It has been suggested that Member states of the Arab League , Charter of the Arab League and Enlargement of the Arab League be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2011.

League of Arab States جامعة الدول العربية Jāmiʻat ad-Duwal al-ʻArabiyya
Flag of the Arab League Flag
Headquarters		Cairo1
Official languages		Arabic
Membership		21 members  Algeria  Bahrain  Comoros  Djibouti  Egypt  Iraq  Jordan  Kuwait  Lebanon  Libya  Mauritania  Morocco  Oman  State of Palestine  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  Somalia  Sudan  Tunisia  United Arab Emirates  Yemen 1 suspended  Syria
Leaders
-	Arab League Secretariat	Nabil Elaraby
-	Arab Parliament	Ali Al-Duqbasi
-	Council Presidency	Iraq
Legislature		Arab Parliament
Establishment
-	Alexandria Protocol	22 March 1945
Area
-	Total area	13,333,296 km2 (2nd2) 5,148,048 sq mi
Population
-	2011 estimate	349,870,608 (3rd2)
-	Density	24.33/km2  63/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$4.766 trillion[1]
-	Per capita	$7,682[citation needed]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	3.526 trillion[citation needed]
-	Per capita	$4,239[citation needed]
Currency		21 currencies ISO 4217 codes bracketed: Algerian dinar (DZB) Bahraini dinar (BHD) Comorian franc (KMF) Djiboutian franc (DJF) Egyptian pound (EGP) Iraqi dinar (IQD) Jordanian dinar (JOD) Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) Lebanese livre (LBP) Libyan dinar (LYD) Mauritanian ouguiya (MRO) Moroccan dirham (MAD) Omani rial (OMR) Qatari riyal (QAR) Saudi riyal (SAR) Somali shilling (SOS) Sudanese pound (SDD) Syrian pound (SYP) Tunisian dinar (TND) United Arab Emirates dirham (AED) Yemeni rial (YER)
Time zone		(UTC+0 to +4)
Website arableagueonline.org/
1	From 1979 to 1989: Tunis, Tunisia
2	If ranked among nation states.

This article contains Arabic text, written from right to left in a cursive style with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined Arabic letters written left-to-right instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Arabic script.

The Arab League (Arabic: الجامعة العربية‎ al-Jāmiʻa al-ʻArabiyya), officially called the League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية‎ Jāmiʻat ad-Duwal al-ʻArabiyya), is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia (Middle East). It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945. The Arab League currently has 22 members (including Syria, whose participation was suspended in November 2011). The main goal of the league is to "draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries."^[2]

Through institutions such as the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) and the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League's Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU), the Arab League facilitates political, economic, cultural, scientific and social programs designed to promote the interests of the Arab world.^[3][4] It has served as a forum for the member states to coordinate their policy positions, to deliberate on matters of common concern, to settle some Arab disputes, and to limit conflicts such as the 1958 Lebanon crisis. The League has served as a platform for the drafting and conclusion of many landmark documents promoting economic integration. One example is the Joint Arab Economic Action Charter which sets out the principles for economic activities in the region.

Each member state has only one vote in the League Council, while decisions are binding only for those states that have voted for them. The aims of the league in 1945 were to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic, and social programs of its members, and to mediate disputes among them or between them and third parties. Furthermore, the signing of an agreement on Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation on 13 April 1950 committed the signatories to coordination of military defense measures.

The Arab League has played a role in shaping school curricula, advancing the role of women in the Arab societies, promoting child welfare, encouraging youth and sports programs, preserving Arab cultural heritage, and fostering cultural exchanges between the member states.^{[citation needed]} Literacy campaigns have been launched, intellectual works reproduced, and modern technical terminology is translated for the use within member states. The league encourages measures against crime and drug abuse, and deals with labour issues—particularly among the emigrant Arab workforce.

History[link]

Following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. It aimed to be a regional organisation of Arab states with a focus to developing the economy, resolving disputes, and coordinating political aims.^[5] Other countries joined the league at later dates.^[6] Each country was given one vote in the council. The first major action was the joint intervention, allegedly on behalf of the majority Arab population that was being uprooted as the State of Israel emerged in 1948 (and in response to popular outcry in the Arab world), although in fact a main participant in this intervention, Transjordan, had agreed with the Israelis to divide up the Arab Palestinian state proposed by the UN General Assembly, while Egypt intervened primarily to prevent its rival in Amman from accomplishing its objective.^[7] This was followed by the creation of a mutual defense treaty two years later. A common market was established in 1965.^[5] (Robert W. MacDonald, The League of Arab States: A Study in Regional Organization. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965.)

