Establishment Act (Arab Union)

The Establishment Act, 1971 (Arabic: قانون الإقامة لعام ١٩٧١ qānūn al-iqāmah li-‘ām) was an act passed by the Arab Congress on 19 February 1971, and ratified by the President of the Arab Union the same day, which officially established a plan for the development of a new seat for the Arab Union federal government, which was, unlike the previous federal capital of Cairo (which was also the regional capital of Egypt), to be located outside of any of the 20 republics of the Arab Union. The primary reason for this act was to reduce Cairo's politico-economic primacy to simply an economic one (Cairo being by far the largest city in the union, even to this day), and likewise giving each republic equal standing concerning the federal government.