Arab League

League of Arab States LAS
Arab League logo
Arab League flag
Arabic name	جامعة الدول العربية Jāmiʿat ad-Duwal al-ʿArabiyya
Organization type	Regional political cooperation
Seat of the organs	Cairo , Egypt
Chair	Changing every five years (re-election possible)
Secretary General	Ahmed Aboul Gheit
Member States	22nd
surface	13,174,721 km² North Africa : 9,354,579 km² (including Sinai ) West Asia : 3,820,142 km²
population	401 million (2016) North Africa: 248 million (including Sinai) West Asia: 152 million
Population density	38.1 (2015) inhabitants per km²
gross domestic product	US $ 6,601 billion (adjusted for purchasing power, 2016)
Gross domestic product per inhabitant	US $ 9,997 (estimate, 2015)
founding	October 7, 1944 (Alexandria Treaty) May 11, 1945 (in force)
Time zone	UTC ± 0 to UTC + 4
Subsidiary organizations	Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) Arab Economic Development Bank (BADEA) Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO)
http://www.lasportal.org

The League of Arab States (Arab League) ( Arabic جامعة الدول العربية jāmiʿat ad-duwal al-ʿarabiyya , DMG ǧāmiʿat ad-duwal al-ʿarabīya  , League of Arab States (LAS) is an international organization of Arab states and was founded on March 22, 1945 in Cairo , where it is also based. It consists of 22 members, i. H. 21 nation states in Africa and Asia as well as the internationally not fully recognized state of Palestine , which is represented by the PLO .

aims

The main objective of the federation is to promote relations between its members in the political, cultural, social and economic areas (finance, transport and health systems as well as culture and media). Likewise, the independence and sovereignty of the member states and Arab external interests are to be preserved. Disputes between members should be prevented and settled. In addition, the recognition of the Palestinian autonomous areas as an independent state of Palestine is to be achieved.

history

Foundation and context of development

The establishment can be seen as a direct reaction to the political situation in the Middle East and the world political developments during the Second World War . The first and most important step on the way to the founding of this organization, the areas of which were largely under the rule of the Ottoman sultan, was the emergence of " Arab nationalism " in the region towards the end of the 19th century.

After the Arabs fought on the side of the Allies in the First World War (1914–1918) against the Ottoman Empire , they hoped for their own, independent state as thanks for their support. After the end of the war, however, the affected areas were divided between the French ( Syria , Lebanon ) and the British ( Palestine , Iraq , Transjordan ), who were largely autonomous in domestic politics. By the end of the Second World War, these areas - with the exception of Palestine - were granted independence. The main focus of these newly founded states was on securing their independence and creating an Arab unity. The latter was increasingly called into question by the increased Jewish immigration in Palestine (especially since the “ Balfour Declaration ” in 1917). This resulted in the fear of the Arabs of a reallocation of the areas after the Tehran Conference in 1943, which can only be countered through joint and coordinated efforts.

Another factor behind the creation of the Arab League was the change in attitudes of the British government during World War II. a. as a result of the advance of German and Italian troops in North Africa in 1941 (Africa campaign ). The British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden encouraged the Arabs to form a political unit, which he hoped would secure its interests for the UK in the long term. Meanwhile, the various Arab governments had their own ideas of Arab unity, each of which was categorically rejected. Egypt soon turned out to be a driving force (“major motivating force behind the League's foundation”), which took on a mediating position between the various interests. It advocated the establishment of a multifunctional federation of Arab states.

After a first preparatory meeting in Alexandria in September 1944, the "Protocol of Alexandria" (so-called Memorandum of Understanding ) was signed on October 7 of the same year , which provided for a loose union in the form of a league of independent states. A “political sub-committee” then met in Cairo in February and March 1945 to draft a pact for the Arab League. This was submitted to the Preparatory Committee, which signed it on March 22, 1945. The “League of Arab States Pact” entered into force on May 11, 1945. The seven founding states included: Kingdom of Egypt , Kingdom of Iraq , Lebanese Republic , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , Syrian Arab Republic , Emirate of Transjordan , and Kingdom of Yemen .

Development since the foundation

One of the first projects of the Arab League was to try to stop Zionism , drive the Jewish immigrants out of Palestine and destroy the yishuv . For this purpose an economic boycott against Jews was decided in 1945, which came into force on January 1, 1946.

