Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

Member states of the OIC in green, observer states in red, blocked states in blue.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation founded in 1969 has 57 members, 56 of which are also member states of the United Nations. Some, especially in West Africa, are – though with large Muslim populations – not necessarily Muslim majority countries. A few countries with significant Muslim populations, such as Russia and Thailand, sit as Observer States, while others, such as India and Ethiopia, are not members.

The collective population of OIC member states is over 1.6 billion as of 2011.

Member states

Continent
Africa	Asia	Europe	South America	Transcontinental

Member state	Joined	Population	Area (km²)	Languages	Notes
Afghanistan – Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Capital: Kabul	1969	25,500,100 [1]	652,230	Pashto Dari	Further details Suspended 1980 - March 1989.
Algeria – People's Democratic Republic of Algeria Capital: Algiers	1969	38,700,000 [1]	2,381,741	Tamazight Arabic
Chad – Republic of Chad Capital: N'Djamena	1969	13,211,000 [1]	1,284,000	Arabic French
Egypt – Arab Republic of Egypt Capital: Cairo	1969	86,748,100 [1]	1,002,450	Arabic	Further details Suspended May 1979 - March 1984 after signing a peace treaty with Israel.[2]
Guinea – Republic of Guinea [note 1] Capital: Conakry	1969	10,824,200 [1]	245,857	French
Indonesia – Republic of Indonesia Capital: Jakarta	1969	252,164,800 [1]	1,904,569	Bahasa Indonesia	Further details Indonesia has five provinces with official special autonomy status: Aceh, Jakarta SCR, Yogyakarta SR, Papua, and West Papua.
Iran – Islamic Republic of Iran Capital: Tehran	1969	77,557,000 [1]	1,648,195	Persian
Jordan – Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Capital: Amman	1969	6,602,960 [1]	89,342	Arabic
Kuwait – State of Kuwait Capital: Kuwait City	1969	3,065,850 [1]	17,818	Arabic
Lebanon – Lebanese Republic Capital: Beirut	1969	4,966,000 [1]	10,452	Arabic
Libya – State of Libya Capital: Tripoli	1969	6,253,000 [1]	1,759,540	Arabic
Malaysia Capital: Kuala Lumpur	1969	30,180,000 [1]	330,803	Bahasa Malaysia	Further details Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories.
Mali – Republic of Mali Capital: Bamako	1969	15,768,000 [1]	1,240,192	French	Further details Mali is a republic constituted by 8 regions.
Mauritania – Islamic Republic of Mauritania Capital: Nouakchott	1969	3,461,041 [1]	1,030,700	Arabic
Morocco – Kingdom of Morocco Capital: Rabat	1969	33,309,400 [1]	446,550	Tamazight Arabic	Further details Morocco claims sovereignty over Western Sahara and controls most of it, which is disputed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Niger – Republic of Niger Capital: Niamey	1969	17,138,707 [1]	1,267,000	French
Pakistan – Islamic Republic of Pakistan Capital: Islamabad	1969	188,020,000 [1]	881,912	English Urdu	Further details Pakistan is a federation of four provinces, 1 capital territory, and tribal regions. Pakistan disputes Indian sovereignty over Kashmir. It exercises control over some areas, but does not explicitly claim any part of it,[3][4] instead regarding it as a disputed territory.[5][6] The portions that it controls are divided into two polities, administered separately from Pakistan proper:[note 2]  Azad Kashmir Gilgit–Baltistan
Palestine – State of Palestine [7] Capital: Jerusalem (claims), Ramallah (administrative), Gaza City (administrative)	1969[8]	4,420,549 [1]	6,220	Arabic	Further details The declared State of Palestine has received diplomatic recognition from 136 states.[9] The proclaimed state has no agreed territorial borders, or effective control on much of the territory that it proclaimed.[10] The Palestinian National Authority is an interim administrative body formed as a result of the Oslo Accords that exercises limited autonomous jurisdiction within the Palestinian territories. In foreign relations, Palestine is represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization. The State of Palestine is a member state of UNESCO,[11] and an observer state in the UN.
Saudi Arabia – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Capital: Riyadh	1969	29,994,272 [1]	2,149,690	Arabic
Senegal – Republic of Senegal Capital: Dakar	1969	12,873,601 [1]	196,722	French
Somalia – Federal Republic of Somalia Capital: Mogadishu	1969	10,806,000 [1]	637,657	Arabic Somali	Further details Following the adoption of the Provisional Federal Constitution in August 2012, Somalia is a federation, the Federal Republic of Somalia, which is divided into several Federal Member States.[12]
Sudan – Republic of the Sudan Capital: Khartoum	1969	37,289,406 [1]	1,886,068	Arabic English	Further details Sudan is a federation of 17 states. Disputes Abyei and Kafia Kingi with South Sudan.
