arabs - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8/11/2019 Arabs - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

1/36

10/3/2014 Arabs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs 1/36

Arabs

Al-Arab

Al-Mutanabbi

Al-Kindi IbnKhaldun

Sheba"Bilqis"

Philip theArab

Ibn al-Haytham

MuhammadAhmad

SharifHussein

Ibn Saud Omar Mukhtar

YasserArafat

Qaboos binSaid

Nawal ElMoutawakel

Fayeq al-Ayadhi

Manal al-Sharif

Rania al-Abdullah

TawakkolKarman

NaseerShamma

Fairuz HouariBoumediene

Total population

c. 420450 million[1]

Regions with significant populations

Arab League 400 million [2]

ArabsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arabs(A rabic: , arab) or Arabic-speaking people, are a major panethnic

group.[12] They primarily inhabit Western Asia, North Africa, parts of the Horn ofAfrica, and other areas in the Arab world. Arabic groups which inhabit or are adjacent to

the Arabian plate and Arabic speaking people include the Lebanese, Syrians, Emiratis,Qataris, Saudis, Bahrainis, Kuwaitis, Iraqis, Omanis, Jordanians, Palestinians, Yemenis,Sudanis, Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians, Libyans and Egyptians.

Arabic-speaking populations in general are a highly heterogeneous collection ofpeoples, with different ancestral origins and identities. The ties that bind the Arabpeoples are a veneer of shared heritage by virtueof commo n linguistic, cultural, andpolitical traditions. As such, Arab identity is based on one or more of genealogical,

linguistic or cultural grounds,[13] although with competing identities often taking a more

prominent role,[14] based on considerations including r egional,na tional, clan, kin, sect,and tribe affiliations and relationships. If the Arab panethnicity is regarded as a singlepopulation,then it constitutes o ne of the world's largest groups after Han Chinese.

The Arabian Peninsula itself was not entirely originally Arab, Arabization occurred insome parts of the Arabian Peninsula. For example, the language shift to Arabicdisplaced the indigenous South SemiticOld S outh Arabian languages of modern-dayYemen andsout hern Oman. Thesewer ethe la nguages spoken in the civilisations ofSheba, Ubar, Magan, Dilmun, and Meluhhawhich were spread via migrants from the

Arabian peninsula, together with written script, in the 8th and 7th centuries BC to theHornof Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti).

Contents

1 Name

2 Identity

3 Subgroups
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houari_Boumedienehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawal_El_Moutawakelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nawal_El_Moutawakel_(cropped).JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayeq_Abdul-Jaleelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manal_al-Sharifhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manal_al-Shraif.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sherif-Hussein.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sherif-Hussein.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abd_Al-Aziz_ibn_Saud1927.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abd_Al-Aziz_ibn_Saud1927.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Omar_Mukhtar_13.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Omar_Mukhtar_13.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_Khaldun.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_Khaldun.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackSheba-Text.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackSheba-Text.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_emperor_Philippus_Arabus_-_Hermitage_Museum.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_emperor_Philippus_Arabus_-_Hermitage_Museum.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Rania_of_Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Rania_in_Washington,_DC.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Semitichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Arabianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arafat_keffiyeh.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_shifthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arafat_keffiyeh.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arafat_keffiyeh.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinesehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhazenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ahmadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectarianismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_al-Haytham.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Muhammad_Ahmad_al-Mahdi.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_al-Haytham.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Arabismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_(social_science)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_al-Haytham.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mutanabbihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Almutanabbi1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Almutanabbi1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Qatarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Saudi_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Bahrainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Kuwaithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omani_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Almutanabbi1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_platehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiratishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_of_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panethnicityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritreahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_of_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meluhhahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilmunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magan_(civilization)http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ubar_(civilazation)&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Arabianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Semitichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_shifthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinesehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectarianismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_(social_science)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Arabismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omani_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Kuwaithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Bahrainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Saudi_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Qatarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiratishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_platehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_of_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panethnicityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houari_Boumedienehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Houari_Boumedi%C3%A8ne.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairuzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fairuz04.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naseer_Shammahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Naseer_Shamma_en_los_Encuentros_Averroes_de_C%C3%B3rdoba_(2011).jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawakkol_Karmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Rania_of_Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Rania_in_Washington,_DC.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manal_al-Sharifhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manal_al-Shraif.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayeq_Abdul-Jaleelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fatherpic.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawal_El_Moutawakelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nawal_El_Moutawakel_(cropped).JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaboos_bin_Saidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sultan_Qaboos_bin_Said_al_Said.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arafat_keffiyeh.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mukhtarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Omar_Mukhtar_13.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Saudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abd_Al-Aziz_ibn_Saud1927.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_bin_Ali,_Sharif_of_Meccahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sherif-Hussein.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ahmadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Muhammad_Ahmad_al-Mahdi.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhazenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_al-Haytham.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_the_Arabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_emperor_Philippus_Arabus_-_Hermitage_Museum.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Shebahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackSheba-Text.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_Khaldun.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Kindihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Al-kindi.jpeghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mutanabbihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Almutanabbi1.jpg


2/36



Brazil 10,000,000 [3]

France 5,880,000 [4]

I ndonesia 5,000,000 (Arab ancestry) [5]

United States 3,500,000 [6]

Sri Lanka 1,870,000 [7]

Israel 1,658,000 [8]

V enezuela 1,600,000 [9]

Languages

Arabic, Modern South Arabian,[10][11] varieties of

Arabic, French, English, Hebrew

Religion

Islam (predominantly Sunni, minority Shia) with

Christianity and other religions as minorities

Related ethnic groups

Other Semitic peoples and various Afro-Asiatic peoples

4 Demographics

4.1 Arab world

4.2 Migration and diaspora

5 History

5.1 Pre-Islamic

5.1.1 Semitic origin5.1.2 Early history

5.1.3 Classical kingdoms

5.1.4 Late kingdoms

5.2 Islamic

5.2.1 Arab Caliphate

5.2.2 Golden Age of Islam

5.2.3 Ottoman Caliphate5.3 Modern

6 Religion

6.1 Ancient times

6.2 Islam

6.3 Druze faith

6.4 Christianity

6.5 Judaism7 Culture

7.1 Art

7.2 Architecture

7.3 Music

7.4 Literature

8 Genetics

8.1 Y-Chromosome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Asiatic_languageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_South_Arabianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil


3/36



8.2 mtDNA Analysis

8.3 Other Chromosomes

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

Name

Originally, "Arabs" were synonymous with Arabians (inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula), until the Arabisation of people with no Arabianancestry, mostly during the Abbasid Caliphate. Therefore all uses of the word "Arab" prior to the 7th century, and most those prior to the 13thcentury AD refer specifically to Arabians. Later uses of the word "Arab" could refer to anyone whose part of the wider linguistic and panethnicdefinitions of Arabs. The earliest documented use of the word "Arab" to refer to a people appears in the Monolith Inscription, an Akkadianlanguage record of the 9th century BC Assyrian Conquest of Syria, which referred to Bedouins under King Gindibu who fought as part of a

coalition opposed to the Assyrians.[15] Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqarare 1000 camels of "Gi-in-di-bu'u the ar-ba-a-a" or "[the man] Gindibu belonging to the arab" (ar-ba-a-abeing an adjectival nisba of the

noun arab[15]). arab, with the Arabic letter "alif" in the second syllable, is still used today to describe Bedouins today, distinguishing themfrom rab, used to describe non-Bedouin Arabic speakers.