The first major endurance test for the young league was the Palestine War of 1948/49, but it was lost. After the British government made it clear at the end of the Second World War that it also wanted to leave the Mandate Palestine as a protecting power, a solution had to be found for this area. The steadily growing wave of Jewish immigration , v. a. as a result of the Holocaust in Europe, angered the predominantly Arab resident population who claimed an independent state in this area for themselves. The United Nations then decided on a partition plan for Palestine, which divided the area into a Jewish and an Arab state and declared Jerusalem a neutral "corpus separatum". When the British allies withdrew on May 14, 1948, an Arab invasion broke out after Israel declared independence on the same day.

The states of the Arab League soon proved to be the weaker ones, Israel was able to expand its national territory considerably, only the Gaza Strip (Egypt) and the West Bank (Jordan) remained under Arab leadership, and Jerusalem was divided. After the armistice with Israel, the league decided to intensify sanctions against Israel, which led to a boycott of Israel by the Arab League for over 50 years . The lost Palestinian war also had domestic political consequences for the Arab rulers: The heads of state of Syria, Egypt and Iraq were overthrown in the years that followed. The new strong man in Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser , was defeated by the Israeli army during the Suez Crisis in 1956, but was still able to assert himself as the leader of a nationalist movement in the Arab region. Under his aegis, Egypt and Syria were united to form the “ United Arab Republic ” in 1958 , but the alliance broke up three years later.

To protect Kuwait from Iraqi annexation attempts, an inter-Arab security force was deployed under the mandate of the League in 1961 . The Arab League helped build the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964, which violently called for the liberation of Palestine and was responsible for many targeted attacks against Israel in the years that followed. A second attempt by Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, Syria) to destroy Israel failed in the Six Day War in July 1967 . Israel now controlled all of Sinai , the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golan Heights , as well as the entire city of Jerusalem. In September of the same year, the members of the League reaffirmed their stance towards Israel in a resolution ("Three No's": No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel). After a surprise attack on Syria and Egypt in October 1973 on the highest public holiday in the Jewish calendar ( Yom Kippur ), the Israeli army was also able to repel the threat of annihilation.

A power struggle between the PLO and the Jordanian royal family ( Black September ) in the early 1970s led to the expulsion of the fighters from Jordan, and Lebanon became the new base. There she fought local Christian ( Phalange ) and Shiite ( Amal ) militias in a civil war . At the meeting of the Arab League in 1974, however, she was recognized as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and has since been a member of the “State of Palestine”. In the Lebanese civil war, however, in 1976 an inter-Arab security force, mainly provided by Syria, with the mandate of the League , intervened to the detriment of the Muslim and Palestinian militias.

1979 Egypt was excluded from the league because its president Anwar al-Sadat had signed a peace treaty with Israel. The headquarters was then moved to Tunis , before Egypt was resumed ten years later and the headquarters returned to Cairo. In 1980 Sadat tried in vain to set up a counter-organization with the League of Arab and Islamic Peoples ; Sadat's successor, Mubarak, dissolved the Sadat League again in 1983.

In the early 1980s, the Arabs' focus shifted to another conflict. In the course of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, a year later a war broke out between Iran and Iraq. The Arab League feared the expansion of the revolution and supported the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein . The First Gulf War ended after eight years with an armistice without a winner after heavy losses on both sides.

While Iraq could be sure of the support of the West and the Soviet Union in this war , its invasion of Kuwait two years later met with considerable resistance in the international community. In 1991 an international coalition led by the United States and with massive participation from Arab League states liberated the occupied emirate. The Arab League did not appear here with a common line, v. a. Libya and the PLO opposed the liberation, some countries abstained.

After the Israelis and Palestinians first found compromises on the status of Palestine in the early 1990s ( Oslo I ), Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994. Relations with the Gulf States also improved and trade relations were established.

In 2002 the Arab League agreed on a joint peace initiative against Israel, which promised the establishment of normal relations and the return of the occupied territories to the Palestinians. The reaction of the Israeli government was cautious, however, also in the context of the Second Intifada , which led to terrorist attacks by Palestinian organizations in the heartland of Israel and claimed many civilian victims. In 2007, the leaders of the Arab League renewed their offer at a summit in Riyadh, but the Israeli side did not take it up.

