The member states of the African Union (AU) are divided into five geographical regions.
When a principal organ of the United Nations allocates a certain number of seats to the African Group, such as on the UN Security Council or the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the African Union distributes these seats based on these geographical regions (however, even though Morocco was not a member of the African Union between 1984 and 2017, it was still eligible to be picked). States must apply to the Executive Council's Committee on Candidatures by March of the election year in order to become a candidate. The Committee allocates seats roughly by proportion (for example, the Western Africa subregion usually gets the largest number of seats).
List List of AU member states by alphabetical order:
Northern Member state Capital Population Area (km2) Algiers 43,088,000 2,381,740 Cairo 99,211,000 1,001,451 Tripoli 6,578,000 1,759,540 Nouakchott 3,516,806 1,030,700 Rabat 35,587,000 446,550 267,405 266,000 Tunis 11,800,000 163,610 Total 200,048,211 7,049,591
Southern Member state Capital(s) Population Area (km2) Luanda 30,053,000 1,246,700 Gaborone 2,378,000 581,726 Mbabane 1,177,000 17,364 Maseru 2,048,000 30,355 Lilongwe 20,289,000 118,484 Maputo 31,157,000 801,590 Windhoek 2,408,000 824,116 PretoriaCape TownBloemfontein 58,333,000 1,221,037 Lusaka 18,321,000 752,618 Harare 15,658,000 390,757 Total 181,822,000 5,984,747
Eastern Member state Capital Population Area (km2) Moroni 872,000 2,235 Djibouti 1,078,000 23,200 Asmara 6,159,000 117,600 Addis Ababa 96,633,458 1,104,300 Nairobi 50,000,000 580,367 Antananarivo 27,055,000 587,041 Port Louis 1,279,000 2,040 Kigali 12,432,000 26,798 Victoria 96,000 451 Mogadishu 11,998,222 637,661 Juba 13,400,000 619,745 Khartoum 43,222,000 1,886,068 Dodoma 52,067,000 945,087 Kampala 40,007,000 236,040 Total 356,298,680 6,768,633
Western Member state Capital Population Area (km2) Porto-Novo 11,722,000 112,622 Ouagadougou 20,000,000 274,000 Praia 551,000 4,033 Yamoussoukro 26,275,000 322,462 Banjul 2,238,000 10,380 Accra 29,742,000 238,534 Bissau 1,776,000 36,125 Conakry 13,627,000 245,857 Monrovia 5,000,000 111,369 Bamako 20,161,000 1,240,192 Niamey 20,000,000 1,267,000 Abuja 199,206,000 923,768 Dakar 16,793,000 196,723 Freetown 7,737,000 71,740 Lomé 8,205,000 56,785 Total 383,033,000 5,111,590
Central Member state Capital Population Area (km2) Gitega 11,529,000 27,834 Yaounde 25,506,000 475,442 Bangui 5,181,000 622,984 N'Djamena 12,802,000 1,284,000 Brazzaville 4,500,000 342,000 Kinshasa 91,931,000 2,345,409 Ciudad de la Paz 887,000 28,051 Libreville 2,080,000 267,667 São Tomé 222,000 964 Total 154,638,000 5,394,351
Sixth region of Africa (Diaspora) In the Constitutive Act of the African Union, under the proposed amendment to Article 3(q) of the Act (Objectives), the following is stated regarding the African diaspora: “invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our continent, in building the African Union.” Additionally, the African Union provides definition for its concept of the African diaspora as the following: “The African Diaspora consists of peoples of native or partial African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.”
In 2016, the African Union denied membership to Haiti due to membership admission, as per Article 29.1 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, being limited to any “African State.”
In the African Union Handbook (2021), persons who have been appointed to represent the African diaspora at the Assembly of the African Union have been granted the status of observer. More specifically, the African Union Handbook (2021) states:
In January 2008, the Executive Council suggested that the African diaspora be treated as Africa’s sixth region and its participation in the AU’s organs and activities be strengthened (EX.CL/Dec.406(XII)). The Assembly has recognised the diaspora as a substantive entity contributing to the economic and social development of the continent and has invited its representatives as observers to Assembly sessions (see Assembly/AU/Res.1(XVIII) of January 2012).
The African Union has also established regional institutions, such as the Western Hemisphere African Diaspora Network, and international institutions, such as the Economic, Social and Cultural Council, to facilitate African diaspora relations.
Additionally, the African Union works together with AfricaRecruit, the Caribbean Community and Common Market, the Commonwealth Business Council, the International Organization for Migration, and the World Bank to facilitate African diaspora relations, regionally and internationally. Furthermore, individual countries (e.g., Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa) in Africa have also undertaken national efforts to facilitate African diaspora relations, internationally.
Changes When the Organisation of African Unity (the African Union's predecessor) was originally created in 1963, Southern Africa was not yet independent and member states were grouped into four regions. As states in Southern Africa gained independence and became members, they joined the Eastern Africa group (including Zambia, Botswana, and Lesotho; but excluding Angola which joined the Central Africa group).
A decision in 1976, implemented by 1979, created the Southern Africa group. The six southern members which had joined Eastern Africa re-grouped, but Angola remained part of Central Africa.
A document from 1975 puts Rwanda in the Eastern Africa group, while a document from 1976 puts Rwanda in the Central Africa group.
Sometime between 1979 and 1980, Sudan changed from the Northern Africa group to the Eastern Africa group.
In 1995, Angola changed from the Central Africa group to the Southern Africa group.
Sometime between 2000 and 2003, Rwanda changed from the Central Africa group back to the Eastern Africa group.
In 2004, Mauritania changed from the Western Africa group to the Northern Africa group.
See also List of regions of Africa United Nations geoscheme for Africa
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