The most popular Arab account holds that the wordArabcame from an eponymous father called Yarab, who was supposedly the first to speakArabic. Al-Hamdani had another view; he states that Arabs were called Gharab(West in Semitic) by Mesopotamians because Bedouinsoriginally resided to the west of Mesopotamia; the term was then corrupted into Arab. Yet another view is held by Al-Masudi that the wordArabs was initially applied to the Ishmaelites of the "Arabah" valley.

In Biblical etymology, "Arab" (in HebrewArvi{{he: }}) comes both from the desert origin of the Bedouins it originally described (Aravameans wilderness) and/or from the concept of mixed people. (Arev-rav- a large group of mixed people.) The root a-r-bhas several additionalmeanings in Semitic languagesincluding "west/sunset," "desert," "mingle," "merchant," and "raven"and are "comprehensible" with all ofthese having varying degrees of relevance to the emergence of the name. It is also possible that some forms were metathetical from -B-R"moving around" (Arabic -B-R "traverse"), and hence, it is alleged, "nomadic."

Identity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_languageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaeliteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Masudihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab%C5%AB_Muhammad_al-Hasan_al-Hamd%C4%81n%C4%ABhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eponymoushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alephhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_nouns_and_adjectives#Nisbahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gindibuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Qarqarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalmaneser_IIIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gindibuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouinshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_Conquest_of_Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_Inscriptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panethnicityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguisticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century_ADhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabians


4/36



Arab identity is defined independently of religious identity, and pre-dates the spread of Islam, with historically attested Arab Christian

kingdoms and Arab Jewish tribes. Today, however, most Arabs are Muslim.[16][17]), with a minority adhering to other faiths, largelyChristianity, but also Druze and Baha'i.

Arabs are generally Sunni, Shia or Sufi Muslims, but currently, 7.1 percent to 10 percent of Arabs are Arab Christians.[18] This figure includesonly Christians whose primary community language is today a variety of Arabic, and who identify as Arab.

Arab ethnic identity does not include Christian and other ethnic groups that retain non-Arabic languages and identities within the expandedArab World. These include the Assyrians of Iraq and north east Syria, Armenians around the entire Near East, and Mandeans in Iraqthoughmany of these peoples speak Arabic as a first or second language. In addition, many Egyptian Copts and Lebanese Maronites espouse anAncient Egyptian and Phoenician-Canaanite identity respectively, rather than an Arab one. A number of other peoples living in the ArabWorld are non-Arab, such as Berbers, Kurds, Turks, Iranians, Azeris, Circassians, Shabaks, Turcomans, Romani, Chechens, Mhallami, Sub-Saharan Africans, South Asians, Samaritans, and Jews.

Today, the main unifying characteristic among Arabs is the Arabic language, a South Semitic language from the Afroasiatic language family.Modern Standard Arabic serves as the standardized and literary variety of Arabic used in writing, as well as in the most formal speech,

although it is not spoken natively by the overwhelming majority of Arabs. Most Arabs who are functional in Modern Standard Arabic acquireit as a second language through education, while various varieties of Arabic are spoken as vernaculars by each distinct Arab group. Due tosociolinguistic reasons stemming from pan-Arab political and social considerations, however, these varieties are often regarded dialects ratherthan independent languages, despite the fact that most varieties of Arabic are not mutually intelligible, whether with each other or to ModernStandard Arabic. By contrast, neither the Maltese language is referred to as a variety of Arabic, nor are the Maltese people Arabs, despite thefact that the Maltese language is philologically a variety of Arabic in no greater or lesser extent than any of the other thus-defined Arabicvarieties (sharing intelligibility with Tunisian Arabic), in addition to Malta itself lying on the African tectonic plate along with the other Arab-defined countries of North Africa. This anomaly owes to modern-day Malta being politically aligned and within the cultural sphere ofinfluence of Europe rather than the Arab world, as was the case in Malta's earlier history.

During the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Classical Era there was no Arab presence in the areas encompassed by modern Iraq, Syria, Jordan,Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Iran, North Africa, Asia Minor or Kuwait.

The Arabs are first mentioned in the mid 9th century BC as a tribal people dwelling in the mid Arabian Peninsula subjugated by the northMesopotamian based Assyrians. The Arabs appear to have remained largely under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC),and then the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire (605-539 BC), Persian Achaemenid Empire (539-332 BC), Greek Macedonian/SeleucidEmpire and Iranian Parthian Empires.

Arab tribes, most notably the Ghassanids and Lakhmids begin to appear in the south Syrian deserts and southern Jordan from the mid 3rd

century AD onwards, during the mid to later stages of the Roman Empire and Sassanid Empire. The Nabateans of Jordan appear to have beenan Aramaic speaking ethnic mix of Canaanites, Arameans and Arabs. Thus, although a more limited diffusion of Arabic culture and language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabateanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassanid_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhmidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassanidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Macedonianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Assyrian_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Minorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Agehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Agehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Platehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltese_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_intelligibilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Arabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernacularhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Standard_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afroasiatic_languageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Semitic_languageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_ethnic_groupshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mhallamihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmen_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabakshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Iranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroniteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandeanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baha%27ihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druzehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_Middle_Easthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_tribes_of_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion


5/36



An overview of the different Arabic

dialects

was felt in some areas by these migrant minority Arabs inpre-Islamictimes through Arab Christian kingdoms and Arab Jewish tribes, it wasonly after the rise of Islam in the mid-7th century that Arab culture, people and language began their wholesale spread from the centralArabian Peninsula (including the Syrian desert) through conquest and trade.

At the time of the Arab Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries AD, the population of Aramea and Phoenicia (modern Syria andLebanon) was largely Aramean and Phoenician, with minorities of Greeks, Assyrians, Armenians and Romans also extant, as well as pre-Islamic Arabs in the south Syrian deserts. Israel-Palestine (ancient Israel, Judah and Samarra) and Jordan (ancient Moab, Edom and Ammon)

were largely inhabited by native Jews, Samaritans, and other Canaanites, together with Arameans, Greeks and Nabateans. Egypt was largelypopulated by natives of Ancient Egyptian heritage together with a Greek minority, what had been Phoenician Carthage (modern Tunisia) by itsmixed Phoenician-Berber population. A number of Germanic peoples such as the Vandals and Visigoths were also extant as rulers throughoutNorth Africa (modern Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco) at this time.

