Google Constitution Archive Adds Arabic-Language Versions, Compare Tool

Google's online archive of the world's constitutions on Monday launched an Arabic-language version with searchable documents from 54 countries.

"The site now provides Arabic translations of some of the world's most-cited constitutions, coupled with powerful analytical tools," Google's Brett Perlmutter said in a blog post.

Google is also introducing new features, including a "compare" function to view constitutions side by side.

"Curious how the Japanese Constitution of 1946, drafted under US occupation, compares to that of the US? View them side-by-side and compare them provision by provision," Perlmutter added.

The archive of the world's constitutions was launched in 2013 as part of an initiative designed to help countries emerging from conflicts or political crises.

The site aims to help people drafting constitutions to see what other countries have done in the past.

The site allows users to search for different constitutions by country or by year, and is subdivided into themes such as citizenship, foreign policy or judicial autonomy and power.

In English, the site contains 194 constitutions one for nearly every independent country in the world.

A Google spokeswoman said the project hopes to offer the documents in other languages in the future.

The archive was created with the assistance of academics associated with the Comparative Constitutions Project.