The league refused to participate in the (second) Iraq war in 2003 , which it affirmed at a summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in early March 2003. Nevertheless, the USA and its allies used air force bases in the Gulf States, which is headquartered by the United States Central Command ( USCENTCOM ) in Doha ( Qatar ) coordinated the Allied armed forces. The ground offensive was launched from Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian and (later) Jordanian territory. The new government of Iraq is now receiving immense support from the Arab League. In March 2012, the first Arab League summit took place in Baghdad.

In the wake of the civil war in Syria , membership of the country's government was suspended. The league has since been shaped by Saudi Arabia's quest to combat Iranian influence. The league was de facto incapable of acting.

Member States

The Arab League is one of the few regional organizations that are spread across two continents (Asia and Africa). At around 13 million km², its area is around three times that of the EU . It consists for the most part of desert areas , including u. a. the Sahara (largest dry desert in the world) and the Rub al-Chali (largest sandy desert in the world). Fertile areas are u. a. in the Nile Valley , in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains and in the so-called " Fertile Crescent " ( Levant , Northern Syria, Mesopotamia ). Evidence of many ancient civilizations can be found in this area. B. Ancient Egypt , Israel and Judea , Babylonia , Phenicia or Carthage .

All member states are also members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), these are:

Country	Capital	Accession or membership	BV 1	Form of government	Head of state	Head of government	Another official language
Egypt	Cairo	1945–1979, since 1989	84.7	Transitional government	Abd al-Fattah as-Sisi	Sherif Ismail
Algeria	Algiers	1962	38.3	Presidential Republic	Abdelaziz Bouteflika	Abdelmalek Sellal	Kabyle
Bahrain	Manama	1971	1.1	Constitutional monarchy	King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa	Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa
Djibouti	Djibouti city	1977	0.9	Presidential Republic	Ismail Omar Guelleh	Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed	French
Iraq	Baghdad	1945	35.1	Parliamentary republic	Barham Salih	Adil Abd al-Mahdi	Kurdish
Yemen	Sanaa	1945 North Yemen 1967 South Yemen united in 1990	25.2	Presidential Republic	Abd Rabbuh Mansour al-Hadi in exile in Saudi Arabia	Chalid Bahah
Jordan	Amman	1945	7.3	Constitutional monarchy	King Abdullah II bin al Hussein	Omar al-Razzaz
Qatar	Doha	1971	2.2	Absolute Monarchy	Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani	Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani
Comoros	Moroni	1993	0.8	Presidential Republic	Azali Assoumani	( corresponds to the head of state )	French, Comorian
Kuwait	Kuwait City	1961	3.5	Constitutional monarchy	Emir Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al-Sabah	Jabir Mubarak al-Hamad as-Sabah
Lebanon	Beirut	1945	4.8	Parliamentary republic	Michel Aoun	Saad Hariri
Libya	Tripoli	1953–2011, since 2011 2	6.5	Transitional government	Fayiz al-Sarradsch	(corresponds to the head of state)	Berber languages
Morocco	Rabat	1958 3	33.0	Constitutional monarchy	King Mohammed VI	Saadeddine Othmani	Moroccan tamazight
Mauritania	Nouakchott	1973	3.7	Presidential Republic	Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz	Yahya Ould Hademine
Oman	Muscat	1971	4.0	Absolute Monarchy	Sultan Haitham ibn Tariq	( corresponds to the head of state )
Palestine	Jerusalem (de jure), Ramallah (de facto)	1976 4	4.4	Semi-Presidential Republic	Mahmoud Abbas	Rami Hamdallah
Saudi Arabia	Riad	1945	30.1	Absolute Monarchy	King Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz	( corresponds to the head of state )
Somalia	Mogadishu	1974 5	14.2	Presidential Republic	Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed	Hassan Ali Khaire	Somali
Sudan	Khartoum	1956 6	34.2	Federal Republic	Abdel Fattah Burhan	Abdalla Hamdok	English
Syria	Damascus	1945–2011, since 2013 7	21.9	Presidential Republic	Moas al-Khatib Bashar al-Assad 7	Ghassan Hitto Wael al-Halqi 7
Tunisia	Tunis	1958	10.9	Presidential Republic	Quays Saied	Elyes Fakhfakh
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	1971	9.3	Elective monarchy , Federation of Autonomous Emirates	Sheikh Chalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan (Emir Abu Dhabi)	Sheikh Mohammed bin Raschid al-Maktum (Emir Dubai)

¹ Estimated population 2013, in millions.

² Libya's membership was temporarily suspended due to the government overthrow.