Arab cultures went through a mixing process. Therefore, every Arab country has cultural specificities that form a cultural mix that incorporateslocal novelties acquired after arabization. However, all Arab countries do also share a common culture in arts (music, literature, poetry,calligraphy...), cultural products (handicrafts, carpets, henne, bronze carving...), social behavior, and relations (hospitality, codes of conductamong friends and family...), customs and superstitions, some dishes (shorba, mloukhia), traditional clothing, and architecture.

Non-Arab Muslims, who are about 80 percent of the world's Muslim population, do not form part of theArab world, but instead comprise what is the geographically larger, and more diverse, Muslim World.

In the USA, Arabs are classified as white by the U.S. Census, and have been since 1997.[19][20]

Arabic, the main unifying feature among Arabs, is a Semitic language originating in Arabia. From there

it spread to a variety of distinct peoples across most of West Asia and North Africa, [21] resulting intheir acculturation and eventual denomination as Arabs. Arabization, a culturo-linguistic shift, was

often, though not always, in conjunction with Islamization, a religious shift.With the rise of Islam in the 7th century, and as the language of the Qur'an, Arabic became the lingua

franca of the Islamic world.[22] It was in this period that Arabic language and culture was widely disseminated with the early Islamic

expansion, both through conquest and cultural contact.[23]

Arabic culture and language, however, began a more limited diffusion before the Islamic age, first spreading in West Asia beginning in the 2ndcentury, as Arab Christians such as the Ghassanids, Lakhmids and Banu Judham began migrating north from Arabia into the Syrian Desert,

south western Iraq and the Levant.[24][25]

In the modern era, defining who is an Arab is done on the grounds of one or more of the following two criteria:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Deserthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Judhamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhmidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassanidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Agehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acculturationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquestshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_francahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27anhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acculturationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_languageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_populationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visigothshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_peopleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoeniciahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaaniteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenicianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arameanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoeniciahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arameahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquestshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Jewish_tribeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassanidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arabic_Dialects.svg


6/36



Distribution of Arabic as sole official

language (green) and one of several

official or national languages (blue).

Genealogical: someone who can trace his or her ancestry to the original inhabitants of the

Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert (tribes of Arabia). This was the definition used until

medieval times, for example by Ibn Khaldun, but has decreased in importance over time, as a

portion of those of Arab ancestry lost their links with their ancestors' motherland. In the modern

era, however, DNA tests have at times proved reliable in identifying those of Arab genealogical

descent. For example, it has been found that the frequency of the "Arab marker" Haplogroup J1collapses suddenly at the borders of Arabic speaking countries.[26]

Linguistic: someone whose first language, and by extension cultural expression, is Arabic,

including any of its varieties. This definition covers some than 420 million people (2014

estimate). Certain groups that fulfill this criterion reject this definition on the basis of non-Arab

ancestry; such an example may be seen in the way that Egyptians identified themselves in the early 20th century.[27][28]

The relative importance of these factors is estimated differently by different groups and frequently disputed. Some combine aspects of eachdefinition, as done by Palestinian Habib Hassan Touma,[29] who defines an Arab"in the modern sense of the word", as "one who is a nationalof an Arab state, has command of the Arabic language, and possesses a fundamental knowledge of Arab tradition, that is, of the manners,customs, and political and social systems of the culture." Most people who consider themselves Arab do so based on the overlap of thepolitical and linguistic definitions.

The Arab League, a regional organization of countries intended to encompass the Arab world, defines an Arab as:

An Arab is a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic-speaking country, and who is in sympathy with the

aspirations of the Arabic-speaking peoples.[30]

According to Sadek Jawad Sulaimanis the former Ambassador of Oman to the United States:

The Arabs are defined by their culture, not by race; and their culture is defined by its essential twin constituents of Arabism andIslam. To most of the Arabs, Islam is their indigenous religion; to all of the Arabs, Islam is their indigenous civilization. The Arabidentity, as such, is a culturally defined identity, which means being Arab is being someone whose mother culture, or dominant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countrieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habib_Hassan_Toumahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptians#Identityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medievalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribes_of_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Deserthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arabic_speaking_world.svg


7/36



Schoolgirls in Gaza lining up for

class, 2009

culture, is Arabism. Beyond that, he or she might be of any ancestry, of any religion or philosophical persuasion, and a citizen ofany country in the world. Being Arab does not contradict with being non-Muslim or non-Semitic or not being a citizen of an Arab

state.[31]

The relation of araband arbis complicated further by the notion of "lost Arabs" al-Arab al-ba'idamentioned in the Qur'an as punishedfor their disbelief. All contemporary Arabs were considered as descended from two ancestors, Qahtan and Adnan.

Versteegh (1997) is uncertain whether to ascribe this distinction to the memory of a real difference oforigin of the two groups, but it is certain that the difference was strongly felt in early Islamic times.Even in Islamic Spain there was enmity between the Qays of the northern and the Kalb of the southerngroup. The so-called Sabaean or Himyarite language described by Ab Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdn (died 946) appears to be a special case of language contact between the two groups, anoriginally north Arabic dialect spoken in the south, and influenced by Old South Arabian.

During the Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Arabs forged an Arab Empire (under the

Rashidun and Umayyads, and later the Abbasids) whose borders touched southern France in the west,China in the east, Asia Minor in the north, and the Sudan in the south. This was one of the largest landempires in history. In much of this area, the Arabs spread Islam and the Arabic culture, science, andlanguage (the language of the Qur'an) through conversion and cultural assimilation.

Two references valuable for understanding the political significance of Arab identity: Michael C.Hudson, Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy (Yale University Press, 1977), especially Chs. 2 and 3; and Michael N. Barnett, Dialoguesin Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order (Columbia University Press, 1998).

SubgroupsWhile Pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism subsume all Arabic-speaking populations under the notion of "Arabs", there are numerous sub-divisions, not all of which necessarily identify as ethnically Arab.

The Arabians form a strict subset of the ethnolinguistic group of "Arabs" discussed here. The name ofArabhistorically was synonymous withBedouin. Although, most Arabians were sedentary (not nomadic) in pre-Islamic times. In some parts of the Arab World, the termArabmaystill carry connotations of being Arabian, conflicting with the Pan-Arabist concept of ethnicity.

