View source for Demographics of the Arab world

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{{Multiple issues|
{{original research|date=August 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2023}}
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{{Life in the Arab League}}
[[File:Population Density in the Arab World.png|thumb|right|250px|Population density of the Arab countries]]
The [[Arab world]] consists of the 22 [[member states of the Arab League|members]] of the [[Arab League]]. As of 2023, the combined population of all the Arab states was around 473&nbsp;million people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Population, total - Arab World |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=1A |website=World Bank Open Data}}</ref>

The most populous Arab state is [[Egypt]], the [[North Africa]]n nation with a population of {{#expr:{{replace|{{UN_Population|Egypt}}|,||}}/1e6 round 0}} million residents. [[Comoros]], the [[Indian Ocean]] nation is the least populated, with around {{UN_Population|Comoros}} inhabitants. The largest city in the Arab World is [[Cairo]], Egypt.<ref name="MECities">{{cite web |title=What are the largest cities in the Middle East? |date=August 2022 |url=https://www.citymonitor.ai/analysis/what-are-the-largest-cities-in-the-middle-east/?cf-view}}</ref>

==Population growth==
The population of the Arab world as estimated in 2023 was about 473 million inhabitants,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/806106/total-population-arab-league/#:~:text=Total%20population%20in%20the%20Arab%20world%202022&text=The%20total%20population%20in%20the,2022%20with%20464.68%20million%20inhabitants | title=Arab world - total population 2013-2023 }}</ref> but no exact figures of the annual population growth, fertility rate, or mortality rate are known to exist.

Over 59 percent of the Arab population is concentrated in urban areas<ref>{{cite web |title=Demography |url=https://arabdevelopmentportal.com/indicator/demography |website=Arab Development Portal}}</ref> and the number is expected to reach 68 percent by 2050.<ref>{{cite web |title=Urbanization and Sustainable Development in the Arab Region |url=https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/social-development-bulletin-urbanization-sustainable-development-arab-region-english.pdf |website=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia}}</ref>

The overwhelming majority of the Arab citizens are [[Muslims]],<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-12-18 |title=The Global Religious Landscape: Muslims |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-muslim/ |access-date= |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US |quote="...the Middle East-North Africa region has an overwhelmingly Muslim population (93%)..."}}</ref> with [[Christians]] being the largest minority group.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-12-18 |title=The Global Religious Landscape: Christians |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-christians/ |access-date= |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US |quote="...Christians live as minorities in the Asia-Pacific region (7%) and the Middle East-North Africa region (4%)..."}}</ref> The Arab countries host several holy cities and other religiously significant locations, including [[Alexandria]], [[Mecca]], [[Medina]], [[Kirkuk]], [[Arbil]], and [[Baghdad]]. [[Sunni]] Muslims constitute vast majority of the Arab world's residents. However, [[Shi'a]] make up the slight majority in areas of [[Iraq]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The World's Muslims: Unity and Diver |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2012/08/the-worlds-muslims-full-report.pdf |website=Pew Research Center}}</ref> and [[Bahrain]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sunni-Shia divide: Where they live, what they believe and how they view each other |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/06/18/the-sunni-shia-divide-where-they-live-what-they-believe-and-how-they-view-each-other/ |website=Pew Research Center|date=18 June 2014 }}</ref>

[[Arab Christians|Christianity]] is the second largest religion, with over 20 million Christians in “total” living in countries such as [[Lebanon]], [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], [[Bahrain]], [[Syria]], [[Kuwait]] and [[Jordan]]. There are smaller [[Arab Jews|Jewish]] populations living mainly in the western part of the Arab world. Places such as: [[Algeria]], [[Bahrain]],  [[Egypt]], [[Morocco]], [[Iraq]], [[Tunisia]], [[Syria]], and [[Yemen]] all have Jewish populations. However, most Arab Jews emigrated from the Arab states to [[Israel]] after its founding in 1948:<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary">{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/jewref.html |title=Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries|publisher=jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=20 August 2015}}</ref> Other minor religions such as [[Druze]] religion, the [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Mandeanism]], [[Yazdanism]], [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Shabakism|Shabak]] religion and [[Yarsan]] are practiced on a much smaller scale.<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = Castellino
 | first1 = Joshua
 | last2 = Cavanaugh
 | first2 = Kathleen A.
| title=Minority Rights in the Middle East
 | chapter =  Religious Minorities
 | editor1 = 
 | edition = Online edition, 26 September 2013
 | publisher = Oxford University Press
 | year = 2013
 | doi = 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679492.003.0002
 | url = https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679492.003.0002
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | last = Weitz
 | first = Lev 
 | title = Religious Minorities in the Modern Middle East
 | url = https://www.fpri.org/article/2015/11/religious-minorities-in-the-modern-middle-east/
 | publisher = Foreign Policy Research Institute
 | date = 2015-11-23
 | accessdate = 2024-11-18
}}</ref>
[[File:Kaaba at night.jpg|thumb|right|The holiest place in Islam, the [[Kaaba]], is located in [[Saudi Arabia]].]]

{{sticky header}}{{table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header col1left" {{right}}
|+{{nowrap|'''Arab countries by religion (percentage of population, as of 2010)'''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-21 |title=Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/feature/religious-composition-by-country-2010-2050/ |access-date= |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref>}}
!Country
!Muslims
!Christians
!Others
|-
| '''{{flag|Arab League}}'''
| '''96%'''
| '''3%'''
| '''1%'''
|-
| {{ALG}}
| 97.9%
| <1%
| 2%
|-
| {{BHR}}
| 70.3%
| 14.5%
| 15.2%
|-
| {{COM}}
| 98.3%
| <1%
| <1%
|-
| {{DJI}}
| 96.9%
| 2.3%
| <1%
|-
| {{EGY}}
| 94.9%
| 5.1%
| 0%
|-
| {{IRQ}}
| 99%
|<1%
|<1%
|-
| {{JOR}}
| 97.2%
| 2.2%
| <1%
|-
| {{KWT}}
| 74.1%
|14.3%
|11.6%
|-
| {{LIB}}
| 61.3%
| 38%
| <1%
|-
| {{LBY}}
| 96.6%
| 2.7%
| <1%
|-
| {{MRT}}
| 99.1%
| <1%
| <1%
|-
| {{MAR}}
| 99.9%
| 0%
| 0%
|-
| {{OMN}}
| 85.9%
| 6.5%
| 7.6%
|-
| {{QAT}}
| 67.7%
| 13.8%
| 17.5%
|-
| {{PSE}}
| 97.6%
| 2.4%
| 0%
|-
| {{SAU}}
| 93%
| 4.4%
| 2.6%
|-
| {{SOM}}
| 99.8%
| <1%
| <1%
|-
| {{SUD}}
| 90.7%
| 5.4%
| 3.9%
|-
| {{SYR}}
| 92.8%
| 5.2%
| 2%
|-
| {{TUN}}
| 76.2%
| <1%
| 24.3%
|-
| {{ARE}}
| 76.9%
| 12.6%
| 11.5%
|-
| {{YEM}}
| 99.1%
| <1%
| <1%
|}