Tunisia – Republic of Tunisia Capital: Tunis	1969	10,886,500 [1]	163,610	Arabic
Turkey – Republic of Turkey Capital: Ankara	1969	76,667,864 [1]	783,562	Turkish	Further details Transcontinental country in Europe and Asia, classified as West Asian countries by the United Nations Statistics Division:  Turkey
Yemen – Republic of Yemen Capital: Sana'a	1969	25,235,000 [1]	527,968	Arabic
Bahrain – Kingdom of Bahrain Capital: Manama	1970	1,234,571 [1]	765	Arabic
Oman – Sultanate of Oman Capital: Muscat	1970	4,020,000 [1]	309,500	Arabic
Qatar – State of Qatar Capital: Doha	1970	2,174,035 [1]	11,586	Arabic
Syria – Syrian Arab Republic Capital: Damascus	1970	21,987,000 [1]	185,180	Arabic	Further details The Syrian National Coalition, which is recognized as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people by 20 UN members, has established an interim government to rule rebel controlled territory during the Syrian civil war. Syria has one self-declared autonomous region:  Syrian Kurdistan Suspended in August 2012 during the Syrian civil war.[13]
United Arab Emirates Capital: Abu Dhabi	1971	9,446,000 [1]	83,600	Arabic	Further details The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates.
Sierra Leone – Republic of Sierra Leone Capital: Freetown	1972	6,190,280 [1]	71,740	English
Bangladesh – People's Republic of Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka	1974	156,569,000 [1]	147,570	Bengali
Gabon – Gabonese Republic Capital: Libreville	1974	1,711,000 [1]	267,668	French
Gambia, The – Republic of the Gambia Capital: Banjul	1974	1,882,450 [1]	11,295	English
Guinea-Bissau – Republic of Guinea-Bissau Capital: Bissau	1974	1,746,000 [1]	36,125	Portuguese
Uganda – Republic of Uganda Capital: Kampala	1974	35,357,000 [1]	241,550	English Kiswahili
Burkina Faso [note 3] Capital: Ouagadougou	1975	35,357,000 [1]	241,550	French
Cameroon – Republic of Cameroon Capital: Yaoundé	1975	35,357,000 [1]	241,550	English French
Comoros – Union of the Comoros Capital: Moroni	1976	743,798 [1]	1,862	Arabic Comorian French	Further details Comoros is a federation of 3 islands.[note 4][14]
Iraq – Republic of Iraq Capital: Baghdad	1976	36,004,552 [1]	438,317	Arabic Kurdish	Further details Iraq is a federation [15] of 18 governorates, three of which make up the autonomous:  Iraqi Kurdistan.
Maldives – Republic of Maldives Capital: Malé	1976	317,280 [1]	300	Dhivehi
Djibouti – Republic of Djibouti Capital: Djibouti	1978	886,000 [1]	23,200	Arabic French
Benin – Republic of Benin [note 5] Capital: Porto-Novo	1982	9,988,068 [1]	112,622	French
Brunei – Negara Brunei Darussalam Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan	1984	393,162 [1]	5,765	Malay	Further details Brunei is a nation constituted by 4 districts.
Nigeria – Federal Republic of Nigeria Capital: Abuja	1986	178,517,000 [1]	923,768	English	Further details Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and 1 federal territory.
Azerbaijan – Republic of Azerbaijan Capital: Baku	1991	9,477,100 [1]	86,600	Azerbaijani	Further details Azerbaijan contains two autonomous regions, Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh (Dağlıq Qarabağ).[note 6] Transcontinental country in Europe and Asia, classified as West Asian countries by the United Nations Statistics Division:  Azerbaijan
Albania – Republic of Albania Capital: Tirana	1992	2,821,977 [1]	28,748	Albanian	Further details Albania is a republic constituted by 12 counties.
Kyrgyzstan – Kyrgyz Republic Capital: Bishkek	1992	5,776,570 [1]	199,951	Kyrgyz Russian
Tajikistan – Republic of Tajikistan Capital: Dushanbe	1992	8,160,000 [1]	143,100	Tajiki	Further details Tajikistan contains 1 autonomous region, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province.
Turkmenistan Capital: Ashgabat	1992	5,307,000 [1]	488,100	Turkmen
Mozambique – Republic of Mozambique Capital: Maputo	1994	23,700,715 [1]	801,590	Portuguese
Kazakhstan – Republic of Kazakhstan Capital: Astana	1995	17,244,000 [1]	2,724,900	Kazakh Russian	Further details Transcontinental country in Europe and Asia, classified as West Asian countries by the United Nations Statistics Division:  Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan – Republic of Uzbekistan Capital: Tashkent	1995	30,492,800 [1]	447,400	Uzbek	Further details Uzbekistan contains 1 autonomous region:  Karakalpakstan.
Suriname – Republic of Suriname Capital: Paramaribo	1996	534,189 [1]	163,820	Dutch
Togo – Togolese Republic Capital: Lomé	1997	6,993,000 [1]	56,785	French
Guyana – Co-operative Republic of Guyana Capital: Georgetown	1998	784,894 [1]	214,969	English
Ivory Coast – Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Capital: Yamoussoukro	2001	23,202,000 [1]	322,463	French