Arabians are most prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula, but are also found in large numbers in Mesopotamia (Arab tribes in Iraq), the Levantand Sinai (Negev Bedouin, Tarabin bedouin), as well as North Africa and the Sudan region.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarabin_bedouinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negev_Bedouinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_tribes_in_Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_nationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Arabismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_assimilationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_conversionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27anhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_empireshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Minorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquestshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_South_Arabianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab%C5%AB_Muhammad_al-Hasan_al-Hamd%C4%81n%C4%ABhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabaean_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qahtanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Girls_lining_up_for_class_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English.jpg


8/36



Arabian Peninsula

Arabs in the narrow sense are the indigenous Arabians (who trace their roots back to the tribes of Arabia) and their immediate descendantgroups in the Levant and North Africa. Within the people of the Arabian Peninsula, distinction is made between:

Pure Arabs or Qahtanian Arabs ( .) from Yemen, taken to be descended from Yarub bin Yashjub bin Qahtan

Arabized Arabs or Adnani Arabs ( .), taken to be the descendants of Ishmael and the Jurhum tribe

This traditional division of the Arabs of Arabia may have arisen at the time of early Muslim factional infighting during the UmayyadCaliphate.

Contrary to popular belief, most Arabians were sedentary (not nomadic) in pre-Islamic times.

Of the Arabian tribes that interacted with Muhammad, the most prominent was Banu Quraish. The Qur'aish sub-clan of Banu Hashim was theclan of Muhammad. During the period of Muslim conquests and the Golden Age of Islam, the political rulers of Islam were exclusivelymembers of the Banu Quraish tribe.

Iraq

The 150 Arab tribes in Iraq are grouped into federations (qabila), and divided into clans (fukhdh). The so-called Marsh Arabs of southern Iraqconsist of numerous tribes, partly within the large Al-Muntafiq tribal alliance.

Iranian Arabs form a 2% minority in Iran. The largest group are the Ahwazi Arabs, including Banu Kaab, Bani Turuf and the Musha'sha'iyyahsect . Smaller groups are the Khamseh nomads in Fars Province and the Arabs in Khorasan.

Syria and Levant

The Arabs of the Levant are traditionally divided into Qays and Yaman tribes. This tribal division is likewise taken ot date to the Umayyad

period. The Yaman trace their origin to South Arabia or Yemen; they include Banu Kalb, Kindah, Ghassanids, and Lakhmids.[32] Since the1834 Arab revolt in Palestine, the Arabic-speaking population of Palestine has shed its formerly tribal structure and emerged as the Palestinianpeople.

Africa

The Bedouin of western Egypt and eastern Libya are traditionally divided into Saàda and Murabtin, the Saàda group having higher socialstatus. This may derive from a historical feudal system in which the Murabtin were vassals to the Saàda.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%60ada_and_Murabtinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1834_Arab_revolt_in_Palestinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhmidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassanidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Kalbhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qays_and_Yaman_tribeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Khorasanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fars_Provincehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khamsehhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musha%27sha%27iyyahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bani_Turufhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Kaabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahwazi_Arabshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Arabshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Muntafiqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsh_Arabshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_tribes_in_Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Age_of_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquestshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Hashimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quraysh_(tribe)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_tribes_that_interacted_with_Muhammadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fitnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurhumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnaniteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qahtanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribes_of_Arabia


9/36



With the Muslim conquest of North Africa and the Sudan region, amalgamated populations emerged, now sometimes summarized under theterms Arab-Berber, Arabized Berber and Afro-Arab.

Egyptians are Arabic-speaking, but the question of their idenfitication as ethnically Arab has a long and complicated history of controversy.

The Arabic-speaking population of the Maghreb (Libyans, Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians) is loosely divided into Arab-Berber for people ofmixed Arab-Berber descent who embrace an Arab identity, and Arabized Berber for people of predominantly North African ancestry who

retain a regional identity.

In Sudan, there are numerous Arab tribes, including the Shaigya, Ja'alin, Shukria, Rashaida, etc. in addition, there are Arabized or partiallyArabized ethnic groups such as the Nubians, Copts, or Beja; they are sometimes united under the umbrella term of Sudanese Arabs. Arab slavetrade in the Sudan region and West Africa created a clean division between Arabs and indigenous populations, and slavery in contemporary

Africa substantially persists along these lines,[33] contributing to ethnic conflict in the region, such as the internal conflicts in Sudan, NorthernMali conflict, or the Islamist insurgency in Northern Nigeria.

Demographics

The total number of Arabic speakers living in the Arab nations is estimated at 366 million by the CIA Factbook (as of 2014). The estimatednumber of Arabs in countries outside the Arab League is estimated at 17.5 million, yielding a total of close to 384 million.

According to the International Organization for Migration, there are 13 million first-generation Arab migrants in the world, of which 5.8 residein Arab countries, yielding a total of about 7 million people in the Arab diaspora.

Most of the Arab countries are predominantly the youth. "Over 40 percent of the region's population is under 15. Only 4 nations- Bahrain,

Kuwaitm, UAE, and Qatar- have an under 15 population less than 35 percent." [34]

Arab world

The table below shows the number of Arabic speaking people, including expatriates and some groups that may not be identified as ethnicallyArab.

Flag Country TotalPopulation

%Arab

Notes

Egypt 86,895,099[35]

90%[36]

The common consensus among Egyptians is that this classification is tied to them due to the use

of Arabic as an official language in Egypt. The Egyptian dialect of Arabic include thousands ofCoptic words.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_diasporahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Migrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_Factbookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Leaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamist_insurgency_in_Nigeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mali_conflicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan_internal_conflict_(2011%E2%80%93present)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_contemporary_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_tradehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_Arabshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beja_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashaidahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukria_tribehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%27alinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaigyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabized_Berberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab-Berberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maghrebhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Arabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabized_Berberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab-Berberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamization_of_the_Sudan_regionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_North_Africa


10/36



ger a 38,813,722 N/A ger ans are er er n or g n owever spea pr mar y ra c.

Morocco 32,987,206[38] 66%[39]The high level of mixing between Arabs and Berbers makes differentiating between the twoethnicities in Morocco difficult.

Iraq 32,585,692[40]75-

80%[40]The remainder of the population in Iraq consists of Kurds (including Yazidis), Assyrians(including Chaldean Catholics), Turkmens, Shabaks, Armenians, Circassians, and Mandeans

SaudiArabia 27,345,986

[41] 90%[41] Most Saudis are ethnic Arabs.

Sudan 35,482,233[42] 70%[42] Arabs and Bedouins are by far the largest ethnic group, among 597 tribes.Yemen 26,052,966[43] 100%[44]

Syria 17,951,639[45] 90.3%[45]The remainder population are primarily Christian groups such as Assyrians and Armenians,together with Kurds and Yazidis

Tunisia 10,937,521[46] 98%[46]

Israel 8,146,300[47] 20.7%[48]According to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the Arab population in 2013 was estimated at

1,658,000, representing 20.7% of the country's population.[48]

Libya 6,244,174[49] 97%[49]

Jordan 7,930,491[50] 98%[50]Lebanon 5,882,562[51] 95%[51]

Palestine 4,225,710 89%Gaza Strip: 1,763,387, 100% Palestinian Arab,[52] West Bank: 2,676,740, 83% Palestinian Arab

and other[53]

Kuwait 2,742,711[54] 80%[55]

UAE 8,264,070 40%[56]Less than 20% of the population in the Emirates are citizens, the majority are foreign workersand expatriates. Emirati citizens are ethnic Arabs.