==Languages==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2016}}
In general, [[List of countries and territories where Arabic is an official language|Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the official]] language in the Arab world, but additional languages are often used in the daily lives of some citizens. Arabs, however, don't natively speak MSA but their native [[varieties of Arabic]], which are grouped based on shared features into [[Peninsular Arabic|Peninsular]], [[Mesopotamian Arabic|Mesopotamian]], [[Levantine Arabic|Levantine]], [[Egyptian Arabic|Egyptian]], and [[Maghrebi Arabic|Maghrebi]]. Currently, three major non-Arabic languages are widely used: [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] (in northern Iraq and parts of Syria), [[Berber languages|Berber]] (in [[North Africa]]), and [[Somali language|Somali]] (in the [[Horn of Africa]]).

There are several minority languages that are still spoken today, such as [[Afar language|Afar]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Nubian languages|Nubian]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Neo-Aramaic languages|Aramaic]], and [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. Twenty percent of the Arab population natively speak a non-Arabic language, most commonly, [[Somali language|Somali]], [[Berber languages|Berber]] and [[Kurdish languages]].

==Populations==
Many Arab countries in the Persian Gulf have sizable non-Arab populations. Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman have a [[Persian language|Persian]] speaking minority. The same countries also have Hindi-Urdu speakers and Filipinos as sizable minority. Balochi speakers are a good size minority in Oman. Additionally, countries like Bahrain, UAE, Oman and Kuwait have significant non-Arab and non-Muslim minorities (10–20%) like Hindus and Christians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Many non-Arab countries bordering the Arab states have large [[Arab people]], such as in.: [[Burkino Faso]]; [[Chad]]; [[Mali]]; [[Niger]]; [[Senegal]] and [[Turkey]].:{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

The table below shows the distribution of populations in the [[Arab world]] and Palestine, as well as the official language(s) within the various Arab states.
{| class="wikitable sortable toccolours" style="border-collapse:collapse; margin:auto"
!Arab state
! data-sort-type="number" |Population
!% Arabs
!Official language(s)
!Notes
|-
|{{flag|Algeria}}
|44,903,225 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=DZ | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|85%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Algeria — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ag.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912231911/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ag.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language with [[Berber languages|Berber]]
|
|-
|{{flag|Bahrain}}
|1,733,100<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Countries in the world by population (2021)|url=https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/|access-date=|website=Worldometer}}</ref>
|51%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Bahrain – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ba.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912231939/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ba.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Comoros}}
|780,971<ref name="CIA World Factbook: Comoros">{{cite web|date=26 July 2016|title=CIA World Factbook: Comoros|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/colombia/}}</ref>
|1.5%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Comoros – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cn.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232051/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cn.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic co-official language with [[Comorian language|Comorian]] and [[French language|French]]
|
|-
|{{flag|Djibouti}}
|810,179<ref name="CIA World Factbook: Djibouti">{{cite web|date=23 June 2014|title=CIA World Factbook: Djibouti|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/djibouti/}}</ref>
|1.9%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-10-14|title=Ethnologue report for Djibouti|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Djibouti|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014173435/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Djibouti|archive-date=2012-10-14}}</ref>
|Arabic co-official language with [[French language|French]]
|
|-
|{{flag|Egypt}}
|102,069,001<ref name="CIA World Factbook: Egypt">{{cite web|date=11 May 2020|title=Egypt Population (2017)|url=http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/egypt-population/}}</ref>
|90%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-30|title=Africa :: Egypt – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930184108/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html|archive-date=2019-09-30}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Egypt|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/EG|access-date=2021-02-05|website=Ethnologue|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Iraq}}
|46,081,677<ref name="CIA World Factbook: Iraq">{{cite web|date=20 March 2014|title=CIA World Factbook: Iraq|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iraq/}}</ref>
|75–80%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Iraq – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iz.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232249/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/iz.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language with [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
|
|-
|{{flag|Jordan}}
|10,255,045<ref name=":1" />
|98%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Jordan – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232305/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Kuwait}}
|4,268,873 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=KW | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|59.2%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Kuwait – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232319/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Lebanon}}
|6,810,123<ref name=":1" />
|95%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Lebanon – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232328/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/le.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Libya}}
|6,244,174<ref name="CIA World Factbook: Libya">{{cite web|date=20 June 2014|title=CIA World Factbook: Libya|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/libya/}}</ref>
|97%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Libya – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ly.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232334/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ly.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Mauritania}}
|3,516,806<ref name="CIA World Factbook: Mauritania">{{cite web|date=20 June 2014|title=CIA World Factbook: Mauritania|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mauritania/}}</ref>
|80%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Mauritania – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mr.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232406/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mr.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language{{efn|[[Pulaar language|Pulaar]], [[Wolof language|Wolof]] and [[Soninke language|Soninke]] are recognised as national languages together with Arabic by the 1991 [[Constitution of Mauritania]].}}
|
|-
|{{flag|Morocco}}
| 37,457,971<ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=MA | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|75%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Morocco – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232426/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic co-official language with [[Berber languages|Berber]]
|
|-
|{{flag|Oman}}
|5,174,814<ref name=":1" />
|81%
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flagicon|State of Palestine}} [[Palestine]]
|5,163,462<ref name=":1" />
|90%<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
|Arabic official language
|[[West Bank]]: 2,731,052 (83% Palestinian Arabs)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2019-07-06|title=Middle East :: West Bank – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/LIBRARY/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706155258/https://www.cia.gov/LIBRARY/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html|archive-date=2019-07-06}}</ref> [[Gaza Strip]]: 1,816,379 (100% Palestinian Arabs)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2019-09-16|title=Middle East :: Gaza Strip — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916035900/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html|archive-date=2019-09-16}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Qatar}}
|2,906,257<ref name=":1" />
|40%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Qatar – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232525/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
|36,408,820<ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=SA | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|97%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: Saudi Arabia – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232543/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Somalia}}
|17,597,511<ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=SO | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|1.8%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Somalia – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232603/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic co-official language with [[Somali language|Somali]]
|It is estimated that there are about 1.230,000 Arabs in Somalia.
|-
|{{flag|Sudan}}
|46,874,204	<ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=SD | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|70%<ref name="cia.gov">{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Sudan – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232615/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic co-official language with [[English language|English]]
|
|-
|{{flag|Syria}}
|17,723,461<ref name=":1" />
|90%<ref name="cia.gov"/>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Tunisia}}
| 12,356,117 <ref name="The World Bank Data">{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=TN | title=World Bank Open Data }}</ref>
|98%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Africa :: Tunisia – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232646/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
|10,102,678<ref name="CIA World Factbook: UAE">{{cite web|date=20 June 2014|title=CIA World Factbook: United Arab Emirates|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-arab-emirates/}}</ref>
|40%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-12|title=Middle East :: United Arab Emirates – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ae.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912232709/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ae.html|archive-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|-
|{{flag|Yemen}}
|30,168,998<ref name=":1" />
|98%<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-19|title=Middle East :: Yemen – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ym.html|access-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919060249/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ym.html|archive-date=2019-09-19}}</ref>
|Arabic official language
|
|}