Observer states

Member state	Joined	Population	Area (km²)	Languages	Notes
Bosnia and Herzegovina Capital: Sarajevo	1994	3,791,622 [1]	51,209	Bosnian Serbian Croatian	Further details Bosnia and Herzegovina is a federation of two constituent units:  Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina  Republika Srpska and Brčko District, a self-governing administrative unit.[note 7]
Central African Republic Capital: Bangui	1997	4,709,000 [1]	622,984	French
Northern Cyprus – Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Capital: Nicosia	1979 [16]	294,906 [1]	3,355	Turkish	Further details Recognised only by Turkey. Under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", it is an observer state of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organization. Northern Cyprus is claimed in whole by the Republic of Cyprus.[17] Designation changed in 2004[18] Egypt, Iran and the United Arab Emirates requested at September 2014's summit of the OIC in New York that the Turkish Cypriot State not be referred to in the meeting conclusions.[19][20][21] OIC SG received the president and foreign minister of Northern Cyprus.[22][23]
Thailand – Kingdom of Thailand Capital: Bangkok	1998	64,456,700 [1]	513,120	Thai	Further details Thailand is a kingdom constituted by 76 provinces.
Russia – Russian Federation Capital: Moscow	2005	146,048,500 [1]	17,125,242	Russian	Further details Russia is officially a federation of 85 federal subjects (republics, oblasts, krais, autonomous okrugs, federal cities, and an autonomous oblast).[note 8] Russia effectively administers Crimea as two federal subjects:  Republic of Crimea  Sevastopol The Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia was signed between representatives of the Republic of Crimea (including Sevastopol, with which the rest of Crimea briefly unified) and the Russian Federation on 18 March 2014 to lay out terms for the immediate admission of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol as federal subjects of Russia and part of the Russian Federation. It was ratified by the Federal Assembly by March 21. Transcontinental countries in Europe and Asia, classified as Eastern Europen countries by the United Nations Statistics Division:  Russia