Oman 3,219,775[57] 90%

Mauritania 3,516,806[58] 80%[44]The majority of Mauritania's population are ethnic Moors, an ethnicity with a mix of Arab andBerber ancestry, as well as a smaller Black African ancestry. Moors make up 80% of thepopulation in Mauritania, the remaining 20% are members of a number of Black African ethnic

groups.[44]

Qatar 2,123,160[59] 40%[59]

The native population is a minority in Qatar, making up 20% of the population. The nativepopulation is ethnically Arab. An additional 20% of the population is made up of Arabs, mostlyEgyptian and Palestinian workers. The remaining population is made up of other foreignworkers.

Bahrain 1,314,089

[60]

50.7%

[60] 46.0% of the Bahrain's population are native Bahrainis. Bahrainis are ethnically Arabs.[61] 5.4%

are Other Arabs (inc. GCC)[62]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_Bahrainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bankhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Striphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Central_Bureau_of_Statisticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouinshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandeanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassians_in_Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabak_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Turkmenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldean_Catholic_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algeria


11/36



out 810,179 4.5% out s one o t e ra eague mem ers w ere ra s o not const tute t e ma or et n cgroup.

Somalia 10,428,043[65] 45%[65]Somalia's Arab population is concentrated on to the north and east side. Most of them haveimmigrated from Yemen and the middle east during the centuries.

Comoros 766,865[66]


12/36



Syrian immigrants in New York City,

as depicted in 1895

reece , , , .

According to the International Organization for Migration, there are 13 million first-generation Arabmigrants in the world, of which 5.8 reside in Arab countries. Arab expatriates contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regionaldevelopment. In 2009 Arab countries received a total of 35.1 billion USD in remittance in-flows andremittances sent to Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher

than trade revenues between these and other Arab countries.[80]

The 250,000 strong Lebanese community in West Africa is the largest non-African group in the

region.[81][82]

Arab traders have long operated in Southeast Asia and along the East Africa's Swahili coast. Zanzibar

was once ruled by Omani Arabs.[83] Most of the prominent Indonesians, Malaysians, and Singaporeans of Arab descent are Hadhrami people

with origins in southern Yemen in the Hadramawt coastal region.[84]

Central Asia and Caucasus

In 1728, a Russian officer described a group of Sunni Arab nomads who populated the Caspian shores of Mughan (in present-day Azerbaijan)

and spoke a mixed Turkic-Arabic language.[85] It is believed that these groups migrated to the Caucasus in the 16th century. [86] The 1888

edition of Encyclopdia Britannica also mentioned a certain number of Arabs populating the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire.[87]

They retained an Arabic dialect at least into the mid-19th century,[88] but since then have fully assimilated with the neighbouring Azeris andTats. Today in Azerbaijan alone, there are nearly 30 settlements still holding the name Arab(for example, Arabgadim, Arabojaghy, Arab-Yengija, etc.).

From the time of the Arab conquest of the Caucasus, continuous small-scale Arab migration from various parts of the Arab world occurred inDagestan, which influenced local culture. Until the mid-20th century, some individuals in Dagestan still claimed Arabic as their native

language. The majority of these lived in the village of Darvag, to the north-west of Derbent. The latest of these accounts dates to the 1930s.[86]

Most Arab communities in southern Dagestan underwent linguistic Turkicisation, thus nowadays Darvag is a majority-Azeri village.[89][90]

According to theHistory of Ibn Khaldun, the Arabs that were once in Central Asia have been either killed or have fled the Tatar invasion of

the region, leaving only the locals.[91] However, today many people in Central Asia identify as Arabs. Most Arabs of Central Asia are fullyintegrated into local populations, and sometimes call themselves the same as locals (for example, Tajiks, Uzbeks) but they use special titles to

show their Arabic origin such as Sayyid, Khoja or Siddiqui.[92]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddiquihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoja_(Turkestan)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzbekshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C4%81jik_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derbenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagestanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C6%8Fr%C9%99byengic%C9%99http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C6%8Fr%C9%99boca%C4%9F%C4%B1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C6%8Fr%C9%99bq%C9%99dimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tat_people_(Caucasus)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijani_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirvani_Arabichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_Governoratehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannicahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughan_plainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadramawthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadhrami_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Indonesianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swahili_coasthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Organization_for_Migrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Syrian_colony,_Washington_Street.jpg


13/36



LebaneseMexican billionaire

Carlos Slim has been ranked by

Forbes as the second richest

person in the world.

Iranian Arab communities are also found in Khuzestan Province.

South Asia

There are only two communities with the self-identity Arab in India, the Chaush of the Deccan region and

the Chavuse of Gujerat,[93][94] who are by and large descended of Hadhrami migrants who settled in thesetwo regions in the 18th Centuries. However, both these communities no longer speak Arabic, although

with the Chaush, there has been re-immigration to the Gulf States, and re-adoption of Arabic by theseimmigrants.[95] In South Asia, claiming Arab ancestry is considered prestigious, and many communitieshave origin myths with claim to an Arab ancestry. Examples include the Mappilla of Kerala, Labbai ofTamil Nadu and Kokan of Maharashtra. These communities all allege an Arab ancestry, but none speak

Arabic and follow the customs and traditions of the Hindu majority.[96] Among Muslims of North Indiaand Pakistan there are groups who claim the status of Sayyid, have origin myths that allege descent fromthe Prophet Mohammmad. None of these Sayyid families speak Arabic or follow Arab customs or

traditions.[97]

Ceylon Moors are the descendants of Arab traders (mainly from Hadhramawt in Yemen and Morocco) who espoused local women. They area mixed race with Arab dominance and a considerable infusion of Sinhalese and Dravidian blood. The later generation Arab traders marriedthe descendants of the Arab settlers. Some families trace their ancestry to prominent Arab tribes like Banu Quraysh and Arab personalities likeCaliph Abu Bakr As Siddiq, Prince Jamaldeen of Konya etc.

The epithet (Moor), was borrowed (from the Spaniards) by the Portuguese, (the earliest colonizers of Ceylon as Sri Lanka was thenknown) who, after their discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, bestowed it indiscriminately upon the Arabs and theirdescendants, whom in the sixteenth century, found established as traders in every port on the Asian and African coast, and who had goodreason to regard them as their most formidable competitors for the commerce of the East."