===Armenians===
[[File:Armenian woman and her children from Geghi, 1899.jpg|thumb|right|Armenian refugees after the [[Hamidian massacres]]. A lot of them settled in [[Armenians in Syria|Syria]], [[Armenians in Lebanon|Lebanon]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and [[Armenians in Egypt|Egypt]]]]
The [[Arab world]] has between 400,000 and 500,000 [[Armenians]] inhabiting its geographical area. [[Armenians]] are largely concentrated in countries such as [[Lebanon]] (150,000 to 250,000) and [[Syria]] (100,000 to 150,000) as well as [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and to a lesser degree [[Egypt]] and [[Iraq]], but Armenians can also be found in countries like [[Qatar]] and the [[UAE]]. These Armenians are economic migrants from [[Lebanon]] and [[Syria]].

Prior to World War I, there were some 2,000–3,000 Armenians in Palestine, mostly in Jerusalem. From 1915 and onward, thousands of [[Armenian genocide]] survivors from [[Cilicia]] ([[Adana Vilayet]]) found refuge, and settled in Palestine, increasing its Armenian population.<ref name=dermat>{{cite journal|last=Der Matossian|first=Bedross|title=The Armenians of Palestine 1918–48|journal=[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]|date=2011|volume=41|issue=1 |jstor=10.1525/jps.2011.XLI.1.24 |doi=10.1525/jps.2011.XLI.1.24 |pages=25, 29–30}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Shemassian|first=Vahram|title=Armenian Genocide Survivors in the Holy Land at the End of World War I|journal=Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies|volume=21|year=2012|pages=247–77}}</ref> In 1925, around 15,000 Armenians are believed to have lived in all of Palestine, with the majority in Jerusalem.<ref name=dermat/> During [[Mandatory Palestine]] period, the number of Armenians is estimated to have reached up to 20,000.<ref name=dermat/><ref>{{cite book|last=Bremer|first=Joerg|editor-last=v. Voss|editor-first=Huberta|title=Portraits of Hope: Armenians in the Contemporary World|contribution=Swan Song in the Holy Land: The Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem|date=2007|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781845452575|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3vbswx_1TEC&pg=PA271|page=273}}</ref> However, the 1931 British census showed only 3,524 Armenians in all of Palestine.<ref name=dermat/>

A large number of Armenian monks are recorded to have settled in Jerusalem as early as the 4th century,<ref>{{cite book|last=Hewsen|first=Robert H.|author-link=Robert H. Hewsen|title=Armenia: A Historical Atlas|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|year=2001|isbn=978-0-226-33228-4|page=89}}</ref><ref name="Grgearyan & Hakobjanyan">{{cite book|last1=Grgearyan|first1=Hakob|last2=Hakobjanyan|first2=Davit|title=Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia Volume 3|contribution=Երուսաղեմ [Jerusalem]|date=1977|pages=[https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_3.djvu/641 641–642]|title-link=Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia}}</ref> after the uncovering of Christian holy places in the city.<ref name=dermat/> However, the first written records are from the 5th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vaux|first=Bert|author-link1=Bert Vaux|title=The Armenians in Jerusalem and the Holy Land|publisher=Peeters Pub & Booksellers|year=2002|editor1-last=Ervine|editor1-first=Roberta R|editor2-last=Stone|editor2-first=Michael E.|editor3-last=Stone|editor3-first=Nira|editor2-link=Michael E. Stone|chapter=The Armenian Dialects of Jerusalem|page=5 |citeseerx=10.1.1.18.4523 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321021233/http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.18.4523&rep=rep1&type=pdf |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.18.4523&rep=rep1&type=pdf |archive-date=March 21, 2016}}</ref> Jerusalem is thus considered the oldest living [[Armenian diaspora|diaspora]] community outside the [[Armenian Highlands|Armenian homeland]].<ref name="Tchilingirian">{{cite web |last1=Tchilingirian |first1=Hratch |title=The Armenian Church: A Brief Introduction |url=http://hygradaran.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/8/6/11869782/armenian_church_introduction.pdf |website=hygradaran |publisher=Armenian Church Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423093507/http://hygradaran.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/8/6/11869782/armenian_church_introduction.pdf |archive-date=23 April 2019 |page=8 |quote=According to Vatican sources, some 250,000 Armenians are members of the "Armenian Rite" of the Catholic Church (others put the number closer to 150,000) with communities in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Jerusalem and the US.}}</ref> Nowadays, there are estimated 7500 living in the region of [[Historical Palestine]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://info.wafa.ps/ar_page.aspx?id=5049|title = الأرمن في فلسطين &#124; مركز المعلومات الوطني الفلسطيني}}</ref>

