Member states of the African Union
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 | 1963-05-25 | 38,813,722 | 2,381,741 | Algiers | Arabic Berber |
||
Angola | 1979-02-11 | 16,941,000 | 1,246,700 | Luanda | Portuguese | ||
Benin | 1963-05-25 | 6,769,914 | 112,622 | Porto-Novo | French | ||
Botswana | 1966-10-31 | 1,639,833 | 600,370 | Gaborone | English Setswana |
||
Burkina Faso | 1963-05-25 | 13,228,000 | 274,000 | Ouagadougou | French | ||
Burundi | 1963-05-25 | 3,589,434 | 27,830 | Bujumbura | English French Kirundi |
||
Cameroon | 1963-05-25 | 17,795,000 | 475,442 | Yaoundé | English French |
||
Cape Verde | 1975-07-18 | 503,000 | 4,033 | Praia | Portuguese | ||
Central African Republic | 1963-05-25 | 4,216,666 | 622,984 | Bangui | French Sango |
||
Chad | 1963-05-25 | 10,780,600 | 1,284,000 | N'Djamena | Arabic French |
||
Comoros | 1975-07-18 | 798,000 | 2,235 | Moroni | Arabic Comorian French |
||
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1963-05-25 | 62,600,000 | 2,344,858 | Kinshasa | French | ||
Djibouti | 1977-06-27 | 496,374 | 23,200 | Djibouti | Arabic French |
||
Egypt | 1963-05-25 | 86,502,500 | 1,002,450 | Cairo | Arabic | ||
Equatorial Guinea | 1968-10-12 | 504,000 | 28,051 | Malabo | French Spanish Portuguese |
||
Eritrea | 1993-05-24 | 4,401,009 | 117,600 | Asmara | Arabic Tigrinya |
||
Ethiopia | 1963-05-25 | 96,633,458 | 1,104,300 | Addis Ababa | Amharic | ||
Gabon | 1963-05-25 | 1,454,867 | 267,745 | Libreville | French | ||
Gambia | 1965-10-01 | 1,700,000 | 10,380 | Banjul | English | ||
Ghana | 1963-05-25 | 23,000,000 | 238,535 | Accra | English | ||
Guinea | 1963-05-25 | 10,211,437 | 245,857 | Conakry | French | ||
Guinea-Bissau | 1973-11-19 | 1,586,000 | 36,544 | Bissau | Portuguese | ||
Ivory Coast | 1963-05-25 | 18,373,060 | 322,460 | Yamoussoukro | French | ||
Kenya | 1963-12-13 | 37,953,840 | 580,367 | Nairobi | English Swahili |
||
Lesotho | 1966-10-31 | 1,795,000 | 30,355 | Maseru | English Sesotho |
||
Liberia | 1963-05-25 | 3,489,072 | 111,369 | Monrovia | English | ||
Libya | 1963-05-25 | 6,244,174 | 1,759,541 | Tripoli | Arabic | ||
Madagascar | 1963-05-25 | 20,042,551 | 587,041 | Antananarivo | French Malagasy |
||
Malawi | 1964-07-13 | 13,931,831 | 118,484 | Lilongwe | English Chichewa |
||
Mali | 1963-05-25 | 11,995,402 | 1,240,192 | Bamako | French | ||
Mauritania | 1963-05-25 | 3,516,806 | 1,030,700 | Nouakchott | Arabic | ||
Mauritius | 1968-08-01 | 1,264,866 | 2,040 | Port Louis | English | ||
Morocco | 2017-01-30 and (1963-05-25 to 1984-11-12) | 33,848,242 | 446,550 | Rabat | Arabic Berber |
||
Mozambique | 1975-07-18 | 21,397,000 | 801,590 | Maputo | Portuguese | ||
Namibia | 1990-06-01 | 2,088,669 | 825,418 | Windhoek | English | ||
Niger | 1963-05-25 | 13,272,679 | 1,267,000 | Niamey | French | ||
Nigeria | 1963-05-25 | 154,729,000 | 923,768 | Abuja | English | ||
Republic of the Congo | 1963-05-25 | 3,999,000 | 342,000 | Brazzaville | French | ||
Rwanda | 1963-05-25 | 10,186,063 | 26,798 | Kigali | English French Kinyarwanda |
||
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 | 1975-07-18 | 157,000 | 964 | São Tomé | Portuguese | ||
Senegal | 1963-05-25 | 11,658,000 | 196,723 | Dakar | French | ||
Seychelles | 1976-06-29 | 82,247 | 451 | Victoria | English French Seychellois Creole |
||
Sierra Leone | 1963-05-25 | 6,294,774 | 71,740 | Freetown | English | ||
Somalia | 1963-05-25 | 11,998,222 | 637,661 | Mogadishu | Arabic Somali |
||
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 | 2011-07-27 | 8,260,490 | 619,745 | Juba | English | ||
Sudan | 1963-05-25 | 35,482,233 | 1,886,068 | Khartoum | Arabic English |
||
Swaziland | 1968-09-24 | 1,141,000 | 17,364 | Lobamba (royal and legislative) Mbabane (administrative) |
English Swati |
||
Tanzania | 1963-05-25 | 45,000,000 | 945,203 | Dodoma | English Swahili |
||
Togo | 1963-05-25 | 6,585,000 | 56,785 | Lomé | French | ||
Tunisia | 1963-05-25 | 10,937,521 | 163,610 | Tunis | Arabic | ||
Uganda | 1963-05-25 | 30,900,000 | 241,038 | Kampala | English Swahili |
||
Zambia | 1964-12-16 | 11,668,000 | 752,618 | Lusaka | English | ||
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 | 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 | 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
- ^ "LIST OF COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE SIGNED, RATIFIED/ACCEDED TO THE CONSTITUTIVE ACT OF THE AFRICAN UNION" (PDF). African Union. 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
- ^ "Western Sahara welcomes Morocco's African Union membership". 31 January 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "The European Union and the African Union. A statistical portrait" (PDF). Eurostat. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Dixon, Robyn (2013-03-25). "African Union suspends Central African Republic after coup". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-03-25.
- ^ "AU readmits Central African Republic". News24. 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
- ^ "African Union suspends Egypt after leaders overthrown". ITV. 2013-07-05. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
- ^ a b "AU ends Egypt, Guinea Bissau suspension after elections". Reuters. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
- ^ "Guinea-Bissau suspended from African Union". Al Jazeera English. 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
- ^ "African Union ends Madagascar suspension". Agence France-Presse. 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ BBC News (8 July 2001) – "OAU considers Morocco readmission". Retrieved 9 July 2006.
- ^ 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
- ^ "Morocco rejoins African Union". Worldbulletin. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "African Union Welcomes South Sudan as the 54th Member State of the Union", African Union, 2011-07-27. Retrieved on 2011-07-29.
- ^ "The African Union Applauds the Success of the Referendum in Southern Sudan". au.int. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.