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 on 31 January 2017.[2] Morocco was a founding member of the OAU but withdrew in 1984 following the organization's acceptance of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state, which claims the sovereignty of the disputed territory of Western Sahara with Morocco.
As of 2017, the AU spans the entirety of the African continent, with the exception of the Spanish North Africa semi-enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Vélez de la Gomera. Island states are also members of the AU, but not the offshore islands that are integral parts of the transcontinental countries of France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom 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]
| State[4] | Accession | Population | Area (km2) | Capital | Language(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Algeria | 1963-05-25 | Algiers | |||||
 Angola | 1979-02-11 | Luanda | Portuguese | ||||
 Benin | 1963-05-25 | Porto-Novo | French | Known as Dahomey until 1975. | |||
 Botswana | 1966-10-31 | Gaborone | |||||
 Burkina Faso | 1963-05-25 | Ouagadougou | French | Known as Upper Volta until 1984. Suspended in September 2015 after a brief military coup.[5] Suspended again in January 2022 after another military coup.[6] | |||
 Burundi | 1963-05-25 | Gitega | |||||
 Cameroon | 1963-05-25 | Yaoundé | |||||
 Cape Verde | 1975-07-18 | Praia | Portuguese | ||||
 Central African Republic | 1963-05-25 | Bangui | Suspended from March 2013 to April 2016 during the Central African Republic Civil War[7] [8] | ||||
 Chad | 1963-05-25 | N'Djamena | |||||
 Comoros | 1975-07-18 | Moroni | |||||
| 1963-05-25 | Kinshasa | French | Known as Zaire from 1971 to 1997. | ||||
| 1963-05-25 | Brazzaville | French | |||||
 Djibouti | 1977-06-27 | Djibouti | |||||
 Egypt | 1963-05-25 | Cairo | Arabic | Suspended from July 2013 until June 2014 following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état[9] [10] | |||
 Equatorial Guinea | 1968-10-12 | Malabo | |||||
 Eritrea | 1993-05-24 | Asmara | Eritrea returned to the 53-member organization after several years' absence. | ||||
| 1968-09-24 | Lobamba (royal and legislative) Mbabane (administrative) | Known as Swaziland from 1968 to 2018. | |||||
 Ethiopia | 1963-05-25 | Addis Ababa | Afar Amharic Oromo Somali Tigrinya[11] [12] [13] | ||||
 Gabon | 1963-05-25 | Libreville | French | Suspended on 31 August 2023 following a military coup.[14] | |||
 Gambia | 1965-10-01 | Banjul | English | ||||
 Ghana | 1963-05-25 | Accra | English | ||||
 Guinea | 1963-05-25 | Conakry | French | Suspended from 23 December 2008 to January 2011 after the 2008 Guinean coup d'état, and suspended again in September 2021 after another coup.[15] | |||
 Guinea-Bissau | 1973-11-19 | Bissau | Portuguese | Suspended from April 2012 until June 2014 following the 2012 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état.[16] | |||
| 1963-05-25 | Yamoussoukro | French | Suspended after the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis. | ||||
 Kenya | 1963-12-13 | Nairobi | |||||
 Lesotho | 1966-10-31 | Maseru | |||||
 Liberia | 1963-05-25 | Monrovia | English | ||||
 Libya | 1963-05-25 | Tripoli | Arabic | ||||
 Madagascar | 1963-05-25 | Antananarivo | Suspended from December 2001 – 10 July 2003 and from 20 March 2009 – 27 January 2014 after a political crisis.[17] | ||||
 Malawi | 1964-07-13 | Lilongwe | |||||
 Mali | 1963-05-25 | Bamako | French | Suspended from 23 March 2012 until October 2013 after a military coup. Suspended again from 19 August to 8 October 2020 due to a military coup.[18] [19] Currently suspended since 1 June 2021 after another coup.[20] | |||
 Mauritania | 1963-05-25 | Nouakchott | Arabic | Suspended 4 August 2005 after a military coup. Presidential elections were held in March 2007. Suspended 6 August 2008 after a military coup. | |||
 Mauritius | 1968-08-01 | Port Louis | |||||
 Morocco | 1963-05-25 | Rabat | Originally joined the AU's predecessor, the OAU, in 1963. However, withdrew in 12 November 1984 when a majority of member states supported the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, as an OAU member.[21] [22] AU membership approved on 31 January 2017.[23] | ||||
 Mozambique | 1975-07-18 | Maputo | Portuguese | ||||
 Namibia | 1990-06-01 | Windhoek | English | ||||
 Niger | 1963-05-25 | Niamey | French | Suspended from 19 February 2010 until 16 March 2011 after a military coup and until the subsequent transition to a civilian administration.[24] Suspended again on 22 August 2023 following another military coup.[25] | |||
 Nigeria | 1963-05-25 | Abuja | English | ||||
 Rwanda | 1963-05-25 | Kigali | |||||
| 1982-02-22 | El Aaiun (de jure claimed) Tifariti (de facto temporary) | ||||||
| 1975-07-18 | Portuguese | ||||||
 Senegal | 1963-05-25 | Dakar | French | ||||
 Seychelles | 1976-06-29 | Victoria | |||||
 Sierra Leone | 1963-05-25 | Freetown | English | ||||
 Somalia | 1963-05-25 | Mogadishu | |||||
 South Africa | 1994-06-06 | Pretoria (executive) Bloemfontein (judicial) Cape Town (legislative) | |||||
| 2011-08-15 | Juba | English | |||||
 Sudan | 1963-05-25 | Khartoum | Suspended 6 June 2019 due to violence committed by the military following a coup d'état as part of the 2018–19 Sudanese protests.[26] Suspension was lifted three months later on 6 September 2019.[27] Suspended again on 25 October 2021 following another coup d'état. | ||||
| 1963-05-25 | Dodoma | (Zanzibar: Arabic) | Formed by a merger on 26 April 1964 of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which had both become members on 25 May 1963. | ||||
 Togo | 1963-05-25 | Lomé | French | Suspended 25 February 2005 after concerns over unconstitutional presidential appointment. Presidential elections were held 4 May 2005. | |||
 Tunisia | 1963-05-25 | Tunis | Arabic | ||||
 Uganda | 1963-05-25 | Kampala | |||||
 Zambia | 1964-12-16 | Lusaka | English | ||||
 Zimbabwe | 1980-06-01 | Harare |
| Former African Union State | Years of membership | Population | Area (km2) | Capital | Language(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanganyika | 1963–1964 | 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 | Zanzibar City |
See also: Enlargement of the African Union. 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.[28] [29]
The AU's most recent member state is Morocco, having joined on 31 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.