Maghreb

The Maghreb is a region in Africa. The term originated in the days of Islam's great expansion. Al-Maghrib (المغرب‎) is Morocco's official name, and also means 'the west' in Arabic. In English, the term refers to all the Islamic North African areas beyond Egypt. Today the term is applied to all of the Mediterranean coast of Africa except Egypt, plus the Atlas mountains inland from there and some areas along the Atlantic coast. In European histories, much of the region is often called the Barbary Coast; names for its people include Berbers and Moors. When the Moors ruled them, Gibraltar and much of Spain and Portugal would have been counted as part of the Maghreb.

There is an organisation called the Arab Maghreb Union. It includes:

• Algeria
• Libya
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Tunisia
• Western Sahara (represented by Morocco) As of March 2023, its web site exists in French and Arabic, but the English page just says "coming soon".