³ Western Sahara unilaterally declared itself independent in 1976 and is de facto partly a separate state, but its political status is controversial.

^4th Palestine unilaterally declared itself independent from Israel in 1988 and is de facto partly a separate state, but its political status is disputed.

⁵ Somaliland unilaterally declared itself independent in 1991 and is in fact a separate state, but is still counted as part of Somalia.

^6thWithout South Sudan since independence on July 9, 2011 .

^7thIn 2011, Syria was suspended as a member state. The Syrian National Coalition has been a member since March 26, 2013. The Arab League largely no longer regards the government of Bashar al-Assad as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Chad , in which Arabic is also the official language, is not a member , as are the predominantly Islamic states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation ( ECO ), to which Iran , Turkey and a number of Central Asian countries belong.

observer

The following five countries have observer status:

Country	comment
Armenia
Brazil	Has an influential Arab minority
Eritrea	Arabic is the national language
India
Chad
Venezuela	Has an influential Arab minority

The following EU countries are also observers: Bulgaria , Estonia , Ireland , Italy , Latvia , Malta , Portugal , Sweden , Spain and Cyprus . The Austrian Foreign Ministry is also planning to be admitted as an observer.

Organization and structure

According to the “Pact of the Arab League” (PLAS) two main organs are foreseen: the Council of the Arab League and the General Secretariat. Permanent committees have also been established for specific areas of responsibility. The establishment of an Arab court of law is also planned, but this has not yet been implemented.

Arab League Council (Ligarat)

→ Main article : Council of the Arab League

According to the PLAS, the League Council is the supreme decision-making body and the highest authority within the Arab League system. It meets every six months and decisions are usually made by consensus. Since 2000 it has met in the spring as a summit of heads of state and government.

General Secretariat

→ Main article : General Secretariat of the Arab League

In addition to the Council of the Arab League, the General Secretariat is one of the main organs according to the PLAS, which employs around 460 people. It acts as an administrative body and is responsible for all technical and administrative processes within the Arab League. It is also responsible for coordinating and supporting the work of specialized organizations and other institutions within the league. General Secretariat and General Secretary are elected by the Council every five years with the option of re-election.

Technical Committees

The so-called "technical committees" were of greater importance in the early years of the league. In the course of a restructuring in 1988, many committees were dissolved, today the committee for financial and administrative affairs and the information and legal committee are of greater importance. Its tasks are to determine the principles and the scope of cooperation between the members and to develop draft resolutions, proposals and recommendations that are submitted to the League Council for decision. In addition, the committees process inquiries that are addressed to them by the League Council or the General Secretariat. They therefore act as a preparatory and advisory body for the league council. Each member country sends at least one delegate to each of the technical committees.

Arab summit conference

The Arab Summit Conference is composed of the highest representatives of the member states of the Arab League. This takes place at the level of the heads of state (not at the level of the heads of government), as a rule, every March. The first summit conference was held in Cairo just under 20 years after the League was founded in 1964; this summit did not really take place until 2000.

Arab Parliament

→ Main article : Arab Parliament

At the 23rd summit of the League in Amman in 2001, the Arab states agreed on the establishment of an Arab Parliament under the leadership of the Secretary General. It is currently under construction, but a provisional parliament has been set up in the Cairo League headquarters. Since 2004, it has had a purely advisory function and comprises 88 members, each with 4 people from the member states.