Most [[Armenians]] are Christians mainly following the Orthodox [[Armenian Apostolic Church]]. The church has one of its two headquarters in [[Antelias]], [[Lebanon]], called [[Holy See of Cilicia|The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia]] (the other being in Armenia called [[Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]]). There are also Armenian Catholics. The world headquarters of the [[Armenian Catholic Church]] is also located in Beirut, Lebanon (and historically in [[Bzoummar]], Lebanon). There are also a minority Armenian Evangelical Protestants. The Middle East headquarters of the [[Armenian Evangelical Church]] is in Beirut called [[Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Assyrians===
[[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] (also known as Chaldo-Assyrians) can be found in [[Iraq]], north eastern [[Syria]], and to a lesser degree north western [[Iran]] and south eastern [[Turkey]]. They are an ancient [[Semitic people]] who retain [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] as a spoken language. They are exclusively [[Christians|Christian]] and are descendants of the ancient pre Arab  [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]/[[Mesopotamians]]. Almost all Christians in Iraq are ethnic Assyrians, where they number approximately 400,000. 500,000 are in Syria but are harder to identify, because they are often included in with the general [[Christians|Christian]] population and speak Arabic, however the Christians of the [[Tur Abdin]] and [[Al Hasakah]] regions in the north east are predominantly Assyrian.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Berbers===
{{See also|Amazigh}}[[File:Aït Benhaddou1 (js).jpg|thumb|right| The town of [[Aït Benhaddou]] is a typical desert Amazigh town; the [[Berber people|Berbers]] (Amazigh) are the largest non-Arab ethnicity in the Arab world.]]
[[Berbers]] are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. They are distributed in an area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Niger River. Historically, they spoke Berber languages, which together form the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. Since the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the seventh century, a large number of Berbers inhabiting the Maghreb have acquired different degrees of knowledge of varieties of Maghrebi Arabic.<ref name="MaghrebiArabic">{{cite book |last1=Benkato |first1=Adam |editor1-last=Lucas |editor1-first=Christopher |editor2-last=Manfredi |editor2-first=Stefano |title=Arabic and Contact-Induced Change |date=2020 |publisher=Language Science Press |pages=197–212 |url=https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/235 |chapter=Maghrebi Arabic|isbn=978-3-96110-251-8 }}</ref>

===Circassians===
[[Circassians]] are a people who originate in the [[North Caucasus]]. They are predominantly Muslim, and can be found in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Egypt in relatively small numbers.<ref name="Circassians1">{{cite web |title=Circassians |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/commonwealth-independent-states-and-baltic-nations/cis-and-baltic-political-geography/circassians |website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Circassian Diaspora |url=https://circassianstudies.org/en/circassian-diaspora/ |website=Center for Circassian Studies}}</ref>

===Coptic Christians===
[[Egypt]]ian [[Copts|Coptic Christians]] are a religious group who do not usually identify themselves as Arabic and they follow the Coptic Orthodox Church. They place heavy emphasis on the Egyptian aspect of their identity and their [[Christianity|Christian heritage]]. Their numbers are heavily disputed but are estimated to compromise roughly 5.35% of the Egyptian population. They are mainly followers of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], there are however a minority among them who are members of the [[Coptic Catholic Church]], and an even smaller group who belong to the [[Coptic Evangelical Church]]. The [[Coptic language|Egyptian Coptic language]], which is a late script that was developed in [[Egypt (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]], written in the [[Greek alphabet]] and descending from the late form of the [[Egyptian language]] of [[ancient Egypt]], continues to be used as the liturgical language of the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Origin and Evolution of the Coptic Language |url=https://www.copticchurch.net/coptic_language/origin_of_coptic_language |website=CopticChurch.net}}</ref>

===Jews===
{{Further|Jewish tribes of Arabia|Arab Jews}}
The [[Jewish tribes of Arabia]] were Arabian tribes professing the [[Judaism|Jewish faith]] that inhabited the [[Arabian Peninsula]] before and during the advent of [[Islam]].  It is not always clear whether they were originally [[Israelite]] in ancestry, genealogically Arab tribes that converted to Judaism, or a mixture of both. In Islamic tradition the Jewish tribes of the [[Hejaz]] were seen as the offspring of the ancient [[Israelites]].<ref name="Gil">{{cite book|last=Gil|first=Moshe|title=The origin of the Jews of Yathrib|year=1997|publisher=BRILL |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vTTCwG0nKIC&q=The+Origin+of+the+Jews+of+Yathrib&pg=PA3|isbn=9789004138827}}</ref>{{rp|4–5}} According to Muslim sources, they spoke a language other than Arabic, which [[Al-Tabari]] claims was Persian. This implies they were connected to the major Jewish center in Babylon.<ref name="Gil"/>{{rp|5}} Certain Jewish traditions records the existence of nomadic tribes such as the [[Rechabite]]s that converted to Judaism in antiquity. The tribes collapsed with the rise of Islam, with many either converting or fleeing the Arab peninsula. Some of those tribes are thought to have merged into [[Yemenite Jews|Yemenite Jewish community]], while others, like the residents of [[Yatta, Hebron|Yatta]] consider themselves Islamized descendants of [[Khaybar]], a Jewish tribe of Arabia.<ref name="LS201022">{{Cite encyclopedia |entry=Khaybar |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World |publisher=Brill |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/*-COM_0012910 |access-date=2023-06-22 |last=Lowin |first=Shari |title=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World Online |date=2010-10-01 |pages=148–150 |doi=10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_com_0012910 |quote=Khaybar's Jews appear in Arab folklore as well. [...] The Muḥamara family of the Arab village of Yutta, near Hebron, trace their descent to the Jews of Khaybar. Families in other nearby villages tell of similar lineages. |via=brillonline.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[Jew]]s from Arab countries&nbsp;– included in the [[Mizrahi Jewish]] communities– are not categorized as, and do not consider themselves to be, Arabs, as Jews are a separate nation from Arabs, with different history and culture.<ref name="Jews-are-ethnoreligious-group">
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=V4qhTL61nXEC&dq=jew+ethnic+mandla&pg=PA43 Ethnic minorities in English law&nbsp;– Google Books]. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.
*{{cite journal|jstor=2573430|title=Jewish Ethno-Religious Involvement and Political Liberalism|author=Edgar Litt|journal=Social Forces|volume=39 |issue=4|year=1961|pages=328–332|doi=10.2307/2573430}}
*{{cite web|title=Are Jews a Religious Group or an Ethnic Group?|url=http://www.icsresources.org/content/curricula/ReligiousOrEthnic.pdf|work=Institute for Curriculum Services|access-date=2013-10-21|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021112918/http://www.icsresources.org/content/curricula/ReligiousOrEthnic.pdf|archive-date=2013-10-21}}
*{{cite web|title=The Samaritans&nbsp;– A Jewish Sect in Israel: Strategies for Survival of an Ethno-religious Minority in the Twenty First Century|author=Sean Ireton|publisher=Anthrobase|year=2003|access-date=2009-12-30|url=http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/I/Ireton_S_01.htm}}
*{{cite book |last=Levey |first=Geoffrey Brahm |title=Studies in Contemporary Jewry: XI: Values, Interests, and Identity |chapter=Toward a Theory of Disproportionate American Jewish Liberalism |editor=Peter Y. Medding |location=New York |year=1996 |pages=64–85 |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=Online|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195103311.003.0005 |isbn=0-19-510331-9 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195103311.003.0005 }}
*{{cite journal|title=Symbolic Ethnicity or Religion Among Jews in the United States: A Test of Gansian Hypotheses|author=J. Alan Winter|journal=Review of Religious Research|volume=37|date=March 1996|issue=3|url=https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=96271706}}
</ref> However, sometimes the term [[Arab Jews]] is used to describe Jews from Arab countries, though the term is highly controversial. Sociologist Sammy Smooha stated "This ("Arab Jews") term does not hold water. It is absolutely not a parallel to 'Arab Christian'".<ref>Lee, Vered. (2008-05-18) [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/conference-asks-iraqi-israeli-arab-jew-or-mizrahi-jew-1.246035 Conference asks: Iraqi Israeli, Arab Jew or Mizrahi Jew? – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper]. Haaretz.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.</ref> Those who dispute the [[historicity]] of the term make the claim that Middle Eastern Jews are similar to [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Berbers]], and other Middle Eastern groups who live in Arab societies as distinct minority groups with distinct identity and therefore are not categorized as Arabs.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Kurds===
In the northern regions of [[Iraq]] (15-20%) and [[Syria]] (10%) live a group called the [[Kurd]]s, an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]], indigenous ethnic group who speak [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]], a language closely related to [[Persian language|Persian]] and using [[Persian alphabet]], except in [[Turkey]] where Kurdish is written using a [[Latin alphabet]] orthography. The majority of Kurds are [[Sunni Muslim]], others are [[Alevi]] Muslim, with [[Christians|Christian]] and [[Yarsan]] minorities. The nationalist aspiration for self-rule or for a state of [[Kurdistan]] has created conflict between Kurdish minorities and their governments in [[Iraq]], [[Iran]], [[Syria]] and [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Time of the Kurds |url=https://www.cfr.org/article/time-kurds |website=Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref>