Withdrawn

Suspended or withdrawn state	Joined	Notes
Zanzibar	1993	Withdrew August 1993

Observer organisations and communities

Organisation or community	Joined	Notes
Moro National Liberation Front	1977	Blocking membership of the Philippines

Observer Islamic institutions

Islamic institution	Joined	Notes
Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States	2000
Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation	2005

Observer international organisations

Organisation	Joined	Notes
League of Arab States	1975
United Nations	1976
Non-Aligned Movement	1977
African Union	1977
Economic Cooperation Organisation	1995

Membership attempts

•  Belarus - Requested observer status in 2010.^[24][25]
•  Brazil - Requested observer status in 2011.^[26]
•  Central African Republic - Requested full membership in 2002.^[24][27]
•  China - Requested observer status in 2012.^[28]
•  Democratic Republic of Congo - Requested observer status in 2008^[29] and full membership in 2011.^[25]
•  India - India, which has the world's third largest Muslim population, has shown an interest in joining the OIC with observer status.^[30]India has never made a formal application to join OIC as an observer or as a member state. ^[31]While India's potential candidacy is supported by some OIC members,^[32] Pakistan's strong opposition and threat to boycott the OIC has effectively led to India's inclusion in the OIC being blocked. The Pakistan Foreign Office has argued that India's inclusion in OIC would violate the rules of the OIC, which require that an aspirant state should not have an ongoing conflict with a member state.^[33]
•  Kenya - Requested full membership in 2011.^[25]
•  Mauritius - Requested full membership in 2002.^[24][27]
•    Nepal - Requested observer status in 2008.^[29]
•  Philippines - Requested observer status in 2008.^[29] The Philippine government has made attempts to join the OIC, but this is opposed by the Moro National Liberation Front, an OIC observer located in the Philippines. The MNLF claims that Philippine membership is unnecessary. In 2009, the country's bid received stronger support and has been advocated by Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.^{[34][35][36][37]}
•  Serbia - Requested observer status in 2008.^[29]
•  South Africa - Requested observer status in 2002.^[29]
•  Sri Lanka - Requested observer status in 2008.^[29]

Notes

1. Also known as Guinea-Conakry.
2. Sovereignty over Kashmir is disputed between India and Pakistan; smaller parts are disputed by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. Kashmir is divided between India, Pakistan and the PRC. See the List of territorial disputes.
3. Also known as Burkina; formerly referred to as Upper Volta, its official name until 1984.
4. More information on more or less federal structures can be found at a List of federations.
5. Formerly referred to as Dahomey, its official name until 1975.
6. In Nagorno-Karabakh, a de facto state has been established.
7. For more information about the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina, see Dayton Agreement and the text of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (14 December 1995). Office of the High Representative. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
8. Several of the federal subjects are ethnic republics.