Summit meeting

	date	Country	place	comment
unofficially	May 28-29, 1946	United Arab Republic	Anshas
unofficially	November 13-15, 1956	Lebanon	Beirut
1.	January 13-17, 1964	United Arab Republic	Cairo
2.	September 5th to 11th, 1964	United Arab Republic	Alexandria
3.	September 13-17, 1965	Morocco	Casablanca
4th	August 29 to September 1, 1967	Sudan	Khartoum
5.	December 21-23, 1969	Morocco	Rabat
extraordinary	September 21-27, 1970	United Arab Republic	Cairo	1. Emergency meeting
6th	November 26-28, 1973	Algeria	Algiers
7th	October 29, 1974	Morocco	Rabat
extraordinary	October 17-28, 1976	Saudi Arabia	Riad	2. Emergency meeting
8th.	October 25-26, 1976	Egypt	Cairo
9.	November 2-5, 1978	Iraq	Baghdad
10.	November 20-22, 1979	Tunisia	Tunis
11.	November 21-22, 1980	Jordan	Amman
12.	November 25, 1981 September 6-9, 1982	Morocco	Fez	1st part 1 Part 2
extraordinary	September 7th to 9th, 1985	Morocco	Casablanca	3. Emergency meeting
extraordinary	November 8-12, 1987	Jordan	Amman	4. Emergency meetings
extraordinary	June 7th to 9th, 1988	Algeria	Algiers	5. Emergency meetings
extraordinary	June 23-26, 1989	Morocco	Casablanca	6. Emergency meetings
extraordinary	March 28-30, 1990	Iraq	Baghdad	7. Emergency meetings
extraordinary	August 9-10, 1990	Egypt	Cairo	8. Emergency meetings
extraordinary	June 22-23, 1996	Egypt	Cairo	9. Emergency meetings
extraordinary	October 21-22, 2000	Egypt	Cairo	10. Emergency meetings
13.	March 27-28, 2001	Jordan	Amman	Institutionalization
14th	March 27-28, 2002	Lebanon	Beirut
15th	March 1, 2003	Egypt	Sharm El Sheikh
16.	May 22-23, 2004	Tunisia	Tunis
17th	March 22-23, 2005	Algeria	Algiers
18th	March 28-30, 2006	Sudan	Khartoum
19th	March 27-28, 2007	Saudi Arabia	Riad
20th	March 29-30, 2008	Syria	Damascus
21st	March 28-30, 2009	Qatar	Doha
22nd	March 30th to April 1st, 2010	Libya	Sirte
23.	March 27-29, 2012	Iraq	Baghdad	postponed 2
24.	March 21-27, 2013	Qatar	Doha
25th	March 25-26, 2014	Kuwait	Kuwait City
26th	March 28-29, 2015	Egypt	Sharm El Sheikh
27.	20th July 2016	Mauritania	Nouakchott
28.	March 22-29, 2017	Jordan	Amman
29	April 15, 2018	Saudi Arabia	Dhahran

¹ Ended without agreement on the final protocol and without the participation of Egypt. It was the shortest meeting and only lasted 5 hours.
² Originally planned for March or mid-May 2011, postponed to March 2012 due to the Arab Spring .

Special organizations of the league

• The "Central Boycott Office" (CBO for short) was the central organizational office for the boycott of Israel . It was founded in 1951, was subordinate to the Arab Economic Council and had its headquarters in Damascus as well as numerous branches in member and third countries. By 1993 the boycott had largely lost its role as a unifying political factor in the Arab League, but the CBO continued to exist into the 2000s.
• The “Arab Fund for Economy and Social Development” (AFESD for short) is a fund that supports and finances economic and social development projects in the member states of the Arab League through loans and investments to governments. With the exception of the Comoros, all league members are members of the fund. The subscribed capital reached US $ 2.223 billion at the end of 1993; in 2003 it was US $ 7.3 billion.
• The Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO for short) is an association of Arab airlines founded in 1965. All airlines of the member states are entitled to participate, but are not necessarily bound by it.
• The “ Arab Monetary Fund ” (short: AMF) was founded on April 27, 1976 and started work a year later. With the exception of Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, all League members are members of the Fund. Like the AFESD, the AMF is supposed to support development projects and help stabilize the exchange rates of the Arab currencies. Furthermore, the long-term goal is the introduction of a single currency .
• The “Arab Economic Development Bank” (short: BADEA) was founded in 1975 with its seat in Khartoum. The primary task of the bank is to promote economic, financial and technical cooperation between the Arab League and the non-Arab countries of the African Union (AU). For this purpose, the bank provides project loans and technical assistance to governments and companies in the recipient countries.

Other programs are:

• Arab Postal Union
• Arab Union for Telecommunications
• Arab Institute for Satellite Communication
• Association of Arab Radio Stations
• Arab Organization for Administrative Sciences
• Arab Economic Unity Council
• Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa
• Arab Institute for Oil Production
• Arab Academy of Sea Transport
• Arab health organization
• Arab Organization for Labor
• Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science

General

Key figures

The current economic situation within the Arab League is characterized by a great wealth of (fossil) resources. Above all, the enormous oil and natural gas deposits are striking. Approx. 45% of the world's oil comes from the member countries of the Arab League, in particular the Gulf region. Leading here are Saudi Arabia (22.7%), Iraq (9.8%) and Kuwait (8.9%).

