Arab Maghreb Union

Regional · AMU

Maghreb is the Arabic word for the west. Morocco's own Arabic name is that same word, al-Maghrib, the place where the sun sets. The union that borrowed the name was signed at Marrakesh on 17 February 1989 and entered into force on 1 July that year. Its secretariat's published history of summits stops in April 1994.

Questions about AMU

What does Maghreb mean?

The west. Britannica glosses the Arabic word as West, gives Maghrib as the alternative spelling, and dates the naming of North Africa by that word to the Arab conquest of the late seventh century. The same word is Morocco's own Arabic name, Al-Maghrib, which Britannica glosses as the place where the sun sets, and it is the root of the formal style Al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah.

Which countries are in the Arab Maghreb Union?

Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, which are the states listed on the union's own pages and by the Economic Commission for Africa. Membership has not changed since the treaty was signed at Marrakesh on 17 February 1989. Western Sahara, which borders three of them, is not a member and its status is recorded here as disputed.

When was the Arab Maghreb Union founded?

The Treaty instituting the Arab Maghreb Union was signed at Marrakesh on 17 February 1989, after the heads of state had met at Zeralda in Algeria on 10 June 1988 and appointed a commission to prepare it. WIPO Lex records the treaty as entering into force on 1 July 1989, with texts on file in Arabic, English and French.

Is the Arab Maghreb Union still active?

The union has not been dissolved, and the Economic Commission for Africa still counts it among the eight regional economic communities recognised as building blocks of the African Union. The secretariat's own history lists the meetings of the Presidency Council up to Tunis on 2 and 3 April 1994, and the published list ends there.

Is Mauritania part of the Maghreb?

It depends on who is drawing the line. Mauritania signed the treaty at Marrakesh and is a member of the union. Britannica's article on the Maghreb reaches Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya and stops. M49, the statistical standard of the UN Statistics Division, files Mauritania in Western Africa and the others in Northern Africa, and this catalogue follows it. The Economic Commission for Africa counts Mauritania among the countries of its North Africa office.

Where is the Arab Maghreb Union based?

At Rabat in Morocco, according to the Economic Commission for Africa, which publishes the secretariat's address there. The same city holds the Commission's own Subregional Office for North Africa, whose intergovernmental committee of experts draws delegates from a different list of countries than the union's.

Sources

History · Arab Maghreb Union, General Secretariat. The Zeralda meeting of 10 June 1988, the signature at Marrakech on 17 February 1989, the six summits of the Presidency Council ending at Tunis on 2 and 3 April 1994, and the 36 Maghreb conventions.
Treaty instituting the Arab Maghreb Union · WIPO Lex. Adopted at Marrakesh on 17 February 1989, entry into force on 1 July 1989, and the texts held in Arabic, English and French.
AMU, Arab Maghreb Union · United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Office for Regional Integration and Trade. The member states, the organs created by the treaty, the stated objects and the headquarters address at Rabat.
Regional Economic Communities · United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The eight communities recognised as building blocks of the African Union, the Arab Maghreb Union among them.
Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49) · UN Statistics Division. Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Western Sahara in Northern Africa, Mauritania in Western Africa, and the statement that the groupings carry no political meaning.
North Africa · United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. The Subregional Office for North Africa at Rabat, and the countries whose delegates attend its intergovernmental committee of experts.
Background · United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. The settlement proposals of 30 August 1988, resolution 690 of 29 April 1991, the referendum that has never been held, and the 2007 talks with Algeria and Mauritania as neighbouring countries.
Maghreb · Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Arabic gloss, the spelling Maghrib, the Africa Minor of the ancients, and the reading that takes the region as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
Morocco · Encyclopaedia Britannica. Al-Maghrib as Morocco's Arabic name, glossed as the place where the sun sets, and the naming of North Africa after the Arab conquest of the late seventh century.