Member states of the African Union

Member states of the African Union in green.

The member states of the African Union are the 55 sovereign states that have ratified or acceded to the Constitutive Act of the African Union to become member states to the African Union (AU).[1] The AU was the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and AU membership was open to all OAU member states.

From an original membership of 36 states when the OAU was established on 25 May 1963, there have been nineteen successive enlargements – the largest occurring on 18 July 1975 when four states joined. Morocco is the newest member state, having joined in January 2017.[2] Morocco was a founder member of the OAU but withdrew in 1984 following the organisation's acceptance of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state. Morocco rules over most of the territory, but sovereignty is disputed.

As of 2017, the AU spans the entirety of the African continent, with the exception of Ceuta, Melilla, and the plazas de soberanía. Also excluded are offshore islands that are integral parts of the transcontinental countries of France, Portugal, Spain and Yemen. The 55 member states are grouped into five regions.

The African Union is composed of fifty-two republics and three monarchies. The total population of the AU is 1,068,444,000 (2013).[3]

Current members

Flag
 African Union State
 Accession
 Population
 Area (km²)
 Capital
 Language(s)
 Notes
Algeria Algeria 1963-05-25 38,813,722 2,381,741 Algiers Arabic
Berber
Angola Angola 1979-02-11 16,941,000 1,246,700 Luanda Portuguese
Benin Benin 1963-05-25 6,769,914 112,622 Porto-Novo French
Botswana Botswana 1966-10-31 1,639,833 600,370 Gaborone English
Setswana
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso 1963-05-25 13,228,000 274,000 Ouagadougou French
Burundi Burundi 1963-05-25 3,589,434 27,830 Bujumbura French
Kirundi
Cameroon Cameroon 1963-05-25 17,795,000 475,442 Yaoundé English
French
Cape Verde Cape Verde 1975-07-18 503,000 4,033 Praia Portuguese
Central African Republic Central African Republic 1963-05-25 4,216,666 622,984 Bangui French
Sango
Chad Chad 1963-05-25 10,780,600 1,284,000 N'Djamena Arabic
French
Comoros Comoros 1975-07-18 798,000 2,235 Moroni Arabic
Comorian
French
Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo 1963-05-25 62,600,000 2,344,858 Kinshasa French
Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo 1963-05-25 3,999,000 342,000 Brazzaville French
Djibouti Djibouti 1977-06-27 496,374 23,200 Djibouti Arabic
French
Egypt Egypt 1963-05-25 86,502,500 1,002,450 Cairo Arabic
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea 1968-10-12 504,000 28,051 Malabo French
Spanish
Portuguese
Eritrea Eritrea 1993-05-24 4,401,009 117,600 Asmara Arabic
Tigrinya
Ethiopia Ethiopia 1963-05-25 96,633,458 1,104,300 Addis Ababa Amharic
Gabon Gabon 1963-05-25 1,454,867 267,745 Libreville French
The Gambia Gambia 1965-10-01 1,700,000 10,380 Banjul English
Ghana Ghana 1963-05-25 23,000,000 238,535 Accra English
Guinea Guinea 1963-05-25 10,211,437 245,857 Conakry French
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau 1973-11-19 1,586,000 36,544 Bissau Portuguese
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast 1963-05-25 18,373,060 322,460 Yamoussoukro French
Kenya Kenya 1963-12-13 50,000,000 580,367 Nairobi English
Swahili
Lesotho Lesotho 1966-10-31 1,795,000 30,355 Maseru English
Sesotho
Liberia Liberia 1963-05-25 3,489,072 111,369 Monrovia English
Libya Libya 1963-05-25 6,244,174 1,759,541 Tripoli Arabic
Madagascar Madagascar 1963-05-25 20,042,551 587,041 Antananarivo French
Malagasy
Malawi Malawi 1964-07-13 13,931,831 118,484 Lilongwe English
Chichewa
Mali Mali 1963-05-25 11,995,402 1,240,192 Bamako French
Mauritania Mauritania 1963-05-25 3,516,806 1,030,700 Nouakchott Arabic
Mauritius Mauritius 1968-08-01 1,264,866 2,040 Port Louis English
French
Morocco Morocco (1963-05-25 to 1984-11-12)
2017-01-30		 33,848,242 446,550 Rabat Arabic
Berber
Mozambique Mozambique 1975-07-18 21,397,000 801,590 Maputo Portuguese
Namibia Namibia 1990-06-01 2,088,669 825,418 Windhoek English
Niger Niger 1963-05-25 13,272,679 1,267,000 Niamey French
Nigeria Nigeria 1963-05-25 154,729,000 923,768 Abuja English
Rwanda Rwanda 1963-05-25 10,186,063 26,798 Kigali English
French
Kinyarwanda
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Sahrawi Republic (Western Sahara) 1982-02-22 267,405 266,000 El Aaiun (de jure claimed)
Tifariti (de facto temporary)		 Arabic
Spanish
São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe 1975-07-18 157,000 964 São Tomé Portuguese
Senegal Senegal 1963-05-25 11,658,000 196,723 Dakar French
Seychelles Seychelles 1976-06-29 82,247 451 Victoria English
French
Seychellois Creole
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 1963-05-25 6,294,774 71,740 Freetown English
Somalia Somalia 1963-05-25 11,998,222 637,661 Mogadishu Arabic
Somali
South Africa South Africa 1994-06-06 47,900,000 1,221,037 Pretoria (executive)
Bloemfontein (judicial)
Cape Town (legislative)		 Afrikaans
English
Southern Ndebele
Northern Sotho
Southern Sotho
Swazi
Tsonga
Tswana
Venda
Xhosa
Zulu
South Sudan South Sudan 2011-07-27 8,260,490 619,745 Juba English
Sudan Sudan 1963-05-25 35,482,233 1,886,068 Khartoum Arabic
English
Swaziland Swaziland 1968-09-24 1,141,000 17,364 Lobamba (royal and legislative)
Mbabane (administrative)		 English
Swati
Tanzania Tanzania 1963-05-25 45,000,000 945,203 Dodoma English
Swahili
Arabic (Zanzibar)
Togo Togo 1963-05-25 6,585,000 56,785 Lomé French
Tunisia Tunisia 1963-05-25 10,937,521 163,610 Tunis Arabic
Uganda Uganda 1963-05-25 30,900,000 241,038 Kampala English
Swahili
Zambia Zambia 1964-12-16 11,668,000 752,618 Lusaka English
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe 1980-06-01 13,349,000 390,757 Harare English
Ndebele
Shona