Another important economic factor is the tourism industry. Vacation countries such as Tunisia or Egypt are showing steadily increasing numbers of trips in tourism. Another inconspicuous, but no less important, industry in the Arab League is the telecommunications industry. International global players are, for example, companies such as Orascom or Etisalat.

The economic cooperation within the Arab League as a whole is manageable. Nevertheless, projects such as the “Arab Gas Pipeline” or the “GAFTA” (Greater Arab Free Trade Area) show that economic agreements also exist between countries in the Arab League.

The unemployment rate and illiteracy rate have fallen in the Arab League in recent years and economic indicators such as B. GDP or GNI have increased. However, wealth is still very unevenly distributed both within the population and between Member States.

In comparison: The gross national income (GNI) of all 22 countries of the Arab League (around 330 million inhabitants) was 531 billion US dollars in 1999. In 2005, GNI grew to $ 747 billion and in 2006 it reached over $ 1,564 billion. The largest economy in the Arab world is Saudi Arabia.

No.	Country	GDP (2013, in million US $)	No.	Country	GDP per capita 1 (2013, in US $) (world ranking)	No.	Country	Development status (2012) (world ranking)	No.	Country	Corruption (2013) (world ranking)
-	total	2,219,320
01	Saudi Arabia	718.472	01	Qatar	104,655 (2.)	01	Qatar	0.834 (36.)	01	United Arab Emirates	69 (26.)
02	United Arab Emirates	389.994	02	Kuwait	47,829 (13.)	02	United Arab Emirates	0.818 (41.)	02	Qatar	68 (28.)
03	Egypt	262.030	03	United Arab Emirates	43,185 (19.)	03	Bahrain	0.796 (48th)	03	Bahrain	48 (57.)
04	Iraq	221,774	04	Oman	25,720 (29.)	04	Kuwait	0.790 (54.)	04	Oman	47 (61.)
05	Algeria	215.723	05	Saudi Arabia	24,246 (31st)	05	Saudi Arabia	0.782 (57.)	05	Saudi Arabia	46 (63.)
06	Qatar	199.907	06	Bahrain	24,153 (32nd)	06	Libya	0.769 (64.)	06	Jordan	45 (66.)
07	Kuwait	186.058	07	Libya	10,864 (65th)	07	Lebanon	0.745 (72.)	07	Kuwait	43 (69.)
08	Morocco	104,799	08	Lebanon	10,708 (67.)	08	Oman	0.731 (84.)	08	Tunisia	41 (77.)
09	Oman	81,945	09	Iraq	6,377 (88.)	09	Algeria	0.713 (93.)	09	Morocco	37 (91.)
10	Libya	70,924	10	Algeria	5,668 (94.)	10	Tunisia	0.712 (94.)	10	Algeria	36 (94.)
11	Sudan	52,498	11	Jordan	5,207 (96.)	11	Jordan	0.700 (100th)		Djibouti	36 (94.)
12	Tunisia	48,379	12	Tunisia	4,431 (107.)	12	Palestine	0.670 (110.)	12	Egypt	32 (114.)
13	Lebanon	43,493	13	Morocco	3,190 (122.)	13	Egypt	0.662 (112.)	13	Mauritania	30 (119.)
14th	Yemen	40,470	14th	Egypt	3,114 (125.)	14th	Syria	0.648 (116.)	14th	Comoros	28 (127.)
15th	Jordan	34,076	15th	Djibouti	1,597 (140.)	15th	Morocco	0.591 (130.)		Lebanon	28 (127.)
16	Bahrain	28,362	16	Sudan	1,527 (143.)	16	Iraq	0.590 (131.)	16	Yemen	18 (167.)
17th	Mauritania	4.183	17th	Yemen	1,518 (144.)	17th	Mauritania	0.467 (155.)	17th	Syria	17 (168.)
18th	Djibouti	1,459	18th	Mauritania	1,126 (154.)	18th	Yemen	0.458 (160.)	18th	Iraq	16 (171.)
19th	Comoros	658	19th	Comoros	928 (159.)	19th	Djibouti	0.445 (164.)	19th	Libya	15 (172.)
-	Syria	(26,442) 2	-	Syria	-	20th	Comoros	0.429 (169.)	20th	Sudan	11 (174.)
-	Somalia	(4,388) 3	-	Somalia	-	21st	Sudan	0.414 (171.)	21st	Somalia	8 (175.)
-	Palestine	- 4th	-	Palestine	-	-	Somalia	-	-	Palestine

¹ When ^looking at the figures for GDP per capita, it is particularly important to note the large income differences in the oil-exporting countries. With more precise data, comparisons of the median or quantile values ​​could be useful.
^2,3 Both states are in an ongoing civil war, so almost no statistical data are collected. Figures refer to 2009 or earlier and therefore cannot be compared.
⁴ As the state of Palestine is not fully developed, no data are collected in some cases.

