Arab Land Initiative

Algeria is the largest country in Africa, bordering Morocco, Mali, Libya, Tunisia, Niger, Mauritania and Western Sahara. The country has a land area of over 2.3 million square kilometres, most of which is covered by the Algerian Sahara Desert. Approximately two thirds of Algeria’s 44.6 million inhabitants [1] live in urban areas [2], primarily along or near the country’s 2,148 sq km coastline with the Mediterranean Sea. Algiers, the capital city, hosts a population of over 3.5 million.

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The island country of Comoros, or Union of Comoros, is located in the Indian Ocean at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, off the eastern coast of Africa. Comoros has maritime borders with Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Seychelles and Mayotte (administered by France).  [6] These volcanic islands form an archipelago of just over two thousand square kilometers [5] with a population of less than a million, 30 percent of which live in urban centres. The capital and largest city is Moroni on Grande Comore Island, while Anjouan Island is the most densely populated [10]. 

Djibouti has an are area of 23,200 km² and is home to one million people. Around 78 percent of the population lives in urban areas, with the major concentration found in Djibouti city and other nearby urban and peri-urban areas. The remaining quarter of the population lives in rural areas and it is mostly devoted to the traditional transhumant pastoralist lifestyle.[1] Traditionally, the Afar and Issa communities  are camels, goats, and sheep herders. The Afar people, primarily residing in Djibouti’s northern region, are part of a larger Afar ethnic group  predominantly found in Ethiopia, while the Issa people, concentrated in the southern part of Djibouti, share ethnic ties with neighbouring Somalia.[1] Power sharing struggles between the Issas and Afars led to a civil war that ravaged 

Egypt is in the northeastern corner of Africa, with the Nile River valley and delta at the heart of the country, Egypt was one of the principal civilizations of the ancient Middle East. 

Urbanization is a key driver of development in Egypt, 75 per cent of the GDP is generated in urban areas and 80 per cent of the jobs are in existing cities (NUP Diagnostic report, Unpublished). Urbanization in Egypt increased from 26 per cent in 1937 to 38 per cent in 1960 and 44 per cent in 1986. This percentage fell to around 42.2 per cent in 2017, not because the Egyptian urbanization rate is declining, but rather due to the lack of a clear unified definition of urban-rural areas. In 2021, 43 per cent of Egypt’s total population lived in urban areas and cities. 

Iraq is one of the easternmost countries of the Arab Region. With Baghdad as its capital city, it is bordered to the north by Turkey, to the east by Iran, to the west by Syria and Jordan, and to the south by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The information contained in this page gives an overview of the Iraq land sector. More detailed information, analysis, and full references can be found in the “Iraq Legislative and Administrative Land and Property Rights Framework” report developed by UN-Habitat and the Global Land Tool Network in the context of the Arab Land Initiative.

Jordan is located in the rocky desert of the northern Arabian Peninsula. It has a land area of 88,780 Km2 and a population of 10.3 million people, 92 per cent of whom live in urban centers (Worldometer, 2021). Inhabitants are concentrated in the west, northwest, inside and around the capital Amman, while a sizeable number of people reside in the southwest along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (FAO, 2019). In 2020, Jordan had an annual urbanization rate of 9 percent (Worldometer 2021), compared to a rate of 3.8 percent in 2014 (Department of Statistics, Al-Fugara, Al-Shabeeb et.al., 2018). The country is divided into 12 governorates and 51 districts. The capital city is Amman.

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89 percent of the 6 million inhabitants live in urban centres, mostly along the coast. 6 percent of its 10,230 Kms surface is built-up, 32 percent is agricultural, and the remain parts are covered by grass, shrubs, rocks or forest.

Traditionally considered a middle-income country, Lebanon’s economy has been declining due to the combined effects of regional conflicts, COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut port explosion.

Lebanon hosts more than one million Syrian refugees scattered throughout urban and rural communities, putting additional strain on the already impoverished host communities and adding to the demand for affordable housing and basic services.

The country extends over 1,759,540 km2 where more than 90% of the total land area is desert or semi-desert. Combined with the projected increase in population, this will result in a number of major challenges in the country including the provision of adequate housing, food, clean drinking water, job opportunities, health care, education, and transportation.

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The Kingdom of Morocco is a mostly arid and semi-arid country in the north-west corner of the African continent. Morocco is home to a population of 37 million inhabitants, about 600,000 of whom reside in its capital city, Rabat. Morocco is a constitutional, democratic and parliamentary monarchy, with the parliament consisting of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. According to the 2011 Constitution, political power in Morocco is shared between the Monarch and the parliament. 

The Sultanate of Oman, located on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, borders the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The country is 309,500 sq km in size, with a 2,092 km long coastline, and rugged mountains in the north and south. A vast gravel desert plain covers most of the country, which experiences sandstorms and dust storms in summer, and periodic droughts, with average precipitation of 125 mm per year. 

This page presents a snapshot of Oman’s land sector. Much of its content was extracted from the report Oman Land Sector Assessment, prepared by the Urban Training and Studies Institute and the Arab Land Initiative of the Global Land Tool Network [3].

Palestine, or the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), is located between the Mediterranean Sea, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The OPT is composed of two enclaves: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.

The information contained in this page gives an overview of the Palestine land sector. More detailed information and analysis can be found in the “Land governance and land rights in Palestine: Analysis and recommendations” report developed by UN-Habitat and the Global Land Tool Network in the context of the Arab Land Initiative.

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A repository of publications, research papers, background papers, and links from relevant Arab Land Initiative partners enriches our shared knowledge. Newly released documents on Saudi Arabia are now available for download!

A repository of publications, research papers, articles, and links to relevant events by the Arab Land Initiative’s partners enriches the shared knowledge. Nine newly released documents on Somalia are now ready for download!

Situated in Northeast Africa, Sudan boasts a rich historical legacy and a diverse population estimated at 46,874,204. This vast country, covering 1.88 million km², was the largest in Africa prior to South Sudan’s secession in 2011. Khartoum, the capital, lies at the confluence of the White Nile and Blue Nile, giving birth to the iconic Nile River—the lifeblood of the region.

Officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic, Syria is inhabited by over 18 million people and it borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Palestine and Lebanon to the southwest. Syria’s 185,180 square kilometers.

Tunisia is a part of the Maghreb region of North Africa, bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east and north. It contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara Desert, with much of its remaining territory being arable land. Most of the southern part of the country is a sandy desert, where wadis are dry for most of the year and fresh water is scarce. Tunisia also has several islands, the Djerba Island in the Gulf of Gabès being North Africa's largest island. 

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Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in Western Asia, situated in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast and it shares maritime borders with Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia.