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List of MEA Countries

MEA is a designation given to the region of the world made up of the Middle East and Africa. This designation is typically a term used by companies, organizations, and corporations. The designation can be used for miscellaneous marketing, distribution and customer support services.  In this article we have compiled a comprehensive list of countries in this region. In addition to the list of countries, we have assembled other unique information about the region. This data and information is categorized below, starting with the background of the region broken into the Middle Eastern states and then Africa. It is important to note that while the countries in the MEA region have much in common; MEA also has a great deal of attributes that are distinctive from country to country. MEA countries also share the same block of time zones making trade and business dealings simpler. You might also see the acronym MENA, which stands for Middle East and North Africa. This is another common grouping based on the fact that these are majority Arab and Arabic-speaking countries.

mea region countries

List of Middle East And Africa Countries Part of MEA

 

EMEA-Excel-IconGet the Excel Version of this MEA List Here

 

 Country
Turkey
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Syria
United Arab Emirates
Israel
Jordan
Palestine
Lebanon
Oman
Kuwait
Qatar
Bahrain
Iran
Nigeria
Ethiopia
Egypt
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Africa
Tanzania
Kenya
Algeria
Uganda
Sudan
Morocco
Ghana
Mozambique
Ivory Coast
Madagascar
Angola
Cameroon
Niger
Burkina Faso
Mali
Malawi
Zambia
Senegal
Zimbabwe
Chad
Guinea
Tunisia
Rwanda
South Sudan
Benin
Somalia
Burundi
Togo
Libya
Sierra Leone
Central African Republic
Eritrea
Republic of the Congo
Liberia
Mauritania
Gabon
Namibia
Botswana
Lesotho
Equatorial Guinea
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritius
Swaziland
Djibouti
Réunion
Comoros
Western Sahara
Cape Verde
Mayotte
São Tomé and Príncipe
Seychelles

 

MEA Countries by Population 2024

Country Population
Nigeria 229,152,217
Ethiopia 129,719,719
Egypt 114,484,252
DR Congo 105,625,114
Iran 89,809,781
Turkey 86,089,328
Tanzania 69,419,073
South Africa 60,786,033
Kenya 56,203,030
Uganda 49,924,252
Sudan 49,358,228
Iraq 46,523,657
Algeria 46,278,751
Afghanistan 43,349,960
Morocco 38,211,459
Angola 37,804,634
Saudi Arabia 37,268,107
Yemen 35,219,853
Mozambique 34,858,402
Ghana 34,777,522
Madagascar 31,056,610
Ivory Coast 29,317,616
Cameroon 29,101,971
Niger 28,238,972
Mali 24,015,789
Syria 23,904,950
Burkina Faso 23,840,247
Malawi 21,475,962
Zambia 21,134,695
Chad 18,622,202
Somalia 18,706,922
Senegal 18,221,657
Zimbabwe 17,020,321
Guinea 14,528,770
Rwanda 14,290,748
Benin 14,080,072
Burundi 13,454,333
Tunisia 12,564,689
Jordan 11,384,922
South Sudan 11,277,092
United Arab Emirates 9,563,117
Israel 9,257,269
Togo 9,260,864
Sierra Leone 8,977,972
Libya 6,964,197
Republic of the Congo 6,191,171
Central African Republic 5,915,627
Liberia 5,536,949
Palestine 5,446,976
Lebanon 5,219,044
Mauritania 4,993,922
Oman 4,713,553
Kuwait 4,349,380
Eritrea 3,791,085
Gambia 2,841,803
Qatar 2,737,061
Botswana 2,719,694
Namibia 2,629,634
Gabon 2,4365,863
Lesotho 2,346,114
Guinea-Bissau 2,179,211
Equatorial Guinea 1,754,993
Bahrain 1,498,712
Mauritius 1,301,978
Eswatini 1,222,075
Djibouti 1,152,329
Reunion 986,455
Comoros 867,605
Cape Verde 602,168
Western Sahara 598,385
Mayotte 342,070
Sao Tome and Principe 236,281
Seychelles 108,263
Total MEA Population 1,971,292,589

 

The Middle East

The Middle East refers to the region of the world around the southern and eastern edges of the Mediterranean Sea extending throughout the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. It is considered the birthplace of some of the world’s oldest religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The Middle East is crucial to world affairs not just because of its strategic geographical location but because emerging markets are growing exponentially. Home to oil reserves, Middle Eastern countries are hubs for international investment and business.