Alexander Johnston has recorded that:

"...the first Muslims who settled in the country, were, according to the tradition which prevails among their descendants, a portion of thoseArabs of the House of Hashim who were driven from Arabia in the early part of the eighth century by the Umayyad Caliph Abd-al Malik binMarwan, and who proceeding from the Euphrates southward, established settlements in the Concan, the southern parts of the Indian peninsula,Sri Lanka and Malacca. He adds that the division of them that came to Sri Lanka formed eight considerable settlements.

Hussein says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Pakistanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokani_Muslimshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Naduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labbaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keralahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mappillahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujerathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_(Gujarat)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deccanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaushhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khuzestan_Provincehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Arabshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_list_of_billionaireshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_immigration_to_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carlos_Slim_Helu.jpg


14/36



Bronze statue of Dhamar Ali, King of

the Himyarite dynasty, the 4th

century AD

"Although it is likely that it was Arabic that was the spoken language of the early Arab settlers of the country, and perhaps of the early Moorswhom they sired, it is today largely Arab Tamil getting replaced by Sinhala, as the home language, so to say, of the present-day Moorcommunity. Arabic is today employed by them only as their liturgical language in their prayers and other religious observances. Arab Tamil isby far the predominant speech of the Moors.

"The Tamil spoken by the Moors is however not quite the same as the Tamil spoken by the Tamils of Jaffna and South India. Indeed, thispeculiar dialect or rather patois of the Moors is derogatorily referred to as Sona Tamil by conservative Tamil folk. This Sona Tamil speech

seems to have largely derived from a South Indian Tamil patois.....

"It has also been considerably influenced by other languages such as Arabic, Hindustani, and Sinhala, all of which goes on to show that itapproaches a sort of Creole, albeit considerably influenced by a Tamil dialect .....

History

Pre-Islamic

Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to Arabic civilization in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam in the630s. The study of Pre-Islamic Arabia is important to Islamic studies as it provides the context for thedevelopment of Islam.

Semitic origin

There is a consensus that the Semitic peoples originated on the Arabian Peninsula.[98][99] It should bepointed out that these settlers were not Arabs or Arabic speakers. Early non-Arab Semitic peoples from

the Ancient Near East, such as the Arameans, Akkadians (Assyrians and Babylonians), Amorites,Israelites, Eblaites, Ugarites and Canaanites, built civilizations in Mesopotamia, Eastern Arabia and the

Levant; genetically, they often interlapped and mixed.[100] Slowly, however, they lost their politicaldomination of the Near East due to internal turmoil and attacks by non-Semitic peoples. Although theSemites eventually lost political control of Western Asia to the Persian Empire, the Aramaic languageremained the lingua franca of Assyria, Mesopotamia and the Levant. Aramaic itself was replaced byGreek as Western Asia's prestige language following the conquest of Alexander the Great, though itsurvives to this day among Assyrian Christians (aka Chaldo-Assyrians) and Mandeans in Iraq,northeast Syria, southeast Turkey and northwest Iran.

Early history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandeanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III_of_Macedonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_francahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_Easthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaaniteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugarithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eblahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeliteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoriteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arameanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Near_Easthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dhamar_Ali_Yahbur_II.jpg


15/36



Nabataean trade routes in Pre-Islamic

Arabia

Assyrian horsemen pursue defeated

Arabs

The first written attestation of the ethnonym "Arab" occurs in an Assyrian inscription of 853 BCE, where Shalmaneser III lists a King Gindibuof mtu arbi(Arab land) as among the people he defeated at the Battle of Karkar. Some of the names given in these texts are Aramaic, whileothers are the first attestations of Ancient North Arabian dialects. In fact several different ethnonymsare found in Assyrian texts that are conventionally translated "Arab":Arabi, Arubu, Aribiand Urbi.Many of the Qedarite queens were also described as queens of the aribi. The Hebrew Bibleoccasionally refers toAravipeoples (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab" or "Arabian." The scopeof the term at that early stage is unclear, but it seems to have referred to various desert-dwelling

Semitic tribes in the Syrian Desert and Arabia. Arab tribes came into conflict with the Assyrians duringthe reign of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and he records military victories against the powerfulQedar tribe among others.

Medieval Arab genealogists divided Arabs into three groups:

"Ancient Arabs", tribes that had vanished or been destroyed, such as d and Thamud, often

mentioned in the Qur'an as examples of God's power to vanquish those who fought his prophets.

"Pure Arabs" of South Arabia, descending from Qahtan. The Qahtanites (Qahtanis) are said to

have migrated from the land of Yemen following the destruction of the Ma'rib Dam (sadd

Ma'rib).

The "Arabized Arabs" (musta`ribah) of Central Arabia (Najd) and North Arabia, descending

from Ishmael the elder son of Abraham, through Adnan (hence, Adnanites). The Book of Genesis

narrates that God promised Hagar to beget from Ishmael twelve princes and turn him to a great

nation.(Genesis 17:20 (http://tools.wmflabs.org/bibleversefinder/?book=Genesis&verse=17:20&src=HE))The Book

of Jubilees, in the other hand, claims that the sons of Ishmael intermingled with the 6 sons ofKeturah, from Abraham, and their descendants were called Arabs and Ishmaelites:

And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the entering in ofBabylon in all the land towards the East facing the desert. And these mingled with each other, and their name was called Arabs,and Ishmaelites.

Book of Jubilees 20:13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaeliteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_of_Paranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keturahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaeliteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keturahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jubileeshttp://tools.wmflabs.org/bibleversefinder/?book=Genesis&verse=17:20&src=HEhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Abrahamic_religionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnaniteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Najdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma%27rib_Damhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qahtanitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qahtanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27anhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thamudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BF%C4%80dhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qedarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashurbanipalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Deserthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qedaritehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_North_Arabianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Karkarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gindibuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalmaneser_IIIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Assyrian_horsemen_arabs.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Islamic_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NabateensRoutes.png


16/36



Ibn Khaldun'sMuqaddimadistinguishes between sedentary Arabian Muslims who used to be nomadic, and Bedouin nomadic Arabs of the

desert. He used the term "formerly nomadic" Arabs and refers to sedentary Muslims by the region or city they lived in, as in Yemenis. [101] The

Christians of Italy and the Crusaders preferred the term Saracens for all the Arabs and Muslims of that time. [102] The Christians of Iberia usedthe term Moor to describe all the Arabs and Muslims of that time.

Muslims of Medina referred to the nomadic tribes of the deserts as the A'raab, and considered themselves sedentary, but were aware of theirclose racial bonds. The term "A'raab' mirrors the term Assyrians used to describe the closely related nomads they defeated in Syria.

