The Arab League, formally, the League of Arab States, is a regional organization of Arab countries in and around North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Southwest Asia. It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. Currently, the League has 22 members, although Syria’s participation has been suspended since November 2011, as a consequence of government repression during the ongoing uprising and civil war.

MEMBERS: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt*, Iraq*, Jordan*, Kuwait, Lebanon*, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia*, Somalia, Sudan, Syria * (suspended  November 2011), Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

*initial members