Arabic Newspapers from the MENA Region
The digital newspaper archive offers an insight into the turbulent history of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
These 5 licensed newspapers are the premium feature of the collection, which is largely free. In the free collection you can find 79 more newspapers. Here is a list of all 84 newspapers combined.
Single pages can be downloaded as PDF and searched in full text.
The collection is available free of charge in Germany and in German research institutions abroad via national licence. Please ask your librarian for registration of this licence if you cannot yet access it.
About the Archive
Newspapers
The premium section of the collection includes the following newspapers and years:
- Al-Akhbār (الأخبار), Beirut, Lebanon, (2006 – 2019, 3,691 Issues)
- Al-Dustūr (الدستور), Amman, Jordan (1967 – 2000, 10,612 Issues)
- Al-Jumhūrīyah (الجمهورية), Cairo, Egypt (1962 – 1986, 8,803 Issues)
- Al-Riyāḍ (الرياض), Riad, Saudi Arabia, (1972 – 1996, 6,885 Issues)
- Filasṭīn (فلسطين), Jerusalem, Israel (Palestine) (1956 – 1967, 3,359 Issues)
Content
From the Ottoman Empire to the Arab Spring, the countries of the Middle East and North Africa have witnessed their fair share of history. The Middle Eastern & North African Newspapers collection includes publications from across this dynamic region, providing unique insights into the history of individual countries, as well as broad viewpoints on key historic events from the late nineteenth century through the present.
Key topics include the decline of colonialism, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Suez Crisis, the Cold War, the rise of the petroleum industry, twentieth-century pan-Arab movements, both World Wars, the establishment of the state of Israel, the Iran-Iraq War, and the recent Arab Spring. (Source: East View)
Text recognition
The full text of the archive was obtained by digital character recognition (OCR). Arabic is a difficult language in this process. The editions from 1980 onwards were available as printed sources and therefore have a higher recognition rate. Earlier editions are based on microfilms and may therefore be less accurate.