The Qur'an does not use the word arab, only the nisba adjective arabiy. The Qur'an calls itself arabiy, "Arabic", andMubin, "clear". Thetwo qualities are connected for example in ayat 43.23, "By the clearBook: We have made it an Arabicrecitation in order that you mayunderstand". The Qur'an became regarded as the prime example of the al-arabiyya, the language of the Arabs. The term irb has the sameroot and refers to a particularly clear and correct mode of speech. The plural noun arbrefers to the Bedouin tribes of the desert who resistedMuhammad, for example in ayat 9.97, alarbu aaddu kufrn wa nifqn "the Bedouin are the worst in disbelief and hypocrisy".

Based on this, in early Islamic terminology, arabiyreferred to the language, and arbto the Arab Bedouins, carrying a negative connotationdue to the Qur'anic verdict just cited. But after the Islamic conquest of the 8th century, the language of the nomadic Arabs became regarded as

the most pure by the grammarians following Abi Ishaq, and the term kalam al-Arab, "language of the Arabs", denoted the uncontaminatedlanguage of the Bedouins.

Classical kingdoms

Proto-Arabic, or Ancient North Arabian, texts give a clearer picture of the Arabs' emergence. The earliest are written in variants of epigraphicsouth Arabian musnadscript, including the 8th century BCE Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia, the 6th century BCE Lihyanite textsof southeastern Saudi Arabia and the Thamudic texts found throughout Arabia and the Sinai (not in reality connected with Thamud).

The Nabataeans were nomadic newcomers who moved into territory vacated by the Edomites Semites who settled the region centuries beforethem. Their early inscriptions were in Aramaic, but gradually switched to Arabic, and since they had writing, it was they who made the firstinscriptions in Arabic. The Nabataean Alphabet was adopted by Arabs to the south, and evolved into modern Arabic script around the 4thcentury. This is attested by Safaitic inscriptions (beginning in the 1st century BCE) and the many Arabic personal names in Nabataeaninscriptions. From about the 2nd century BCE, a few inscriptions from Qaryat al-Faw (near Sulayyil) reveal a dialect no longer consideredroto-Arabic, butpre-classical Arabic. Five Syriac inscriptions mentioning Arabs have been found at Sumatar Harabesi, one of which dates to

the 2nd century CE.

Late kingdoms

The Ghassanids, Lakhmids and Kindites were the last major migration of non-Muslims out of Yemen to the north.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatar_Harabesihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulayyilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataeanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safaitichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataean_Alphabethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edomiteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataeanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thamudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thamudichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lihyanitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hasahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Arabian_alphabethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigraph_(literature)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_North_Arabianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abi_Ishaqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_conquesthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-Tawbahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedouinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%60rabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Az-Zukhrufhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_nouns_and_adjectives#Nisbahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27anhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saracenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muqaddimahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun


17/36



Facade of Al Khazneh in Petra,

Jordan, built by the Nabateans

The Ghassanids increased the Semitic presence in the then Hellenized Syria, the majority of

Semites were Aramaic peoples. They mainly settled in the Hauran region and spread to modern

Lebanon, Palestine and East Jordan.

Greeks and Romans referred to all the nomadic population of the desert in the Near East as Arabi. The

Romans called Yemen "Arabia Felix".[103] The Romans called the vassal nomadic states within the

Roman Empire "Arabia Petraea" after the city of Petra, and called unconquered deserts bordering theempire to the south and east Arabia Magna.

The Lakhmids as a dynasty inherited their power from the Tanukhids, the mid Tigris region

around their capital Al-Hira. They ended up allying with the Sassanids against the Ghassanids

and the Byzantine Empire. The Lakhmids contested control of the Central Arabian tribes with the

Kindites with the Lakhmids eventually destroying Kinda in 540 after the fall of their main ally

Himyar. The Persian Sassanids dissolved the Lakhmid dynasty in 602, being under puppet kings,

then under their direct control.[104]

The Kindites migrated from Yemen along with the Ghassanids and Lakhmids, but were turned

back in Bahrain by the Abdul Qais Rabi'a tribe. They returned to Yemen and allied themselves with the Himyarites who installed them

as a vassal kingdom that ruled Central Arbia from "Qaryah Dhat Kahl" (the present-day called Qaryat al-Faw) in Central Arabia. They

ruled much of the Northern/Central Arabian peninsula, till they were destroyed by the Lakhmid king Al-Mundhir, and his son 'Amr

Islamic

Arab Caliphate

Rashidun Era(632-661)

After the death of Muhammad in 632, Rashidun armies launched campaigns of conquest, establishing the Caliphate, or Islamic Empire, one ofthe largest empires in history. It was larger and lasted longer than the previous Arab empires of Queen Mawia or the Palmyrene Empire, whichwas predominantly Syriac rather than Arab. The Rashidun state was a completely new state and not a mere imitation of the earlier Arabkingdoms such as the Himyarite, Lakhmids or Ghassanids, although it benefited greatly from their art, administration and architecture.

Umayyad Era(661-750)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyaritehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriachttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyrene_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavia_(queen)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empireshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Amr_III_ibn_al-Mundhirhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mundhir_III_ibn_al-Nu%27manhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hirahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanukhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhmidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia_Magnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia_Petraeahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabia_Felixhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greekshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauranhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria_(Byzantine_province)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabateanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Khaznehhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Al_Khazneh.jpg


18/36



Age of the Caliphs

Expansion under Muhammad,

622632/A.H. 111

Expansion during the Rashidun

Caliphate, 632661/A.H. 1140

Expansion during the Umayyad

Caliphate, 661750/A.H. 40129

The Great Mosque of Kairouan in

Kairouan, Tunisia was founded in670 by the Arab general Uqba ibn

Nafi; it is the oldest mosque in the

Maghreb[105]and represents an

architectural testimony of the Arab

conquest of North Africa

In 661 the Caliphate fell into the hands of the Umayyad dynasty and Damascus was established as theMuslim capital. They were proud of their Arab ancestry and sponsored the poetry and culture of pre-Islamic Arabia. They established garrison towns at Ramla, ar-Raqqah, Basra, Kufa, Mosul and

Samarra, all of which developed into major cities.[106]

Caliph Abd al-Malik established Arabic as the Caliphate's official language in 686.[107] This reformgreatly influenced the conquered non-Arab peoples and fueled the Arabization of the region. However,the Arabs' higher status among non-Arab Muslim converts and the latter's obligation to pay heavy taxescaused resentment. Caliph Umar II strove to resolve the conflict when he came to power in 717. Herectified the disparity, demanding that all Muslims be treated as equals, but his intended reforms did nottake effect, as he died after only three years of rule. By now, discontent with the Umayyads swept theregion and an uprising occurred in which the Abbasids came to power and moved the capital toBaghdad.

