Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa

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Methodology
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NORTH AFRICA
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MAGHREB
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MENA
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2.1
Key
Terms
There is no single commonly accepted
definition of the term “North Africa,”
which encompasses meanings of a
geographical, political and cultural nature. In geographic
terms, it may refer to the area that lies between the
Atlantic Ocean to the West; the Mediterranean Sea to the
North; the Red Sea to the East; and the Sahara desert to
the South. In geopolitical terms, it is employed by international
organizations such as the African Union (AU) and
the United Nations (NU) to designate different groupings
of countries. The nation-states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,
Libya and Egypt are included in both groupings; however,
the AU includes Mauritania but not Sudan or South
Sudan, while the UN includes Sudan and South Sudan
but not Mauritania. The term “North Africa” also overlaps
with several others, namely the “Arab world” and
the “Maghreb” (see below). AMA acknowledges these
caveats and debates. However, in this document, it uses
the term “North Africa” to designate a region consisting
of the following states: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Tunisia and the disputed territory of Western
Sahara.
The Maghreb is the region encompassing Algeria, Libya,
Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Western Sahara. Mauritania,
Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya established
the Arab Maghreb Union in 1989 to promote cooperation
and economic integration in a common market. However,
the Union is stalled due to ongoing conflict between
Morocco and Algeria over the issue of Western Sahara.
MENA is the commonly used acronym for “Middle East
and North Africa.” There is no stable definition of the term
either. The following countries are typically included in the
MENA: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Oman,
Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United
Arab Emirates and Yemen. Other countries that may be
included are Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chad,
Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia,
Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Northern Cyprus, Sahrawi Arab
Democratic Republic, Somalia, Sudan and Turkey.