Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Cultural · OIC
What has to be true of a state before it can join? The charter adopted at Dakar in March 2008 asks for three things: membership of the United Nations, a Muslim majority, and the consensus of the Council of Foreign Ministers. Most of the countries here acceded before that wording existed, and the same article says their rights are untouched.
56 countries
- AfghanistanJoined 1969.
- AlbaniaJoined 1992.
- AlgeriaJoined 1969.
- AzerbaijanJoined 1991.
- BahrainJoined 1972.
- BangladeshJoined 1974.
- BeninJoined 1983.
- BruneiJoined 1984.
- Burkina FasoJoined 1974.
- CameroonJoined 1974.
- ChadJoined 1969.
- ComorosJoined 1976.
- DjiboutiJoined 1978.
- EgyptJoined 1969.
- GabonJoined 1974.
- GambiaJoined 1974.
- GuineaJoined 1969.
- Guinea-BissauJoined 1974.
- IndonesiaJoined 1969.
- IranJoined 1969.
- IraqJoined 1975.
- Ivory CoastJoined 2001.
- JordanJoined 1969.
- KazakhstanJoined 1995.
- KuwaitJoined 1969.
- KyrgyzstanJoined 1992.
- LebanonJoined 1969.
- LibyaJoined 1969.
- MalaysiaJoined 1969.
- MaldivesJoined 1976.
- MaliJoined 1969.
- MauritaniaJoined 1969.
- MoroccoJoined 1969.
- MozambiqueJoined 1994.
- NigerJoined 1969.
- NigeriaJoined 1986.
- OmanJoined 1970.
- PakistanJoined 1969.
- PalestineJoined 1969.
- QatarJoined 1972.
- Saudi ArabiaJoined 1969.
- SenegalJoined 1969.
- Sierra LeoneJoined 1972.
- SomaliaJoined 1969.
- SudanJoined 1969.
- SurinameJoined 1996.
- SyriaJoined 1972.
- TajikistanJoined 1992.
- TogoJoined 1997.
- TunisiaJoined 1969.
- TürkiyeJoined 1969.
- TurkmenistanJoined 1992.
- UgandaJoined 1974.
- United Arab EmiratesJoined 1972.
- UzbekistanJoined 1996.
- YemenJoined 1969.
Common questions
Questions about OIC
Which countries belong to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation?
The 56 filed here are read off each country's own record rather than from a list kept on this page, so the grid moves when a record does. They sit across four continents: most in Africa and Asia, with Albania and Türkiye filed in Europe and Suriname in the Americas. Twenty-five of the records carry 1969 as the year of accession, which is the year of the Rabat summit.
What does a state have to do to join the OIC?
Article 3 of the charter adopted at Dakar on 14 March 2008 sets three conditions: membership of the United Nations, a Muslim majority, and abiding by the charter. The application is then approved by consensus only, in the Council of Foreign Ministers, on criteria the Council adopts for itself. The charter of 1972 had asked instead for a Muslim State and allowed approval by a two thirds majority.
Why is the OIC headquarters in Jeddah?
Because the charter puts it there provisionally. Article 21 places the headquarters of the General Secretariat in the city of Jeddah until, in the charter's phrasing, the liberation of the city of Al-Quds, which the same sentence names as the permanent headquarters. The arrangement dates from the first Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in Jeddah from 29 February to 4 March 1972, which decided on a permanent secretariat there.
Can a member be suspended or expelled?
Neither the charter of 1972 nor the one of 2008 contains a provision for either. Suspensions have happened regardless: Egypt after the peace treaty with Israel signed on 26 March 1979, with membership resumed in 1984; Afghanistan in 1981; and Syria at the fourth extraordinary session of the Islamic Summit held at Makkah on 14 and 15 August 2012. Withdrawal, unlike suspension, is written down, in Article 35.
Why did the name change from Organisation of the Islamic Conference?
Resolution 4/38-ORG, adopted by the thirty-eighth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers at Astana between 28 and 30 June 2011, decided to change the name to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Its own text gives the reason as choosing a name that better reflects the functions and objectives of the organisation, and records a separate decision to preserve the acronym it had used until then.
How often does the Islamic Summit meet?
Article 8 of the charter says every three years. Resolution 3/44-ORG, adopted at Abidjan on 10 and 11 July 2017, amends that paragraph to every two years and submits the amendment for ratification under Article 36, which requires two thirds of the member states to ratify before it enters into force. The Council of Foreign Ministers itself is convened once a year under Article 10.
Sources
- Charter of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation · Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The preamble, Article 3 on membership, Article 21 on the headquarters, Articles 29, 34 and 35, Article 38 on languages, and the footnotes recording the three amendments.
- History · Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Rabat summit of 25 September 1969, the arson at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first charter of 1972 and the charter adopted at Dakar in 2008.
- Resolution No. 4/38-ORG on Changing the Name of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference · Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The thirty-eighth Council of Foreign Ministers at Astana, 28 to 30 June 2011, and the decision to preserve the acronym.
- Resolution No. 3/44-ORG on the Frequency of Convening the Islamic Summit · Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The amendment of Article 8 at Abidjan on 10 and 11 July 2017, and the two thirds ratification it waits on.
- IsDB Member Countries · Islamic Development Bank. The condition that a prospective member country be a member of the OIC.
- IsDB Annual Report 2025, corporate profile · Islamic Development Bank. The three membership conditions in full, including the first instalment of the minimum subscription to the capital stock.
- Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) · Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford Public International Law. The change of wording from Muslim State to Muslim majority, the absence of any suspension clause, the suspensions of Egypt and Afghanistan, and members and observers with minority Muslim populations.
- Organization of the Islamic Conference · United Nations Terminology Database. The name change recorded at the thirty-eighth session of the Council of Foreign Ministers at Astana.
- Membership of Syria was suspended by the OIC leaders at the Summit in Makkah · Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye. The suspension at the extraordinary summit of 14 and 15 August 2012.
- 4th Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference · Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The dates and venue of the session that suspended Syria, Makkah, 14 to 15 August 2012.