A brief visual summary of the government structure, population, history and important issues of each Near East and North African country to provide basic information and context.

1. VISUAL
CONTEXTUALIZATION OF
NENA COUNTRIES
Summer 2012

2. Algeria

3. Native Tribes in Algeria
Gas Fields
Oil Fields
Terrorism in Algeria
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
(elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term*)
Head of Government: President Ahmed Ouyahia
(The President is appointed by the President)
Assembly: Algeria has a bicameral Parliament consisting of:
144 seat Council of the Nation (96 members are indirectly elected by an electoral college to serve
6-year terms and 48 members are appointed by the President to serve 6-year terms)
462 seat National People's Assembly (There are 48 multi-member districts, corresponding to country's administrative units. Depending on the
area, 25 to 50 percent of parties' list candidates must be women.)
•A November 2008 constitutional amendment abolished presidential term limits.

4. Bahrain

5. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa (Hereditary Head of State)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa (Appointed by the monarch)
Assembly: Bicameral National Assembly consisting of:
40 seats Shura Council (Appointed by the monarch)
40 seats Council of Representatives (elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms)

6. Egypt

7. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Mohammed Morsi
(elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 6-year term)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Hesham Kandil (appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament)
Assembly: Bicameral Parliament consisting of:
264 seats Advisory Council (176 members elected by absolute majority vote and 88 members are appointed
by the president. Both serve 6-year terms)
498 seats People's Assembly (166 members elected by absolute majority vote and 332 members are
elected through a closed-list proportional representation system. Both serve 5-year terms)
Results of June
Presidential Elections 2012
Total 2,736,729

8. Iran

9. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/maps/index.html
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Ali Hoseini- Khamenei
(Appointed for life by the Assembly
of Experts)
Head of Government:
President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad
(Elected by absolute majority vote through a
two-round system to serve a 4-year term)
Assembly: 290 seats unicameral Islamic
Consultative Assembly *
(Elected by qualified plurality vote to
serve 4-year terms)
*Five of 290 seats are reserved to
recognized religious minorities.

10. Iraq

11. Oil Production Since 1965 and Forecast to 2015
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Jalal Talabani*
(elected by parliament to serve a 4-year
term)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
(elected by parliament)
Assembly: 325 seats unicameral
Council of Representatives
(elected through an open-list proportional
representation system to serve 4-year
terms)**
*The President is one of three members of a Transitional Presidency Council, which is elected by the legislature.
** New electoral law in 2009 increased the size of the Council from 275 members and replaced a closed-list system with open party lists.
Under the new system, 8 seats are reserved to minority groups in specific governorates (Christian (5), Sabean (1), Shabak(1), &Yizidi(1)).

12. Israel & Palestine

13. Description of ISRAELI government structure:
Chief of State: President Shimon Peres * (Elected by parliament to 7-year term)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
(Designated by president to 4-year term)
Assembly: 120 seats unicameral Knesset
(elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms)
* The president is largely a ceremonially role.
Description of PALESTINIAN government structure:
Chief of State: President Mahmoud Abbas
(Elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round
system to serve a 4-year term)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
(Appointed by the President)
Assembly: 132 seats unicameral Palestinian Legislative
Council (PLC)
(Members are elected through a closed-list proportional
representation system to serve 4-year terms)*
•There is one nationwide district. This system replaced a
•parallel system under a 2007 Presidential decree.

14. Jordan

15. Jordan Population
(Total Pop 6.5 mil)
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: King Abdallah II bin Al Hussein (Hereditary Head of
State)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Fayez Al-Tarawneh (Appointed
by monarch)
Assembly: Parliament consisting of:
55 seats Senate (appointed by monarch to 4-year terms)
120 seats House of Deputies* (elected by the people to 4-year
terms)
*12 seats are reserved for Christian and Circassian candidates.

16. Kuwait

17. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (Hereditary head of state)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Jabir Al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah (Appointed by the monarch)
Assembly: 65 seats unicameral National Assembly
(50 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 15 members are designated ex officio to
serve 4-year terms.)
Electoral Districts

18. Lebanon

19. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Michel Sulayman (Elected by the National Assembly to serve a 6-year term)
Head Of Government: Prime Minister Najib Miqati (Appointed by the president with approval of the
parliament)
Assembly: 128 seats unicameral National Assembly (elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve
4-year terms)*
The electoral system is multiple non-transferable vote (aka block vote) with confessional quotas. There is no standard ballot,
and this has important consequences for electoral behavior in Lebanon.
City of Dahiya Before/After
2006 Israeli Bombings

20. Libya

21. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Transitional National Council Mustafa Abd Al-Jalil
Head of Government: Transitional National Council Executive Abdurrahim El-Keib
(The Transitional National Council Executive will be elected by parliament)
Assembly: 200 seat unicameral General People's Congress (40 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member
constituencies, 80 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies and 80 members are elected through a closed-list
proportional representation system)*
* Election law mandates that candidates should alternate genders on the lists and half of all a party's list must have a female at the top.

