Middle East & North Africa Studies (MENA): Resources about Governments in the MENA Region

As detailed on the MENA Guide: Home tab, the Middle East refers to a set of countries located in North Africa, the Persian Gulf region, and Southwest Asia. These countries differ immensely geographically, politically, socially, economically, and culturally. However, they are collectively referred to as the "Middle East" because of their proximity to each other. 

Broadly, the Middle East encompasses the following areas:

• Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey (the Fertile Crescent)

• Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia (part of Northern Africa)

• Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,  Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (part of Southwest Asia)

Afghanistan

• Constitution of 2004

Algeria

• First adopted by referendum in 1963, referendum in 1989 (reinst. 1996, rev. 2016)

Bahrain

• 2002 (with Amendments through 2017)

Djibouti

• 1992 (rev. 2010)

Egypt, Arab Rep.

• 2014 (rev. 2019)

Iran, Islamic Rep.

• 1979 (rev. 1989)
• Guide to Law: Iran

Iraq

• Iraq's Permanent Constitution (2006)

Israel

• 1958 (rev. 2013)
  • Note that Israel does not have a formal constitution, but rather a system of Basic Laws that have semi-constitutional status.

Jordan

• 1952 (rev. 2011)

Kuwait

• 1962 (reinst. 1992)

Kyrgyzstan

• 2010

Lebanon

• 1926 (rev. 1995)
• 1926 (rev. 2004)

Libya

• 2011 (rev. 2012)

Morocco

• 2011

Malta

• 1964

Oman

• 1996 (rev. 2011)

Palestinian Territory

• 2003
• 2003 (rev. 2005)

Qatar

• Constitution
• 2003

Saudi Arabia

• Basic Law of Governance 1992
• Background and Legal System (Washington University in St. Louis School of Law)

Sudan

• 2019, temporary de facto
• Information on the Sudanese Initiative for Constitution Making (United States Institute for Peace)

Syrian Arab Republic

• 2012
• Proposed 2017
  • Contextual research in GoogleScholar about proposed 2017 constitution

Tajikistan

• 1994 (rev. 2016)
• Amended 2003

Tunisia

• 1959
• 2014

Turkey

• 1982 (rev. 2017)

Turkmenistan

• 2008 (rev. 2016)

United Arab Emirates

• 1971 (rev. 2004)
• 1971 (rev. 2009)

Uzbekistan

• 1992 (rev. 2011, and subsequently amended)

Yemen

• 1991 (rev. 2015)
• Amended 2001

These are the countries included in the MENA region, listed in alphabetical order, followed by their capital cities; sites were curated by George Washington University Libraries. The term covers an extensive region of the world and includes all Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries (additionally considered countries to be added in time). Click on the name of the country to be redirected to the country's government webpage.

Algeriaالجزائر    ;  Algiers الجزائر  

Bahrain    مملكة البحرين ‎;   Manama    المنامة

Egypt  مصر‎ ;  Cairo   القاهرة‎

Iran   ایران ;  Tehran    تهران

Iraq   العراق   جمهورية ;  Baghdad    بغداد 

Israel    إِسْرَائِيلُ  ;  Jerusalem  القُدس

Jordan    المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية ;  Amman  عمّان

Kuwait      دولة الكويت ;  Kuwait City   مدينة الكويت 

Lebanon   لُبْنَان ;       Beirut    بيروت‎

Libya    ليبيا ;   Tripoli     طرابلس  

Morocco المملكة المغربية ;  Rabat  الرباط

Oman    سلطنة عمان ;  Muscat    مسقط

Palestine فلسطين  ;  N/A

Qatar  قطر ;  Doha   الدوحة‎

Saudi Arabia     السعودية   المملكة العربية ;  Riyadh الرياض

Republic of Sudan  جمهورية السودان ;  Khartoum  الخرطوم

Syria السورية  العربية  الجمهورية ;  Damascus  دِمَشق

Tunisia  الجمهورية التونسية ;  Tunis  تونس

Turkey تركيا  ;   Ankara  أنقرة 

United Arab Emirates    العربية المتحدة دولة الإمارات  ;  Abu Dhabi    أبو ظبي 

Yemen  الجمهورية اليمنية  ; Sanaa    صنعاء