Umayyads expanded their Empire westwards capturing North Africa from the Byzantines. Prior to theArab conquest, North Africa was inhibited by various people including Punics, Vandals and Greeks. It

was not until the 11th century that the Maghreb saw a large influx of ethnic Arabs. Starting with the11th century, the Arab bedouin Banu Hilal tribes migrated to the West. Having been sent by theFatimids to punish the Berber Zirids for abandoning Shias, they travelled westwards. The Banu Hilalquickly defeated the Zirids and deeply weakened the neighboring Hammadids. Their influx was amajor factor in the Arabization of the Maghreb. Although Berbers ruled the region until the 16thcentury (under such powerful dynasties as the Almoravids, the Almohads, Hafsids, etc.), the arrival ofthese tribes eventually helped Arabize much of it ethnically, in addition to the linguistic and politicalimpact local non-Arabs. With the collapse of the Umayyad state in 1031 AD, Islamic Spain wasdivided into small kingdoms.

Abbassid Era(750-1513)

The Abbasids let a revolt against the Umayyads and defeated them in the Battle of the Zab effectivelyending their rule in all part of the Empire except Al-Andalus. The Abbasids were descendants ofMuhammad's uncle Abbas, but unlike the Umayyads they had the support of non-Arab subjects of the

Umayyads.[106] The Abbasids ruled for 200 years before they lost their central control when Wilayasbegan to fracture; afterwards, in the 1190s, there was a revival of their power, which was ended by theMongols, who conquered Baghdad and killed the Caliph. Members of the Abbasid royal family escaped the massacre and resorted to Cairo,

which had broken from the Abbasid rule two years earlier; the Mamluk generals taking the political side of the kingdom while AbbasidCaliphs were engaged in civil activities and continued patronizing science, arts and literature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilayahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E2%80%98Abbas_ibn_%E2%80%98Abd_al-Muttalibhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Zabhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafsidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almohadshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almoravidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammadidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziridshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatimidshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Hilalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maghrebhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Malik_ibn_Marwanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kufahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar-Raqqahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramlahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uqba_ibn_Nafihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairouanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_Kairouanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kairouan_Mosque_Courtyard.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_expansion_of_Caliphate.svg


19/36



View of the Alhambra from the

Mirador de San Nicols in the

Albaycin of Granada

Medieval Arab mechanical

manuscript

Golden Age of Islam

The Islamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of thecapital from Damascus to the newly founded city Baghdad. The Abbassids were influenced by theQur'anic injunctions and hadith such as "The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs"stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became an intellectual centrefor science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge

and established the "House of Wisdom" (Arabic:

) in Baghdad. Rival Muslim dynasties suchas the Fatimids of Egypt and the Umayyads of al-Andalus were also major intellectual centres with

cities such as Cairo and Crdoba rivaling Baghdad.[108]

Ottoman Caliphate

Arabs were ruled by Ottoman sultans from 1513 to 1918. Ottomans defeated the Mamluk Sultanate inCairo, and ended the Abbasid Caliphate when they assumed the title of Caliph. Arabs did not feel thechange of administration because the Ottomans modeled their rule after the previous Arabadministration systems. After World War I when the Ottoman Empire was overthrown by the BritishEmpire, former Ottoman colonies were divided up between the British and French as League ofNations mandates.

Modern

Arabs in modern times live in the Arab world, which comprises 22 countries in the Middle East, NorthAfrica, and parts of the Horn of Africa. They are all modern states and became significant as distinctpolitical entities after the fall and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (19081918).

Religion

Arab Muslims are mostly Sunni with a minority of Shia, one exception being the Ibadis, whopredominate in Oman and can be found as small minorities in Algeria and Libya (mostly Berbers).

There are also a minority of Ahmadi Muslims.[109] Arab Christians generally follow Eastern Churchessuch as the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches, though a minority of Protestant Churchfollowers also exists; The Copts and the Maronites, who are often associated with Arab people as well,

follow the Coptic Church and Maronite Church accordingly. In Iraq most Christians are Assyriansrather than Arabs, and follow the Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldean
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldean_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldean_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Orthodoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_Church_of_the_Easthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maronite_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroniteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Catholichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Orthodoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Churcheshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Ottoman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations_mandatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Ihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B3rdoba,_Spainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatimidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadithhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27anhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Agehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arabic_machine_manuscript_-_Anonym_-_Ms._or._fol._3306_c.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambrahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alhambra_view.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldean_Church


20/36



Arab family of Ramallah, Jerusalem

District in early 1900s

The Kaaba, located in Mecca (Saudi

Arabia) is the center of Islam. It is

where able Muslims from all over the

world come to perform Umrah andHajj

Church.[110] The Greek Catholic church and Maronite church are under the Pope of Rome, and a part ofthe larger worldwide Catholic Church. There are also Arab communities consisting of Druze and

Baha'is.[111][112]

Christianity was the most common religion throughout all these regions at this time, although Judaism,Mandeanism, Sabianism, Manicheanism, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, and remnants of Mesopotamianreligion, Canaanite religion, Greco-Roman religion and Egyptian religion could still also be found.Linguistically, the major Semitic language prior to the Arab conquest was Aramaic, spoken in variousforms.

Ancient times

Before the coming of Islam, most Arabs followed a pagan religion with a number of deities, including

Hubal,[113] Wadd, Allt, [114] Manat, and Uzza. A few individuals, the hanifs, had apparently rejectedpolytheism in favor of monotheism unaffiliated with any particular religion. Some tribes had convertedto Christianity or Judaism. The most prominent Arab Christian kingdoms were the Ghassanid and

Lakhmid kingdoms.[115] When the Himyarite king converted to Judaism in the late 4th century, [116] theelites of the other prominent Arab kingdom, the Kindites, being Himyirite vassals, apparently alsoconverted (at least partly). With the expansion of Islam, polytheistic Arabs were rapidly Islamized, and

polytheistic traditions gradually disappeared.[117][118]

Islam

Today, Sunni Islam dominates in most areas, overwhelmingly so in North Africa and the Horn of

Africa. Shia Islam is dominant among the Arab population in Bahrain and Iraq. Substantial Shiapopulations exist in Lebanon, Yemen, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,[119] northern Syria and the al-Batinah

region in Oman. There are small numbers of Ibadi, Ahmadi and non-denominational Muslims too.[109]

Druze faith

The Druze community is concentrated in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Jordan. Many Druze claim independence from other major religions in thearea and consider their religion more of a philosophy. Their books of worship are called Kitab Al Hikma (Epistles of Wisdom). They believein reincarnation and pray to five messengers from God. In Israel, the Druze have astatus apartefrom the general Arab population, treated as aseparate ethno-religious community.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldean_Churchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitab_Al_Hikmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druzehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druzehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-denominational_Muslimshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinditeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyaritehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakhmidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassanidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheismh

arabs - wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Documents