Geography[link]

The area of members of the Arab League covers around 13,000,000 km² (5,000,000 sq mi) and straddles two continents: Africa, and Asia. The area consists of large arid deserts, namely the Sahara. Nevertheless, it also contains several very fertile lands, such as the Nile Valley, the High Atlas Mountains, and the Fertile Crescent which stretches from Iraq over Syria, and Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. The area comprises deep forests in southern Arabia, as well as parts of the world's longest river, the Nile.

The area witnessed the rise of many ancient civilizations: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel and Judah, Assyria, Babylon, Phoenicia, Carthage, Kush, Ancient Somalia and the Nabateans, among others.

Member states[link]

Joining dates of member states; the Comoros (circled) joined in 1993.
     1940s      1950s      1960s      1970s

The Arab League was founded in Cairo in 1945 by seven countries, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan from 1946), and Yemen. There was a continual increase in membership during the second half of the 20th century, with additional 15 Arab states being admitted, with a current total of 21 member states due to Syria's suspension following the 2011 uprising.

On 22 February 2011, following the start of the 2011 Libyan civil war and the use of military force against civilians, the Arab League Secretary General, Amr Moussa, stated that Libya's membership in the Arab League had been suspended: "the organisation has decided to halt the participation of the Libyan delegations from all Arab League sessions".^[8] This makes Libya the second country in the League's history to have a frozen membership. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi declared that the League was illegitimate, saying, "The Arab League is finished. There is no such thing as the Arab League".^[9][10] On 25 August 2011, Secretary General Nabil Elaraby announced it was "about time" Libya's full member status was restored. The National Transitional Council, the partially recognised interim government of Libya, will send a representative to be seated at the Arab League meeting on 17 August to participate in a discussion as to whether to readmit Libya to the organisation.^[11]

The Arab Parliament recommended the suspension of member states Syria and Yemen on 20 September 2011, over persistent reports of disproportionate violence against regime opponents and activists during the Arab Spring.^[12] A vote on 12 November agreed to formally suspend Syria four days after the vote, giving Assad a last chance to avoid suspension. Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen voted against the motion, while Iraq abstained.^[13] A wave of criticism rose as the Arab League sent in Dec 2011 a commission "monitoring" Syria's violence (massacres) on its own people who protested its tyranny. The commission was headed by Mohammad Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, who served as head of infamous Omar al-Bashir's military intelligence, while heinous war crimes including genocide were committed on his watch.^[14][15][16] Syria remains suspended.

Political policy and administration[link]

Headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo

The Charter of the Arab League^[2] endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland while respecting the sovereignty of the individual member states. The internal regulations of the Council of the League^[17] and the committees^[18] were agreed in October 1951. Those of the Secretariat-General were agreed in May 1953.^[19]

Since then, governance of the Arab League has been based on the duality of supra-national institutions and the sovereignty of the member states. Preservation of individual statehood derived its strengths from the natural preference of ruling elites to maintain their power and independence in decision making. Moreover, the fear of the richer that the poorer may share their wealth in the name of Arab nationalism, the feuds among Arab rulers, and the influence of external powers that might oppose Arab unity can be seen as obstacles towards a deeper integration of the league.

Mindful of their previous announcements in support of the Arabs of Palestine the framers of the Pact were determined to include them within the League from its inauguration.^[20] This was done by means of an annex that declared:^[2]

At the Cairo Summit of 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organisation representing the Palestinian people. The first Palestinian National Council convened in East Jerusalem on 29 May 1964. The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded during this meeting on 2 June 1964. Today, Palestine is a full member of the Arab League and is represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization.

At the Beirut Summit on 28 March 2002, the league adopted the Arab Peace Initiative,^[21] a Saudi-inspired peace plan for the Arab–Israeli conflict. The initiative offered full normalisation of the relations with Israel. In exchange, Israel was required to withdraw from all occupied territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognise Palestinian independence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. The Peace Initiative was again endorsed at 2007 in the Riyadh Summit. In July 2007, the Arab League sent a mission, consisting of the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers, to Israel to promote the initiative. Following Venezuela's move to expel Israeli diplomats amid the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, Kuwaiti member of parliament Waleed al-Tabtabai proposed moving Arab League headquarters Caracas, Venezuela.^[22] On 13 June 2010, Amr Mohammed Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League visited the Gaza Strip, the first by an official of the Arab League since the election of Hamas in 2007.