===Mandaeans===
[[Mandaeans]], sometimes also called [[Sabians]], are a people found mainly in southern Iraq. Their numbers total no more than 70,000. They follow [[Mandaeism]], a [[gnostic]] religion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mackenzie |first=J. M. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Mandaean Studies |year=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6859}}</ref>

===Mhallami===
[[Mhallami]] are a tiny minority of unknown origins who have converted to Islam.<ref>{{cite journal | journal =  Journal of International Social Research| volume = 12 | number = 62| year =2019|last1=Bozkurt |first1=Abdülbaki | title=The Historical Roots of the Mhallami Arabs in Turkey as a Subject of Debate. |url=https://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/articles/the-historical-roots-of-the-mhallami-arabs-in-turkey-as-a-subject-ofdebate.pdf}}</ref>

===Nubians===
{{See also|Nubians}}
Nubians, found in Northern [[Sudan]] and Southern [[Egypt]], are a different [[ethnicity]] from their northern and southern neighbors in Egypt and Sudan, numbering 1.7&nbsp;million in Sudan and Egypt. The [[Nubian people]] in Sudan inhabit the region between [[Wadi Halfa]] in the north and [[Al Dabbah, Sudan|Al Dabbah]] in the south. The main Nubian groups from north to south are the Halfaweyen, Sikut (Sickkout), [[Mahas]], and Danagla. They speak different dialects of the [[Nubian language]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

[[Ancient Nubians]] were famous for their vast wealth, their trade between [[Central Africa]] and the lower [[Nile valley]] civilizations, including Egypt, their skill and precision with the bow, their [[Old Nubian|23-letter alphabet]], the use of deadly poison on the heads of their arrows, their great military, their advanced civilization, and their [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|century-long rule over the united upper and lower Egyptian kingdoms]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Roma===
[[Romani people|Roma]] are to be found in many parts of the Middle East and North Africa; their numbers are unknown. They speak their own language and may loosely follow the predominant religion of the country they live in.<ref name="Bury Me Standing">{{cite book|title=Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey|author=Fonseca, I.|date=1996|publisher=Vintage|isbn=9780679737438|url=https://archive.org/details/burymestandinggy00fonse|url-access=registration|access-date=20 August 2015}}</ref>

===Shabaks===
[[Shabak people|Shabaks]] are mainly found in Iraq, they are either Muslim or follow native religions. They are also related to Kurds, but like the Yazidi, emphasise their separate identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shabak in Iraq |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/shabak/ |website=Minority Rights Group}}</ref>

===Somalis===
[[Somali language|Somali]] and Arabic are the two official languages in [[Somalia]], both of which belong to the [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] family. Article 3 of the [[Constitution of Somalia|constitution]] outlines the country's founding principles, establishing it as a Muslim state, and a member of the Arab and African nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RkJTOSpoMME= |title=Provisional Constitution |work=[[Federal Republic of Somalia]] |date=1 August 2012 |at=Article 5 |access-date=25 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122013/http://unpos.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=RkJTOSpoMME%3D |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> About 85% of local residents are [[Somali people|ethnic Somalis]],<ref name="factbook">{{cite web|author=Central Intelligence Agency|title=Somalia|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|location=Langley, Virginia|year=2011|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/somalia/|access-date=7 July 2013}}</ref> who have historically inhabited the northern part of the country.<ref name="Abdullahi1">{{cite book |last=Abdullahi |first=Mohamed Diriye |title=Culture and customs of Somalia |publisher=Greenwood |year=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri/page/8 8]–11 |url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00diri |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-313-31333-2}}</ref> Many self-identify as Somali instead of Arab despite centuries-old ties to Arabia.<ref>{{cite book |author=David D. Laitin |title=Politics, Language, and Thought |date=1977 |isbn=0226467910 |page=50|publisher=University of Chicago Press }}</ref> There are also a number of [[Bravanese people|Bravanese]], [[Somali Bantu|Bantus]], [[Bajuni people|Bajunis]], [[Ethiopia]]ns, [[India]]ns, [[Pakistan]]is, [[Persian people|Persians]], [[British people|Britons]] and [[Italy|Italians]].<ref name="Abdullahi1"/><ref name="Gale">{{cite book|last=Gale Research Inc.|title=Worldmark encyclopedia of the nations, Volume 2|year=1984|publisher=Gale Research|page=278}}</ref>

