The Arab states include 22 countries spanning Asia and Africa. Almost all have strong identification with Islam. There are few countries widely considered Arab democracies, though there are a few exceptions, Algeria, and Morocco for example. Many Arab states have vast petroleum resources, moderate levels of public literacy and great disparity between social classes.

The following are Arab states:

• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Djibouti
• Comoros
• Egypt
• Iraq
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Morocco
• Mauritania
• Oman
• Palestine (only recognized by the Arab League)
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Sudan
• Somalia
• Tunisia
• United Arab Emirates
• Western Sahara/Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (not universially recognized)
• Yemen

Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan are Muslim countries in the Middle East, and Pakistan, and Bangladesh are Muslim nations in South Asia but are not ethnically Arab and their nationals often resent such characterization.

The borders of the various states were drawn up by European colonial powers in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are often straight lines drawn on a map with complete disregard to the geographic and demographic characteristics of the land. After World War II, there was a movement called Pan-Arabism that sought to unite all Arab countries into one political entity. Only Syria, Iraq, Egypt and North Yemen attempted the short-lived unification. Historical colonial divisions and geographical sprawl were major reasons for the failure of Pan-Arabism. Arab Nationalism was another strong force in the region wich peaked during the mid 20th Century and was professed by many leaders in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. Arab Nationalist leaders incuded Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Ahmed Ben Bella (Algeria), Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad (Syria), Moammar al-Qadhafi (Libya) and Mehdi Ben Barka (Morocco).

The various Arab states maintain close ties. Various national identities have been greatly strengthened by political realities in the past 60 years, making a single Arab nation less and less feasible.

See Also: Arab League