22. Morocco

23. Evolution of population with Moroccan citizenship
in European countries 1972-2005
Description of government structure:
Chief of State: King Mohamed VI (Hereditary head of state)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane
(Appointed by the monarch)*
Assembly: Bicameral Parliament consisting of:
270 seats Chamber of Counselors
(elected by indirect vote to 9-year terms)
325 seats Chamber of Representatives
(295 elected through closed-list proportional representation system
to 5-year terms. 30 seats are reserved for women)
*Monarch is required to choose prime minister from largest party I
n parliament

24. Oman

25. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Sultan and Prime Minister Qaboos bin Said
al-Said (Hereditary head of state)
Head of Government: Sultan and Prime Minister Qaboos bin
Said al-Said
Assembly: Bicameral Parliament consisting of:
48 seats State Council (Appointed by the monarch)*
83 seats Consultative Council (Elected by plurality vote to
4-year terms)**
*Have advisory powers only
**Elected from 59 multi-member and
single- member electoral districts.
Districts with a population over
30,000 have two representatives.

26. Qatar

27. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: Amir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (Hereditary head of
state)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir Al-
Thani (Appointed by the monarch)
Assembly: 35 seats unicameral Advisory Council (Appointed by the
monarch to 3-year terms)
Al Jazeera is a Qatari news station
and in the last year or two has
become the voice of Qatari foreign
policy, supporting opposition forces
in the Arab Spring.
Al Jazeera English however remains
a reliable, unbias news source

28. Saudi Arabia

29. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (Hereditary head
of government)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud
Assembly: 150 seats unicameral Consultative Council (Appointed by
monarch to serve 4-year terms)
Countries with Largest Increase
in International Students

30. Syria

31. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Bashar al-Asad* (Elecbed by absolute majority vote through
a two-round system to serve a 7-year term)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Riyad Farid Hijab (Appointed by the President)
Assembly: 250 seats unicameral People's Council (Elected through a closed-list
proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms)**
*According the new Constitution, candidates must the written support of at least
35 members of People’s Assembly.
** Under the February 2012
constitution multiple parties are
allowed to run and the
Constitution states that at least
half of the members of the
assembly should be workers and
farmers

32. Tunisia

33. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Moncef Marzouki (Elected by
parliament)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali
(elected by parliament)
Assembly: 127 seats Tunisia has a unicameral Tunisian
Constituent Assembly (Elected through a closed-list
proportional representation system*)
*There are 27 domestic constituencies and four out-of-
country constituencies. Party lists are required to
alternate between male and female candidates.
Election of the Constituent Assembly
The mapping of the five most important votes
In Percentage of Votes Cast
*sièges = seats
*des voix =
of voice
% Of lower voice
no seat
% Of upper voice
no seat
These five teams accumulate 177 seats (82%) and represent almost two thirds of the votes cast. The rest
was 14 other political parties and 10 independent

34. United Arab Emirates

35. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Khalifa bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan
(Appointed by hereditary state rulers)*
Head of Government: Prime Minister Muhammad bin Rashid
al-Maktum (Appointed head of government)
Assembly: 40 seats unicameral Federal National Council (20
members are appointed to serve 2-year terms and 20 members
are indirectly elected by an electoral college to serve 2-year
terms)**
*The president is elected by indirect vote from the Federal Supreme Council (FSC), which is
composed of the seven emirate rulers, to serve 5-year terms. There are no term limits for
the president.
** 20 members are appointed by the rulers of the constituent emirates and 20 members are
elected by indirect vote through local councils. All serve 2-year terms.

36. Yemen

37. Description of government structure:
Chief of State: President Abd al-Rab Mansur Al-hadi (Elected by
absolute majority vote through a two-round system for 7-year term)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawwar
(Appointed by the President)
Assembly: Bicameral Parliament consisting of :
111 seats Shura Council (Appointed by president)
301 seats House of Representatives (Elected by plurality vote in single-
member constituencies to 6-year terms)
Location of Houthi
(separatist group of
Zaidi Shia)
Yemeni Oil Fields