[[Djibouti]], whose demographics are approximately 60% Somali and 35% [[Afar people|Afar]], is in a similar position. Arabic is one of the official languages, 94% of the nation's population is Muslim, and its location on the [[Red Sea]] places it in close proximity to the Arabian Peninsula. Somali and [[Afar language|Afar]] are also recognized national languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/djibouti/ |title=Djibouti |work=CIA Factbook|date=6 December 2023 }}</ref>

===Turks===
{{see also|Turks in the Arab world}}
The Arab world is home to sizeable populations of Turks throughout [[North Africa]], the [[Levant]], and the [[Arabian Peninsula]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

There is a notable Turkish minority in [[Egypt]]; prior to the [[Egyptian Revolution of 1919|Egyptian revolution]] in 1919, the ruling and upper classes were mainly Turkish,  or of Turkish descent (see [[Turks in Egypt]]), which was part of the heritage from the Ottoman rule of Egypt.<ref>{{citation|last=Abdelrazek|first=Amal Talaat|year=2007|title=Contemporary Arab American women writers: hyphenated identities and border crossings|publisher=[[Cambria Press]]|isbn=978-1-934043-71-4|page=37|quote=This interiorized rejection of things local and Arabic in part derives from the fact that the ruling and upper classes in the years before the revolution were mainly Turkish, or of Turkish descent, part of the heritage from the Ottoman rule in Egypt. If one was not really Western, but belonged to the elite, one was Turkish. Only the masses, the country folk, were quite simply Egyptian in the first place, and possibly Arabs secondarily. }}</ref>

In the [[Levant]] the Turks are scattered throughout the region. In Iraq and Syria the Turkish minorities are commonly referred to as "Turkmen", "Turkman" and "Turcoman"; these terms have historically been used to designate Turkish speakers in Arab areas, or Sunni Muslims in Shiite areas.<ref name=Peyrouse2015>{{citation |last=Peyrouse|first=Sebastien|year=2015|title=Turkmenistan: Strategies of Power, Dilemmas of Development|page=62|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0230115521}}</ref> The majority of [[Iraqi Turkmen]] and [[Syrian Turkmen]] are the descendants of Ottoman Turkish settlers.<ref name="Taylor 2004 loc=31">{{citation |last=Taylor|first=Scott|year=2004|title=Among the Others: Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq|publisher=[[Esprit de Corps (magazine)|Esprit de Corps]]|isbn=1-895896-26-6|page=31|quote=The largest number of Turkmen immigrants followed the army of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent when he conquered all of Iraq in 1535. Throughout their reign, the Ottomans encouraged the settlement of immigrant Turkmen along the loosely formed boundary that divided Arab and Kurdish settlements in northern Iraq.}}</ref><ref name="Jawhar 2010 loc=314">{{citation |last=Jawhar|first=Raber Tal'at|year=2010|chapter=The Iraqi Turkmen Front|chapter-url=http://ifpo.revues.org/1115|title=Returning to Political Parties?|editor1-last=Catusse|editor1-first=Myriam|editor2-last=Karam|editor2-first=Karam|publisher=The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies|pages=313–328|isbn=978-1-886604-75-9|quote=There's a strong conflict of opinions regarding the origins of Iraqi Turkmen, however, it is certain that they settled down during the Ottoman rule in the northwest of Mosul, whence they spread to eastern Baghdad. Once there, they became high ranked officers, experts, traders, and executives in residential agglomerations lined up along the vast, fertile plains, and mingled with Kurds, Assyrians, Arabs, and other confessions. With the creation of the new Iraqi state in 1921, Iraqi Turkmen managed to maintain their socioeconomic status.}}</ref><ref name="International Crisis Group">{{citation|last=International Crisis Group|year=2008|url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Iraq/81Turkey%20and%20Iraqi%20Kurds%20Conflict%20or%20Cooperation.ashx|title=Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?|publisher=[[International Crisis Group]]|quote=Turkomans are descendents of Ottoman Empire-era soldiers, traders and civil servants... The 1957 census, Iraq’s last reliable count before the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, put the country’s population at 6,300,000 and the Turkoman population at 567,000, about 9 per cent...Subsequent censuses, in 1967, 1977, 1987 and 1997, are all considered highly problematic, due to suspicions of regime manipulation.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112131324/http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Iraq/81Turkey%20and%20Iraqi%20Kurds%20Conflict%20or%20Cooperation.ashx|archive-date=12 January 2011}}</ref><ref name=TheNewYorkTimes>{{cite news|author=The New York Times|author-link=The New York Times|year=2015|title=Who Are the Turkmens of Syria?|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/middleeast/who-are-the-turkmens-of-syria.html?_r=1|quote=In the context of Syria, though, the term ["Turkmen"] is used somewhat differently, to refer mainly to people of Turkish heritage whose families migrated to Syria from Anatolia during the centuries of the Ottoman period — and thus would be closer kin to the Turks of Turkey than to the Turkmens of Central Asia...Q. How many are there? A. No reliable figures are available, and estimates on the number of Turkmens in Syria and nearby countries vary widely, from the hundreds of thousands up to 3 million or more.}}</ref> and share close cultural and linguistic ties with [[Turkey]], particularly the [[Anatolia]]n region.<ref>{{cite news|author=BBC|title=Who's who in Iraq: Turkmen |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3770923.stm|date=June 18, 2004|access-date=2011-11-23|quote=The predominantly Muslim Turkmen are an ethnic group with close cultural and linguistic ties to Anatolia in Turkey.}}</ref><ref name=TheNewYorkTimes/> In 2013 the Iraqi Ministry of Planning estimated that Iraqi Turkmen numbered 3 million out of the country's 34.7 million inhabitants (approximately 9% of the total population).<ref>{{cite web|last=Bassem|first=Wassim|year=2016|title=Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkmens-iraq-mosul-tal-afar.html|publisher=[[Al-Monitor]]|quote=Turkmens are a mix of Sunnis and Shiites and are the third-largest ethnicity in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, numbering around 3 million out of the total population of about 34.7 million, according to 2013 data from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning.|access-date=2016-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017222707/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkmens-iraq-mosul-tal-afar.html|archive-date=2016-10-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> Estimates of the Syrian Turkmen population range from several hundred thousand to 3.5 million.<ref>{{cite news|author=BBC|author-link=BBC|year=2015|title=Who are the Turkmen in Syria?|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34910389|quote=There are no reliable population figures, but they are estimated to number between about half a million and 3.5 million.}}</ref> There is also Turkish minorities located in [[Jordan]] ([[Turks in Jordan]]) and [[Lebanon]] ([[Turks in Lebanon]]). In Lebanon, they live mainly in the villages of [[Aydamun]] and [[Kouachra]] in the [[Akkar District]], as well as in [[Baalbek]], [[Beirut]], and [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]]. The [[Turks in Lebanon|Lebanese Turks]] number approximately 80,000.<ref>{{cite web|author=Al-Akhbar|title=Lebanese Turks Seek Political and Social Recognition|url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-turks-seek-political-and-social-recognition|access-date=2012-03-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620232105/https://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-turks-seek-political-and-social-recognition|archive-date=2018-06-20|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, there has also been a recent influx of [[Syrian Turkmen]] refugees (125,000 to 150,000 in 2015) who now outnumber the long establish Ottoman descended Turkish minority.<ref>{{citation|last=Ahmed|first=Yusra|year=2015|title=Syrian Turkmen refugees face double suffering in Lebanon|url=https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/11837.html|publisher=Zaman Al Wasl|access-date= 11 October 2016}}</ref>