References

1. World Population Clocks 6 July 2014"U.S. & World Population Clocks". Census.gov. 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
2. "Timeline: Organisation of the Islamic Conference". BBC. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
3. Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 1.
4. Aslam, Tasnim (11 December 2006). "'Pakistan Does Not Claim Kashmir As An Integral Part...'". Outlook India (The Outlook Group).
5. Williams, Kristen P. (2001). Despite nationalist conflicts: theory and practice of maintaining world peace. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-0-275-96934-9.
6. Pruthi, R.K. (2001). An Encyclopaedic Survey Of Global Terrorism In 21St Century. Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-81-261-1091-9.
7. The State of Palestine succeeded the seat of the Palestine Liberation Organization following the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence.
8. OIC member states
9. Palestine Liberation Organization. "Road For Palestinian Statehood: Recognition and Admission". Negotiations Affairs Department. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
10. See the following on statehood criteria:
    • Mendes, Errol (30 March 2010). "Statehood and Palestine for the purposes of Article 12 (3) of the ICC Statute" (PDF). 30 March 2010: 28, 33. Retrieved 2011-04-17: "...the Palestinian State also meets the traditional criteria under the Montevideo Convention..."; "...the fact that a majority of states have recognised Palestine as a State should easily fulfill the requisite state practice".
    • McKinney, Kathryn M. (1994). "The Legal Effects of the Israeli-PLO Declaration ofPrinciples: Steps Toward Statehood for Palestine". Seattle University Law Review (Seattle University) 18 (93): 97. Retrieved 2011-04-17: "It is possible, however, to argue for Palestinian statehood based on the constitutive theory".
    • McDonald, Avril (Spring 2009). "Operation Cast Lead: Drawing the Battle Lines of the Legal Dispute". Human Rights Brief (Washington College of Law, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law) 25. Retrieved 2011-04-17: "Whether one applies the criteria of statehood set out in the Montevideo Convention or the more widely accepted constitutive theory of statehood, Palestine might be considered a state."
11. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. "Arab States: Palestine". United Nations. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
12. "The Federal Republic of Somalia - Harmonized Draft Constitution" (PDF). Federal Republic of Somalia. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
13. "Organization of Islamic Cooperation suspends Syria’s membership". Al Arabiya. 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
14. Constitution of Comoros, Art. 1.
15. Source: Iraqi constitution
16. OIC observers
17. See The World Factbook|Cyprus (10 January 2006). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
18. The Turkish Cypriot community of Cyprus became an OIC “observer community” in 1979 under the name “Turkish Muslim community of Cyprus”. The 31st OIC Meeting of Foreign Ministers which met in Istanbul in June 2004, decided that the Turkish Cypriot Community (represented by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) will participate in the OIC meetings under the name envisaged in the Annan Plan for Cyprus (i.e. “Turkish Cypriot constituent state of the United Cyprus Republic” or Turkish Cypriot State in short). OIC Official Website
19. The World Bulletin news: Egypt's Sisi demands Turkish Cypriots removed from OIC
20. Egypt's Sisi tells Turks to get out of Cyprus
21. OIC says «NO» to «Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus»
22. OICOIC Secretary General receives Foreign Minister Turkish Cypriot State
23. OICMadani meets...the President of TRNC...
24. "Le Secrétariat général demande d'accélérer l'adoption du Règlement portant conditions d'obtention du statut d'observateur auprès de l'OCI" (in French). Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
25. "Serbia requests OIC observer status". B92. 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
26. "Brazil Requests To Join OIC As Observer State". IPOTNEWS. 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
27. Chickrie, Ray (2011-06-13). "Brazil to join Guyana and Suriname in Islamic bloc". Caribbean News Now!. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
28. "China seeks to be OIC observer member". New Straits Times. 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2013-08-03.
29. "OIC Secretary General Calls for Early Adoption of Rules for Access to Observer Status". Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
30. Mustafa El-Feki: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/730/in1.htm An Indo-Arab blunder? Al-Ahram, February 17–23, 2005.
31. Iran to view favourably India's entry into OIC : The HinduJuly 21, 2000.
32. Observer status for India at OIC: King Abdullah Expressindia.com, January 22, 2006.
33. Pak disapproves Saudi king's comments on India's OIC entry Rediff News, January 23, 2006.
34. "RP nears observer status in OIC - DFA - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Globalnation.inquirer.net. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
35. "EZ2 Lotto Luzon | Manila Bulletin". Mb.com.ph. 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
36. "RP closer to becoming observer-state in Organization of Islamic Conference | Home >> The Filipino Global Community >> Philippines". Philstar.com. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
37. "DFA: ‘Technicalities’ blocking RP bid for OIC observer status - Nation - GMA News Online - Latest Philippine News". Gmanews.tv. Retrieved 2011-03-25.