Continental union

A continental union is a regional organization which facilitates pan-continental integration. Continental unions vary from collaborative intergovernmental organizations, to supranational politico-economic unions. Continental unions are a relatively new type of political entity in the history of human government. Throughout most of human history, political organization has been at the local level (i.e. tribal, city state) and in more recent centuries, the sub-regional ("regional")/sub-continental level (i.e. river system/basin empires, the modern "nation-state"); however, starting with the advent of better transportation, weapons and communication there was for the first time the ability for a union of member states to organize at the continental level. After the devastation of the first and second world wars in the middle of the 1900s, Europe began to slowly integrate with the founding of the "European Community", which became a political union covering much of the European continent (28 member states as of 2016^[update]).

There are 3 current continental unions, each at different stages of integration. The EU is the only supranational politico-economic union and not just an international organization.

The African Union (AU) at a size of 29,757,900 square kilometres (11,489,589 sq mi) and a population of 1 Billion is by far the largest of the existing continental unions in terms of both land mass and population. It includes all African countries.

The African Union was formed as a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the February 2009 Union meeting headed by former Libyan leader Gaddafi, it was resolved that the African Union Commission would become the African Union Authority.

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