In the [[Arabian Peninsula]], there are Turkish minorities who have lived in the region since the Ottoman era. The Turks live predominately in [[Saudi Arabia]] (see [[Turks in Saudi Arabia]]) and [[Yemen]] (see [[Turks in Yemen]]).{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

===Yazidi===
The [[Yazidi]] are a religious Kurdish community who represent an ancient religion that is linked to Zoroastrianism. They number 600,000 in Iraq<ref>{{cite news |title=Who are the Yazidis? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/08/07/who-are-the-yazidis/ |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> and between 10,000 and 50,000 in Syria.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yazidis Benefit From Kurdish Gains in Northeast Syria|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/10/syria-yazidi-minorities-kurds.html#|newspaper=Al-Monitor|date=18 October 2013|author=Andrea Glioti|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219190332/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/10/syria-yazidi-minorities-kurds.html|archive-date=19 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Modern identities===

====North Africans====
{{See also|Sudan}}
{{See also|Mauritania}}
[[File:Mosque - Kairouan.jpg|thumb|[[Great Mosque of Kairouan]], [[Tunisia]]]]
[[North Africa]]ns are the inhabitants of the [[North Africa]] ([[Morocco]], [[Algeria]], [[Tunisia]], [[Libya]] and [[Egypt]]). Maghrebis mostly speak [[Maghrebi Arabic]], which is descended from [[Classical Arabic]] and has a marked [[Berber languages|Berber]] [[Stratum (linguistics)|substratum]], while Egyptians speak [[Egyptian Arabic]] which is mainly based on Coptic grammar rather than Classical Arabic.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bishai |first=Wilson B. |title=Coptic Grammatical Influence on Egyptian Arabic |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=82 |issue=3 |year=1962 |pages=285–289 |doi=10.2307/597639 |jstor=597639 }}</ref>

In 647 AD (the year 27 of the Hijrah), the first [[Muslim]] expedition to [[Africa]] took place. By 700 AD, the area had been conquered and converted to the [[Islamic faith]]. We know little of the early Islamic town, but by the tenth century the area outside of the fortress was once more filled with houses: on the site of the Roman baths over twelve of these were excavated, with large courtyards surrounded by long, thin, rooms.<ref>E. Fentress, ed., ''Fouilles de Sétif 1977–1984'' BAA supp. 5, Algiers, 114–151</ref>

After ruling over [[Cairo]], the [[Fatimids]] left the rule in [[Tunisia]] and parts of eastern [[Algeria]] to the [[Zirids]] (972–1148).<ref name="stearns2">{{cite book |last1 = Stearns|first1 = Peter N.|last2 = Leonard Langer|first2 = William|title = The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea|url-access = limited|publisher = [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]]|year = 2001|edition = 6|pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea/page/n2476 129]–131|isbn = 0-395-65237-5}}</ref> The invasion of Tunisia which was known as [[Ifriqiya]], was done by the [[Banu Hilal]], an [[Arabs|Arab]] tribe encouraged by the [[Fatimids]] to seize [[North Africa]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = François Decret, Les invasions hilaliennes en Ifrîqiya – Clio – Voyage Culturel|url = https://www.clio.fr/BIBLIOTHEQUE/les_invasions_hilaliennes_en_ifriqiya.asp|website = www.clio.fr|access-date = 2015-11-21}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Demographics of the Middle East and North Africa]]
*[[List of largest cities of the Arab League|List of largest cities of the Arab world]]
*[[List of Arab countries by population]]
*[[List of Arab League countries by GDP (nominal)]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Genetics==
{{Further|Genetic studies on Arabs|Genetic history of the Middle East|Genetic history of North Africa}}

