Gulf Cooperation Council
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Arabic: مجلس التعاون لدول خلیج العربية), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; Arabic: مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf مجلس التعاون لدول خلیج العربية | |
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Flag
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Map indicating GCC members | |
| Headquarters | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Official languages | Arabic |
| Type | Trade bloc |
| Membership | |
| Leaders | |
• Secretary general | Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi |
• Supreme Council presidency | United Arab Emirates |
| Establishment | 25 May 1981 |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,673,108 km2 (1,032,093 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 0.6 |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 59,620,000 (25th) |
• Density | 22.3/km2 (57.8/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2021 estimate |
• Total | $3.655 trillion (9th) |
• Per capita | $71,200 (10th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2021 estimate |
• Total | $2.250 trillion (7th) |
• Per capita | $34,300 (35th) |
| Gini (2012) | 28.7 low |
| HDI (2021) | 0.860 very high (40th) |
| Currency | 6 currencies
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| Time zone | UTC+3 to UTC+4 |
All current member states are monarchies, including three constitutional monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain), two absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia and Oman), and one federal monarchy (the United Arab Emirates, which is composed of seven member states, each of which is an absolute monarchy with its own emir). There have been discussions regarding the future membership of Jordan, Morocco, and Yemen.
During the Arab Spring in 2012, Saudi Arabia proposed to transform the GCC into a "Gulf Union" with tighter economic, political and military coordination, a move considered to be intended to counterbalance Iranian influence in the region, however objections were raised by other countries. In 2014, Bahraini prime minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa said that current events in the region highlighted the importance of the proposal. The Peninsula Shield Force is the military arm of the GCC, formed in 1984.