abstract:The Maghreb (in , , its Berber equivalent is , ) is usually defined as much or most of the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. The traditional definition as being the region including the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, was later superseded, especially since the 1989 formation of the Arab Maghreb Union, by the inclusion of Mauritania and of the disputed territory of Western Sahara (mostly controlled by Morocco).
L'Afrique du Nord: Dans les pays du Maghreb,4 le français a cessé d'être la langue officiellei mais n'en constitue pas moins une langue de communication.