East Jerusalem on 29 May 1964. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded during this meeting on 2 June 1964.

Government

The Charter of the Arab League[2] endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland while respecting the sovereignty of the individual member states.

The internal regulations of the Council of the League were agreed in October 1951 [3] as well as those of the committees [4]. Those of the Secretary-General were agreed in May 1953. [5]

Area Comparison between the Arab League and other parts of the World: Russia, Canada, China, the U.S.A., Brazil, Europe

Since then, Arab order has based on this duality. Preservation of individual statehood derived its strengths from natural preferences of ruling elites to maintain their power and their independence in decision making. The fear of rich Arabs that poorer Arabs may come to share their wealth in the name of Arab nationalism, the feuds among Arab rulers and the influence of external powers that saw potential danger in Arab unity; all reinforced this duality.

see Government of the Arab League

Demographics of the Arab League

Main article: Demographics of the Arab League

The Arab League is a culturally and ethnically diverse association of 22 member states, located in a highly populated region. As of January 1, 2007, the population of the Arab League was around 314,000,000 people. Many countries are expected to experience an increase in population over the coming decades, diminishing the slow economic developments being made in the league's developing countries.

Dubai

The most populous member state is Egypt, with a population of 76,000,000 people, while the least populated is Djibouti, with close to 500,000 inhabitants. Most of the Gulf states have large populations of foreign labor; the UAE's Arab population counts for less than 20% of its overall population, with 50% from Southeast Asia. Some Gulf states import cheap Arab labor, mainly from Egypt and Yemen, and others from the rest of Asia and Africa.

the Arab League in General is an Urban population, due to the vast desert region, the population has been concentrated in the cities, where all the Trade and Industry is, the biggest Arab Cities are Cairo, followed by Baghdad, Khartoum, Damascus, Riyadh and Casablanca.

Comparisons with other organizations

The Arab League resembles the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, and the African Union, in that it has primarily political aims; one can regard each of these organizations as a regional version of the United Nations. However, its membership is based on culture rather than geographical location (which is the basis for membership of the other organizations cited above). In this respect the Arab League may bring to mind organizations such as the Latin Union.

The Arab League differs notably from some other regional organizations such as the European Union, in that it has not achieved any significant degree of regional integration and the organization itself has no direct relations with the citizens of its member states.

All Arab League members are also members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. In turn, the memberships of the smaller GCC and Arab Maghreb Union organizations are subsets of that of the Arab League.

The organization of the Arab League is based on principles that would support and promote a unified Arab Nationalism and a common position among Arabic states on various issues. It is less likely to resemble organizations such as the African Union, where unified nationalism is impossible due to the heterogeneity of its members.

Secretaries General

Abdul Rahman Azzam	1945 to 1952
Abdul Khalek Hassouna	1952 to 1972
Mahmoud Riad	1972 to 1979
Chedli Klibi	1979 to 1990
Assad al-Assad	1990 to 1991
Ahmad Esmat Abd al Meguid	1991 to 2001
Amr Moussa	2001 to Date

Arab League Summits

1. Cairo: 13-17 Jan. 1964.
2. Alexandria: 5-11 Sep. 1964.
3. Casablanca: 13-17 Sep. 1965.
4. Khartoum: 29 Aug. 1967.
5. Rabat: 21-23 Dec. 1969.
6. Cairo (first emergency summit): 21-27 Sep. 1970
7. Algiers: 26-28 Nov.1973.
8. Rabat: 29 Oct. 1974.
9. Riyadh (2nd emergency summit): 17-28 Oct. 1976.
10. Cairo: 25-26 Oct. 1976.
11. Baghdad: 2-5 Nov.1978.
12. Tunis: 20-22 Nov. 1979.
13. Amman: 21-22 Nov. 1980.
14. Fes: 6-9 Sep. 1982.
15. Casablanca (3rd emergency summit): 7-9 Sep. 1985
16. Amman (4th emergency summit): 8-12 Nov. 1987.
17. Algiers (5th emergency summit): 7-9 Jun. 1988.
18. Casablanca (6th emergency summit): 23-26 Jun. 1989.
19. Baghdad (7th emergency summit): 28-30 Mar. 1990.
20. Cairo (8th emergency summit): 9-10 Aug. 1990
21. Cairo (9th emergency summit): 22-23 Jun. 1996.
22. Cairo (10th emergency summit): 21-22 Oct. 2000.
23. Amman: 27-28 Mar. 2001.
24. Beirut: 27-28 Mar. 2002.
25. Sharm el-Sheikh: 1 Mar. 2003.
26. Tunis: 22-23 May. 2004.
27. Algiers: 22-23 Mar. 2005.
28. Khartoum: 28-30 Mar. 2006.
29. Riyadh: 27-28 Mar. 2007.
30. Damascus: 29-30 Mar. 2008.

• Summit number 14 in Fes, Morocco occurred in two stages:
  • On 25 November 1981: The meeting ended without agreeing on the document and Egypt not shared in it. It is considered the shortest summit, only lasting 5 hours.
  • On 6-9 September 1982.
• There are two summits in addition to those aforementioned, but they are not added to the system of Arab League summits:
  • Anshas, Egypt: 28-29 May 1946.
  • Beirut, Lebanon: 13 November-15 November 1956.

Sub-Organization

• Arab Air Carriers Organization
• Arab Chess Federation
• Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD)
• Arab Inter-parliamentary Union
• Arab Monetary Fund
• Arab Organization for Industrialization
• Arab Technical Committees
• Arabic industrial development and mining organization
• Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies
• General Arab Insurance Federation
• General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries (General Union)
• GAFTA
• International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions
• OAPEC
• Pan Arab Games

• Secretary General of the League of Arab States
• The Council of the Arab League
• Parliament of the Arab League
• Specialized Ministerial Councils
• General Secretariat Sub Departments

See also

• Arab League and the Arab-Israeli conflict
• Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA)
• Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)
• Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
• Iran-Arab relations
• Largest Cities of the Arab League
• March 28, 2002 Arab Peace Initiative
• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• Arab Labour Organization ALO

Notes

References

• Geddes, Charles L. (1991). A Documentary History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-275-93858-1

External links

• Arab League (official site)
• Arab Gateway - The Arab League summits and documents
• Arab League at the Open Directory Project
• World Statesmen - Arab League

Arab League Members Algeria · Bahrain · Comoros · Djibouti · Egypt · Iraq · Jordan · Kuwait · Lebanon · Libya · Mauritania · Morocco · Oman · Palestine · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Sudan · Somalia · Syria · Tunisia · United Arab Emirates · Yemen Observers Eritrea · India · Venezuela

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Arab League". Image Credit.

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