Maghrib ( Arabic: المغرب [el-Maghrib] “where the sunset is”) is the name given to the North African countries located west of Egypt by medieval Arab sailors, geographers and historians [1] .
Content
History
The name is preserved in Arabic today. Until now, in Arabic, the so-called Morocco . The Maghreb is traditionally called the land between the Sahara Atlas in the south and the Atlantic or Mediterranean coast in the north, that is, the northern parts of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Currently, the concept of Maghreb has gained wider meaning in politics (the so-called Great Maghreb ) and it includes (from west to east): Western Sahara , Mauritania , Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia , Libya . In the Middle Ages , the concept of “Maghreb” also included Muslim Spain ( Andalusia ) and other possessions of the former Arab caliphate in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea ( Balearic Islands , Sardinia , Sicily ).
The general name "al-Maghrib" these states received during the campaigns of the Arabs. Translated from Arabic, el-Maghrib means “the country where the sun sets” or “West”. The concept contrasted with el- Mashriq , that is, the "East". In 1956, after the independence of Morocco and Tunisia, King Mohammed V of Morocco and Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba put forward the idea of creating a regional association, the Great Arab Maghreb.
In Tangier (1958) and Rabat (1963), conferences of several Maghreb countries were held on the problem of unification.
The Permanent Consultative Committee of the Maghreb countries, which included the Ministers of Economy of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, was created in 1964 . In 1964-1968, sectoral commissions were created under the committee and a number of agreements on cooperation between the Maghreb countries in various areas of the economy were signed. Libya in 1970 withdrew from all regional organizations of the Maghreb. Since the same year, Mauritania has been participating in the committee as an observer.
For many centuries, the peoples of the Maghreb countries fought against the invaders, defended their political and economic interests. Berbers , Roman occupation , Romanization , vandals , Byzantium , Arabs , Turks , French colonial rule - all these are pages of a long and complex history of this region. The independence of the Maghreb countries opened a new stage in the development of these states.
In February 1989, the leaders of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania signed an agreement on the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union (CAM), a new regional political and administrative organization.
Notes
- ↑ Nikonov V.A. Brief toponymic dictionary. - M .: Thought, 1966 .-- 512 p. - 32,000 copies.
Literature
- Aprodov V. A. Millennium of the Eastern Maghreb / Otv. ed. E. S. Golubtsova ; USSR Academy of Sciences . - M .: Nauka , 1976 .-- 152 p. - ( From the history of world culture ). - 42,000 copies.
Links
- Official site of the Arab Maghreb Union (English) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment April 24, 2009. Archived April 24, 2009.