The Maghreb
Maghreb is the Arabic word for the west, the sunset end of the Arab world. Arabic is official in every member, with Tamazight official beside it in Morocco and Algeria. Every member's lowest recorded point is an inland salt flat lying below sea level, and one of the countries filed here is recorded as disputed rather than sovereign.
Common questions
Questions about Maghreb
What does the word Maghreb mean?
It is the Arabic word for the west, or the place of sunset, and it stands opposite the Mashriq, the Arab east. Morocco's own name in Arabic, al-Maghrib, is the same word, which is why the country and the wider region can be hard to tell apart in older writing about them.
Is Mauritania part of the Maghreb?
It depends on which roster is being read. Mauritania signed the Arab Maghreb Union treaty at Marrakesh in 1989 and is a full member of it. This catalogue files Mauritania with West Africa and does not file it here, so the treaty roster and the region roster differ by one country. Both readings are in use and the catalogue takes no position on which is correct.
Why is Western Sahara listed here at all?
The roster records it in this region, with its sovereignty recorded as disputed. Morocco administers most of the territory and claims it, and the Polisario Front claims it as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The United Nations keeps it on the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The record notes the claims and settles none of them.