Summits[link]

Economic resources[link]

The Arab League is rich in resources, with enormous oil and natural gas resources in certain member states; it also has great fertile lands in southern Sudan, usually referred to as the food basket of the Arab World. Another industry that is growing steadily in the Arab League is telecommunications. Within less than a decade, local companies such as Orascom, and Etisalat have managed to compete internationally.

Economic achievements initiated by the League amongst member states have been less impressive than those achieved by smaller Arab organisations such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).^[23] Among them is the Arab Gas Pipeline, that will transport Egyptian and Iraqi gas to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. Significant difference in wealth and economic conditions exist between the rich oil states of the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Algeria, and poor countries like the Comoros, Mauritania, and Djibouti. The Arab League agreed to support the Sudanese region of Darfur with US$500 million.

Literacy in Arab league countries[link]

Arab League map indicating literacy by country (2010 Human Development Report) Grey = no data

In collecting literacy data, many countries estimate the number of literate people based on self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy, but measures of school attendance or grade completion may differ. Because definitions and data collection methods vary across countries, literacy estimates should be used with caution. United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2010.

Rank	Country	Literacy rate
1	Kuwait	98.6[24]
2	Lebanon	94.5[25]
3	Palestinian Authority	94.1[24]
4	Qatar	93.1[26]
5	Jordan	92.2[25]
6	Bahrain	90.8[26]
7	United Arab Emirates	90.0[26]
8	Libya	88.4[25]
9	Oman	86.7[24]
10	Saudi Arabia	85.5[25]
11	Syria	83.6[27]
12	Tunisia	78[25]
13	Iraq	77.6[24]
14	Comoros	73.6[27]
15	Algeria	72.6[25]
16	Morocco	70[27]
17	Sudan	69.3[24]
18	Djibouti	67.9[28]
19	Egypt	66.4[27]
20	Yemen	60.9[27]
21	Mauritania	56.8[27]
22	Somalia	54.8[27]

Demographics of Arab League countries[link]

The Arab League is a culturally and ethnically diverse association of 22 member states, although the overwhelming majority of the League's population identifies as Arab (either on a cultural basis, or on an ethno-racial basis). As of 1 January 2007, about 340,000,000 people live in the states of the Arab League. Its population grows faster than in most other global regions. The most populous member state is Egypt, with a population of about 81 million.^[29] The least populated is the Comoros, with over 0.6 million inhabitants.

Rank	Country	Population	Density (/km2)	Density (sq mi)	Notes
1	Egypt	81,650,212	90	233	[30]
2	Algeria	37,100,000	16	41	[31]
3	Morocco	36,064,173	75	194	[32]
4	Sudan	30,894,000	16	41	[33]
5	Iraq	30,747,000	70	181	[31]
6	Saudi Arabia	28,146,658	12	31	[31]
7	Yemen	23,580,000	45	117	[31]
8	Syria	21,906,000	118	306	[31]
9	Tunisia	10,673,800	65	168	[34]
10	Libya	6,733,620	3.8	9.8	[31] [35]
11	Somalia	9,133,000	14	36	[31]
12	United Arab Emirates	8,264,070	99	256	[36]
13	Jordan	6,316,000	71	184	[31]
14	Lebanon	4,224,000	404	1,046	[31]
15	Palestinian Authority	4,136,540	687	1,779	[37]
16	Kuwait	3,566,437	200	518	[31]
17	Mauritania	3,291,000	3.2	8.3	[31]
18	Oman	2,845,000	9.2	24	[31]
19	Qatar	1,699,435	154	399	[31]
20	Bahrain	1,234,596	1,646	4,263	[38]
21	Djibouti	864,000	37	96	[31]
22	Comoros	691,000	309	800	[31]
Total	Arab League	349,870,608	26.6	68.1

The vast majority of the Arab League's citizens are Muslim, with Christianity being the second largest religion. Over 20 million Christians live in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Sudan and Syria.