===Y chromosome===
Listed here are the [[human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups]] in main regions of the [[Arab world]] ([[Maghreb]], [[Mashriq]] and [[Arabian peninsula]]).<ref>Bekada A, Fregel R, Cabrera VM, Larruga JM, Pestano J, et al. (2013) [http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0056775 Introducing the Algerian Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Profiles into the North African Landscape]. PLoS ONE 8(2): e56775. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056775</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 100%; border:1"
! Haplogroup
! n
! A
! B
! C
! DE
! E1a
! E1b1a
! E1b1b1
! E1b1b1a
! E1b1b1a1
! E1b1b1a1b
! E1b1b1a2
! E1b1b1a3
! E1b1b1a4
! E1b1b1b
! E1b1b1c
|-
| '''Marker'''||||||||||||M33||M2||M35||M78||V12||V32||V13||V22||V65||M81||M34
|-
| '''Maghreb'''|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|-
| Sahara/Mauritania||189||-||0.53||-||-||5.29||6.88||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||55.56||11.11
|-
| Morocco||760||0.26||0.66||-||-||2.76||3.29||4.21||0.79||0.26||-||0.26||1.84||3.68||67.37||0.66
|-
| Algeria||156||-||-||-||-||0.64||5.13||0.64||1.92||0.64||-||0.64||1.28||1.92||44.23||1.28
|-
| Tunisia||601||-||0.17||-||-||0.5||0.67||1.66||-||-||-||-||3||3.16||50.73||1.16
|-
| Libya||83||-||-||-||-||-||38.55||-||-||-||-||2.41||-||4.82||45.78||-
|-
| '''Machrik'''||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|-
| Egypt||370||1.35||-||-||-||0.54||2.43||3.24||0.81||7.03||1.62||0.81||9.19||2.43||11.89||6.76
|-
|  Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq||2741||0.18||0.04||0.04||-||0.33||0.62||0.44||-||-||-||1.24||8.72||-||0.84||5.36
|-
| '''Arabian Peninsula'''||618||0.16||0.81||0.97||0.81||0.32||5.66||1.94||0.49||-||-||0.32||2.43||-||0.16||5.66
|-
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 100%; border:1"
! Haplogroup<br />(continued)
! F
! G
! H
! I
! J1
! J2
! K
! L
! N
! O
! P,R
! Q
! R1a1
! R1b
! R1b1a
! R1b1b
! R2
! T
|-
| '''Marker'''||M89||M201||M69||||||||||||||||||||||M343||V88||M269||||M70
|-
| '''Maghreb'''||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|-
| Sahara/Mauritania||||-||-||-||13.23||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||6.88||0.53||-||-
|-
| Morocco||0.26||0.66||-||0.13||6.32||1.32||0.53||-||-||-||0.26||-||-||-||0.92||3.55||-||-
|-
| Algeria||3.85||-||-||-||21.79||2.49||0.64||-||-||-||-||0.64||0.64||-||2.56||7.04||-||-
|-
| Tunisia||2.66||0.17||-||0.17||26.64||6.83||0.33||-||-||-||0.33||-||0.5||-||1.83||0.33||-||1.16
|-
| Libya||-||8||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||2.41||-||-||-||6.02||-||-||-
|-
| '''Machrik'''||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|-
| Egypt||1.08||5.68||-||0.54||20.81||6.75||0.27||0.81||-||0.27||0.54||0.27||2.16||-||2.97||2.97||0.54||6.22
|-
|  Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq||0.15||5.47||-||2.84||30.83||21.05||0.69||3.43||0.15||0.07||0.66||1.2||3.39||0.36||5.47||1.97||0.47||3.98
|-
| '''Arabian Peninsula'''||1.29||2.91||2.1||-||44.01||11.32||4.37||2.27||-||0.65||0.32||1.46||6.31||0.16||-||2.43||0.16||0.49
|-
|}

==Comparison of the members==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2016}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Country
!Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
!Population{{UN_Population|ref}} ({{UN_Population|Year}})
!GDP PPP (in billions $)
!TFR
|-
| {{flag|Arab League}}
| 13,132,327
| 406,691,829
| 3,335.3
|
|-
| {{ALG}}
| 2,381,740
| {{UN_Population|Algeria}}
| 284.7
|2.80 (2020)
|-
| {{BHR}}
| 760
| {{UN_Population|Bahrain}}
| 34.96
|1.74 (2019 est)
|-
| {{COM}}
| 2,235
| {{UN_Population|Comoros}}
| 0.911
|4.3 (2012 est)
|-
| {{DJI}}
| 23,200
| {{UN_Population|Djibouti}}
| 2.505
|2.8 (2010 est)
|-
| {{EGY}}
| 1,001,450
| {{UN_Population|Egypt}}
| 551.4
|2.63 (2021 est)
|-
| {{IRQ}}
| 438,317
| {{UN_Population|Iraq}}
| 249.4
|3.6 (2018 est)
|-
| {{JOR}}
| 89,342
| {{UN_Population|Jordan}}
| 40.02
|2.6 (2020 est)
|-
| {{KWT}}
| 17,818
| {{UN_Population|Kuwait}}
| 165.8
|2.03 (2020 est)
|-
| {{LIB}}
| 10,452
| {{UN_Population|Lebanon}}
| 51.474
|1.74 (2014 est)
|-
| {{LBY}}
| 1,759,540
| {{UN_Population|Libya}}
| 73.6
|2.20 (2020 est)
|-
| {{MTN}}
| 1,030,700
| {{UN_Population|Mauritania}}
| 8.204
|5.20 (2021)
|-
| {{MAR}}
| 710,850
| {{UN_Population|Morocco}}
| 180
|1.87 (2020)
|-
| {{OMN}}
| 309,500
| {{UN_Population|Oman}}
| 94.86
|2.66 (2020)
|-
| {{QAT}}
| 11,586
| {{UN_Population|Qatar}}
| 26.37
|1.67 (2020 est)
|-
| {{SAU}}
| 2,149,690
| {{UN_Population|Saudi Arabia}}
| 927.8
|1.92 (2018)
|-
| {{SOM}}
| 637,657
| {{UN_Population|Somalia}}
| 5.896
|5.70 (2018 est)
|-
| {{SUD}}
| 1,861,484
| {{UN_Population|Sudan}}
| 89.97
|4.49 (2012)
|-
| {{SYR}}
| 185,180
| {{UN_Population|Syrian Arab Republic}}
| 107.6
|3.0 (2012)
|-
| {{TUN}}
| 163,610
| {{UN_Population|Tunisia}}
| 108.4
|1.86 (2020)
|-
| {{ARE}}
| 83,600
| {{UN_Population|United Arab Emirates}}
| 269.8
|1.75  (2016 est)
|-
| {{YEM}}
| 527,968
| {{UN_Population|Yemen}}
| 61.63
|4.4 (2013)
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}
{{Arab League}}
{{Ethnicity}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of The Arab League}}
[[Category:Arab League]]
[[Category:Arabic-speaking people]]
[[Category:Arabic-language culture]]