United Arab States

This article is about the 1958–1970 confederation between the United Arab Republic and the Kingdom of Yemen. For the 1958–1961 union of Egypt and Syria, see United Arab Republic. For the general concept of a united Arab state, see Arab Union.

The United Arab States (UAS, Arabic: اتحاد الدول العربية) was a short-lived confederation between the United Arab Republic and the Kingdom of Yemen from 1958 to 1961.

A stamp from the Kingdom of Yemen commemorating the United Arab States

United Arab States اتحاد الدول العربية
1958–1961
Capital	Cairo and Sana'a
Common languages	Arabic
Religion	Islam
Historical era	Arab Cold War
• Established	8 March 1958
• Disestablished	26 December 1961
Preceded by Succeeded by United Arab Republic Kingdom of Yemen United Arab Republic Syria Kingdom of Yemen

The United Arab Republic was a sovereign state formed by the union of Egypt and Syria in 1958. The same year, the Kingdom of Yemen, which had already signed a defense pact with Egypt, entered a loose confederation with the UAR called the United Arab States on March 8. One reason for this decision was because North Yemen had felt threatened by its considerably larger and more powerful northern neighbor Saudi Arabia^[a] and saw the confederation as a source of security.^[1] However, unlike the constituent countries of the United Arab Republic, North Yemen remained an independent sovereign state, maintaining its UN membership and separate embassies throughout the whole period of confederation.^{[citation needed]}

Neither the union nor the confederation fulfilled their role as vehicles of pan-Arabism or Arab nationalism, resulting in its dissolution in 1961.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Arab Federation, a confederation between Iraq and Jordan (1958)
• United Arab Republic, a union of Egypt and Syria (1958–1961)
• Federation of Arab Republics, a confederation of Egypt, Libya and Syria (1972–1977)
• Union of Arab Republics, a proposed union of Egypt, Iraq and Syria (1972)
• Arab Islamic Republic, a proposed union of Libya and Tunisia (1974)

Notes

1. The two had fought a war in 1934, and still shared a partially undemarcated border