Arab League

The Arab League — formally the League of Arab States — is the regional organisation that links twenty-two Arabic-speaking states across the Middle East and North Africa. Founded in Cairo in March 1945, it is the world's oldest still-functioning regional intergovernmental body, predating both the United Nations and most other regional organisations.

At a glance

• Founded: 1945 (Alexandria Protocol of October 1944, formal Pact signed in Cairo on 22 March 1945)
• Headquarters: Cairo, Egypt
• Official languages: Arabic
• Website: www.lasportal.org

Mission

The League's charter commits members to coordinate political, economic, cultural, scientific, and social affairs; to mediate disputes between members; and to take collective security decisions. In practice, the League has been most active in cultural and educational coordination, with political and security cooperation often complicated by disagreements between members.

Structure

The Council of the League is the supreme decision-making body and meets twice a year at foreign-minister level (more often at official level). Each member state has one vote. The Secretariat-General in Cairo handles day-to-day administration and is headed by the Secretary-General, who serves a five-year term. Specialised agencies cover everything from education (ALECSO) to economic affairs to industrial development.

Member states

AL has 22 member states. Membership current as of 2024-01.

• 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

Key facts

• The League was founded with seven members: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan (then Transjordan), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen.
• Egypt was suspended from 1979–1989 after signing the Camp David Accords with Israel; the headquarters relocated temporarily to Tunis during this period.
• Syria was suspended in November 2011 over its government's response to the civil war; readmitted in May 2023.
• Membership criteria require Arabic as an official language, but several members have other co-official languages: French is co-official in Djibouti and Comoros, Berber in Algeria and Morocco.
• The Arab League sponsored the founding of the Arab Common Market in 1965 and the Greater Arab Free Trade Area in 1997.

Historic milestones