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Arabji.Com
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| Arabji.Com
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This Web Site Is Dedicated For The Arab League
photo by E. S. Haynes, November 1995
Arab League, informal name of the League of Arab States, a voluntary association of independent countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic speaking. Its stated purposes are to strengthen ties among the member states, coordinate their policies, and promote their common interests.
| Members of the Arab League | |||
| 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 | ||
The Arab League was founded in Cairo in 1945
by Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan
(Jordan, as of 1950), and Yemen. Countries that later joined
are: Algeria (1962), Bahrain (1971), Comoros (1993), Djibouti
(1977), Kuwait (1961), Libya (1953), Mauritania (1973),
Morocco (1958), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), Somalia (1974),
Southern Yemen (1967), Sudan (1956), Tunisia (1958), and the
United Arab Emirates (1971). The Palestine Liberation
Organization was admitted in 1976. Egypt's membership was
suspended in 1979 after it signed a peace treaty with Israel;
the league's headquarters was moved from Cairo, Egypt, to
Tunis, Tunisia. In 1987 Arab leaders decided to renew
diplomatic ties with Egypt. Egypt was readmitted to the league
in 1989 and the league's headquarters was moved back to Cairo.
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.
The Egyptian
government first proposed the Arab League in 1943. Egypt and
some of the other Arab states wanted closer cooperation
without the loss of self-rule that would result from total
union. The original charter of the Arab League created a
regional organization of sovereign states that was neither a
union nor a federation. Among the goals the league set for
itself were winning independence for all Arabs still under
alien rule, and to prevent the Jewish minority in Palestine
(then governed by the British) from creating a Jewish state.
The members eventually formed a joint defense council, an
economic council, and a permanent military
command.
The Charter of the Arab League (1945)
Cultural Treaty of the Arab League (1946)
Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty between teh States of the Arab League (1950-52)
Secretaries-General of the Arab League
Subsidiary Bodies of the Arab League:
Other Related Organizations:
Offices Abroad in Non-Member States:
General Maps of the Region:
CIA Atlas of the Middle East (EXCELLENT!)
Lists of general maps of Middle East and Africa
General Satellite Images:
U.S. State Department Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