Former members

Flag
 Former African Union State
 Years of membership
 Population
 Area (km²)
 Capital
 Language(s)
 Notes
Tanganyika Tanganyika 1963-1964 49,000,000 942,433 Dar es Salaam Swahili
English		 Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged on 26 April 1964 to
form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar,
which was renamed Tanzania on 1 November 1964
Zanzibar Zanzibar 1,303,569 2,461 Zanzibar City

Accession

South Africa joined on 6 June 1994 after the end of the apartheid and the April 1994 general election.

South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan on 9 July 2011, joined the AU on 27 July 2011.[14][15]

The AU's most recent member state is Morocco, having joined in January 2017. Morocco withdrew from the OAU in 1984 following the organization's acceptance of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state. Morocco rules over most of the territory, but sovereignty is disputed.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "LIST OF COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE SIGNED, RATIFIED/ACCEDED TO THE CONSTITUTIVE ACT OF THE AFRICAN UNION" (PDF). African Union. 2012-07-13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  2. ↑ "Western Sahara welcomes Morocco's African Union membership". 31 January 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ↑ "The European Union and the African Union. A statistical portrait" (PDF). Eurostat. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
  4. ↑ "Communiqué of the 547th meeting of the PSC, at the level of Heads of State and Government, on the situation in Burkina Faso". Peace and Security Council. September 26, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ Dixon, Robyn (2013-03-25). "African Union suspends Central African Republic after coup". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
  6. ↑ "AU readmits Central African Republic". News24. 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  7. ↑ "African Union suspends Egypt after leaders overthrown". ITV. 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  8. 1 2 "AU ends Egypt, Guinea Bissau suspension after elections". Reuters. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  9. ↑ "Guinea-Bissau suspended from African Union". Al Jazeera English. 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  10. ↑ "African Union ends Madagascar suspension". Agence France-Presse. 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
  11. ↑ BBC News (8 July 2001) – "OAU considers Morocco readmission". Retrieved 9 July 2006.
  12. ↑ Arabic News (9 July 2002) – "South African paper says Morocco should be one of the AU and NEPAD leaders" Archived 19 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved 9 July 2006
  13. ↑ "Morocco rejoins African Union". Worldbulletin. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  14. ↑ "African Union Welcomes South Sudan as the 54th Member State of the Union" Archived 2011-08-12 at the Wayback Machine., African Union, 2011-07-27. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
  15. ↑ "The African Union Applauds the Success of the Referendum in Southern Sudan". au.int. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.