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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.

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 2022

Country Population
Nigeria 223,804,632
Ethiopia 126,527,060
Egypt 112,716,598
DR Congo 102,262,808
Iran 89,172,767
Turkey 85,816,199
Tanzania 67,438,106
South Africa 60,414,495
Kenya 55,100,586
Uganda 48,582,334
Sudan 48,109,006
Algeria 45,606,480
Iraq 45,504,560
Afghanistan 42,239,854
Morocco 37,840,044
Saudi Arabia 36,947,025
Angola 36,684,202
Yemen 34,449,825
Ghana 34,121,985
Mozambique 33,897,354
Madagascar 30,325,732
Ivory Coast 28,873,034
Cameroon 28,647,293
Niger 27,202,843
Mali 23,293,698
Burkina Faso 23,251,485
Syria 23,227,014
Malawi 20,931,751
Zambia 20,569,737
Chad 18,278,568
Somalia 18,143,378
Senegal 17,763,163
Zimbabwe 16,665,409
Guinea 14,190,612
Rwanda 14,094,683
Benin 13,712,828
Burundi 13,238,559
Tunisia 12,458,223
Jordan 11,337,052
South Sudan 11,088,796
United Arab Emirates 9,516,871
Israel 9,174,520
Togo 9,053,799
Sierra Leone 8,791,092
Libya 6,888,388
Republic of the Congo 6,106,869
Central African Republic 5,742,315
Liberia 5,418,377
Palestine 5,371,230
Lebanon 5,353,930
Mauritania 4,862,989
Oman 4,644,384
Kuwait 4,310,108
Eritrea 3,748,901
Gambia 2,773,168
Qatar 2,716,391
Botswana 2,675,352
Namibia 2,604,172
Gabon 2,436,566
Lesotho 2,330,318
Guinea-Bissau 2,150,842
Equatorial Guinea 1,714,671
Bahrain 1,485,509
Mauritius 1,300,557
Eswatini 1,210,822
Djibouti 1,136,455
Reunion 981,796
Comoros 852,075
Cape Verde 598,682
Western Sahara 587,259
Mayotte 335,995
Sao Tome and Principe 231,856
Seychelles 107,660
Total MEA Population 1,871,743,697

 

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.

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. 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. 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. 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

World Population Prospects

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 10+ 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 1 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.