The Arab League in comparison

Another characteristic of the economic image of the Arab League are the extreme economic differences between the respective member countries. If one compares, for example, the GDP of the state of Saudi Arabia (618,744 million) with the GDP of the federal state of Comoros (772 million), this becomes very clear. A conversion to per capita income also makes the fundamental difference within the population clear. The per capita income in Qatar at US $ 90,149 per year differs massively from the per capita income in Somalia at US $ 600 per year. For comparison: In Europe, the per capita income is around US $ 30,521 per year.

In comparison with other international organizations in the style of the Arab League, the economic situation seems expandable in view of its size and population density. For comparison: the European GDP of US $ 14,712,369 million is above the GDP of the Arab League (US $ 2,765,867 million). In addition, the average per capita income within the Arab League is around US $ 7,682 per year. In the EU this amount is around 4 times as high.

Memberships in other alliances

All states of the Arab League are members of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation . Most of the member states are participants in other supraregional organizations alongside the Arab League. The African countries are all members of the African Union , the Maghreb countries in turn form the Union of the Arab Maghreb . With the exception of Yemen, all states of the Arabian Peninsula are organized in the Gulf Cooperation Council . In addition, some members are OPEC countries .

See also

• Arab world
• Libyan-Arab-African unification projects
• Organization for Islamic Cooperation
• Economic and Social Commission for West Asia
• Jordan water issue
• Watan

Web links

Commons : Arab League  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: Arab League  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Official website of the Arab League (Arabic)
• Database of indexed literature on the social, political and economic situation in the countries of the Arab League
• Timeline: Arab League on bbc.co.uk.
• Marfa Heimbach: March 22nd, 1945 - founding agreement of the Arab League WDR ZeitZeichen from March 22nd, 2020 (podcast)

Individual evidence

1. ^ CIA World Fact Book , accessed March 10, 2014.
2. ↑ DSW Report 2016 , country database, accessed on June 29, 2017.
3. ↑ Except Syria, Somalia and Palestine.
4. ↑ List of countries according to gross domestic product , accessed on March 10, 2014
5. ↑ See the founding document: Pact of the League of Arab States ( Memento of the original from October 7, 1999 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , March 22, 1945, The Avalon Project at Yale Law School (published 1998). 
6. ^ Political history of the states of the Arab League up to 1952: Eberlein, Klaus: Political history of the states of the Arab League up to 1952. Frankfurt aM 1995. Publisher: Fischer.
7. ^ Political history of the states of the Arab League from 1956: Eberlein, Klaus: Political history of the states of the Arab League until 1952. Frankfurt aM 1993. Publisher: Fischer.
8. ↑ Gudrun Harrer: "Summit of the Arab League" in the deepest depression "" Der Standard from March 28, 2017
9. ↑ DSW Report 2013 , country database, accessed on March 10, 2014.
10. ^ Arab League declares Moas al-Khatib representative of Syria (Arabic) , accessed on March 26, 2013.
11. ^ Aljazeera: Opposition takes Syria seat at Arab League , accessed on March 26, 2013.
12. ↑ BBC: Opposition takes Syria seat at Arab League summit , accessed March 26, 2013.
13. ↑ Austria wants observer status in the Arab League , at Die Presse , accessed on March 10, 2014.
14. ^ The constitutions of the member countries of the League of Arab States. Baumann, Herbert: The constitutions of the member countries of the League of Arab States. Berlin 1995. Published by Spitz.
15. ^ Arab League at www.bpb.de , from Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2012 , accessed on March 10, 2014.
16. ^ Arab League at www.bpb.de , from Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2012 , accessed on March 10, 2014.
17. ^ ^{A b} Arab Organizations & Unions, 2012: Arab Organizations and Unions. Online at arableagueonline.org (as of June 18, 2012; last accessed: June 18, 2012).
18. ↑ Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 , accessed May 8, 2014.
19. ^ World Economic Forum, 2012: Arab World Competitiveness Report 2011–2012. Online at weforum.org ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (As of June 15, 2012; last accessed: June 15, 2012).