African Union

The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa.[6] The intention of the AU was to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.

African Union Arabic: الاتحاد الأفريقي French: Union africaine Portuguese: União Africana Spanish: Unión Africana Swahili: Umoja wa Afrika
Flag Emblem
Motto: "A United and Strong Africa"
Anthem: "Let Us All Unite and Celebrate Together"[1] (instrumental)
Member states   Suspended states
Political centres	Addis Ababaa Johannesburgb
Largest urban agglomerations	Cairo Lagos
Working languages and official scripts	Working languages: Arabic English French Portuguese Spanish Swahili Official scripts: Ge'ez, Medu Neter, Meroitic, Nubian, Vai, A-ka-u-ku, Bangam, Nsibidi, Osmanya, Zaghawa, Mwangwego, N'Ko, Adinkra, Lusono, Luo, Tifinagh, Mandombe, Nwagu aneke, Arabic, Braille, Greek, Hebrew, Latin
Demonym(s)	African
Type	Continental union
Membership	55 member states  Algeria  Angola  Benin  Botswana  Burkina Faso[note 1]  Burundi  Cameroon  Cape Verde  Central African Republic  Chad  Comoros  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Djibouti  Egypt  Equatorial Guinea  Eritrea  Eswatini  Ethiopia  Gabon  Gambia  Ghana  Guinea[note 2]  Guinea-Bissau  Ivory Coast  Kenya  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya  Madagascar  Malawi  Mali[note 3]  Mauritania  Mauritius  Morocco  Mozambique  Namibia  Niger  Nigeria  Republic of the Congo  Rwanda  Sahrawi Republic  São Tomé and Príncipe  Senegal  Seychelles  Sierra Leone  Somalia  South Africa  South Sudan  Sudan[note 4]  Tanzania  Togo  Tunisia  Uganda  Zambia  Zimbabwe 6 observer states  Israel[note 5]  Haiti[2]  Kazakhstan  Mexico  Turkey  United Arab Emirates
Leaders
• Chairperson	Azali Assoumani
• Commission Chairperson	Moussa Faki[3]
• Parliamentary President	Fortune Z. Charumbira
Legislature	Pan-African Parliament
Establishment
• OAU Charter	25 May 1963
• Abuja Treaty	3 June 1991
• Sirte Declaration	9 September 1999
• African Union founded	9 July 2002
• Admission of South Sudan	9 July 2011
• Admission of Morocco	31 January 2017
• African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)	1 January 2021
Area
• Total	29,922,059[4] km2 (11,552,972 sq mi)
Population
• 2020 estimate	1,321,000,000[note 6]
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$7.573 trillion[5][note 7]
• Per capita	$5,733[5]
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$2.587 trillion[5][note 8]
• Per capita	$1,958[5]
HDI (2020)	0.577 medium
Internet TLD	.africa
Website au.int
a Seat of the African Union Commission. b Seat of the Pan-African Parliament.

The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa. The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, Egypt. The African Union has more than 1.3 billion people and an area of around 30 million km² (12 million sq mi) and includes world landmarks, such as the Sahara and the Nile.[7] The primary working languages are Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili.[8] Within the African Union, there are official bodies, such as the Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African Parliament.