Middle East Countries Part of MEA

 

 Country
Turkey
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Syria
United Arab Emirates
Israel
Jordan
Palestine
Lebanon
Oman
Kuwait
Qatar
Bahrain
Iran

 

Africa

Africa is the second largest continent on Earth. With over 1.4 billion inhabitants, Africans account for one/sixth of the world’s total population. Islam first spread into Africa in 639 A.D. and remains the largest followed religion on the continent. The second most followed religion is Christianity. Geographically it shares the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and the Suez Canal with its other half in the MEA, the Middle East.

African Countries Part of the MEA Region

 Country
Nigeria
Ethiopia
Egypt
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Africa
Tanzania
Kenya
Algeria
Uganda
Sudan
Morocco
Ghana
Mozambique
Ivory Coast
Madagascar
Angola
Cameroon
Niger
Burkina Faso
Mali
Malawi
Zambia
Senegal
Zimbabwe
Chad
Guinea
Tunisia
Rwanda
South Sudan
Benin
Somalia
Burundi
Togo
Libya
Sierra Leone
Central African Republic
Eritrea
Republic of the Congo
Liberia
Mauritania
Gabon
Namibia
Botswana
Lesotho
Equatorial Guinea
Gambia
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritius
Swaziland
Djibouti
Réunion
Comoros
Western Sahara
Cape Verde
Mayotte
São Tomé and Príncipe
Seychelles

 

Languages Spoken in MEA Countries

 

The MEA is home to a number of languages, one of most widely used being Arabic. Arabic is spoken in the Levant; Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan as well as the Gulf States; Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, Iraq and Kuwait. The Gulf States all speak the closest form of Arabic to MSA. MSA is the abbreviation used for Modern Standard Arabic, known as fusha in Arabic. It is the form of Arabic used in professional and academic settings; however, dialectal Arabic (that differs from country to country) is used in everyday life, known as ammiya. Arabic is also spoken by over 150 million people in Africa, mostly throughout the Northern African countries of Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, and Sudan. English is prevalent throughout the entire MEA region.

 

Other common languages used are Hebrew, French (throughout the Levant and Northern Africa) Farsi, Turkish, Swahili, Berber, Hausa, Portuguese, Spanish, Setswana, Kirundi, Tigrinya, and Amharic. South Africa alone has 11 official languages.

 

MEA Region Demographics

The region is one of the most youthful in the world, with Oman, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinian Occupied Territories all having over 50% of their populations under the age of 24.

For the African states, of the 47 countries and 6 islands (counted for our purposes as countries) the percentage of youth as a part of the total population is even higher. 35 African states have over 60% of their population under the age of 24. Because of the rapid population growth, predictions show that 1 in 4 people on the planet will be African by 2050. This age demographic as well as the growing middle class in Africa has created a huge surge in social media usage. Social media usage is becoming more and more accessible due in part to cheaper smartphones available now as well as increased internet penetration rates throughout the continent. Currently, internet penetration stands at 43% throughout Africa and has been consistently rising over the past years. Internet penetration rates are soaring in the Middle East, currently standing at just below 80% with rates close to 100% in the Gulf countries. These common threads throughout the MEA region is causing companies to not only take a closer look at the region but pool more resources to focus on growing interest there. Because of this, creative marketing in multiple arenas and languages is essential to reach this new assortment of consumers.

 

References:

World Economic Outlook Database

Other Region Lists

Arabic Countries List

MENA Countries

EMEA Countries

GCC

Jordan Boshers

Jordan Boshers is the Chief Digital Strategist at IstiZada, a digital agency that helps companies market to Arabs. He has 12+ years of experience running successful digital marketing campaigns in the Arab world. His insights into Arabic SEO helped him grow previously unknown websites to dominate Arabic niches on Google including growing one site from 0 to more than 2.5 million users monthly. Jordan has consulted for hundreds of companies including helping corporations like Amazon, Berlitz, and Exxon Mobil with their Arabic digital marketing. Learn more here or on LinkedIn.