Arab League population by sect following

N	Country	Islam	Christians	Others
1	Algeria	99%	0.5%	0.5%
2	Bahrain	81.2%	9%	8.81%
3	Comoros	99%	1%	n/a
4	Djibouti	94%	5%	1%
5	Egypt	83%	16%	1%
6	Iraq	95%	4.3%	0.7%
7	Jordan	93%	6%	1%
8	Kuwait	85%	10%	5%
9	Lebanon	63%	34%	3%
10	Libya	88%	5%	7%
11	Mauritania	100%	0%	0%
12	Morocco	98.7%	1%	0.3%
13	Oman	92.5%	5%	2.5%
14	Palestinian Authority	92%	8%	-
15	Qatar	77.6%	11%	11.4%
16	Saudi Arabia	100%	0%	0%
17	Somalia	100%	0%	0%
18	Sudan	97%	3%	0.001%
19	Syria	82%	12%	6%
20	Tunisia	98%	1%	1%
21	United Arab Emirates	76%	9%	15%
22	Yemen	99%	0.2%	0.8%
	Arab League	90%	6%	4%

Jurisdiction[link]

Rank	Country	Area (km2)[Note 1]	Area (sq mi)	% of Total	Notes
1	Algeria	2,381,741	919,595	18.1%	Largest country in Africa and in the Arab world.
2	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	830,000	16.4%	Largest country in the Middle East.
3	Sudan	1,886,068	728,215	14.2%	Formerly the largest country in Africa.
4	Libya	1,759,540	679,360	11.4%
5	Mauritania	1,030,700	398,000	7.8%
6	Egypt	1,022,600	394,800	7.6%	Excluding the Hala'ib Triangle (20,580 km2/7,950 sq mi).
7	Somalia	637,657	246,201	4.9%
8	Yemen	527,968	203,850	4.0%
9	Morocco	446,550	172,410	3.4%	Does not include Western Sahara (266,000 km2/103,000 sq mi).
10	Iraq	435,244	168,049	3.3%
11	Oman	309,500	119,500	2.4%
12	Syria	185,180	71,500	1.4%	Including the part of the Golan Heights (1,200 km2/460 sq mi) currently administered by Israel.
13	Tunisia	163,610	63,170	1.2%
14	Jordan	89,342	34,495	0.7%
15	United Arab Emirates	83,600	32,300	0.6%
16	Djibouti	23,200	9,000	0.1%
17	Kuwait	17,818	6,880	0.1%
18	Qatar	11,586	4,473	0.08%
19	Lebanon	10,452	4,036	0.08%
20	Palestine	6,020	2,320	0.05%
21	Comoros	2,235	863	0.01%
22	Bahrain	758	293	0.005%

See also[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Arab League Pact

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: League of Arab States

• Arab League official site (Arabic)
• The League of Arab States at Al-Bab.com
• Arab Turk Conference and Expo at Bursa
• The Arab League at Council on Foreign Relations
• Profile: Arab League, BBC News, updated 9 March 2011
• Arab League at Jewish Virtual Library
• Arab League at WorldStatesmen.org
• Arab League collected news and commentary at Bloomberg News
• Arab League collected news and commentary at The Jerusalem Post
• Arab League collected news and commentary at The New York Times

v t e Members of the Arab League Members Algeria Bahrain Comoros Djibouti Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania Morocco Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen Suspended Syria Observers Brazil Eritrea India Turkey Venezuela Diplomacy Arab Peace Initiative Arab League peace plan (Syria)

Arab
العرب al-ʿarab

Philip the Arab • John of Damascus • Al-Kindi • Al-Khansa Faisal I of Iraq • Gamal Abdel Nasser • Asmahan • May Ziade
Total population
approx. 300 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Arab League 280,000,000  France 3,500,000[2]  Argentina 1,300,000–3,300,000[3][4]  United States 2,466,874[5]  Iran 700,000 – 2,000,000[6]  Israel 1,500,000  Mexico 1,100,000[7]  Spain 800,000[8]  Turkey 500,000[9]  Brazil 164,000[10]
Languages
Arabic, Modern South Arabian,[11][12] varieties of Arabic
Religion
Predominantly Islam; largest minority: Christianity; other religions
Related ethnic groups
Jews, other Afro-Asiatic groups

Arab people, also known as Arabs (Arabic: عرب‎, ʿarab), are a panethnicity^[13] primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds,^[14] with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing an important part of Arab identity.^[15]

The word "Arab" has had several different, but overlapping, meanings over the centuries (and sometimes even today). In addition to including all Arabized people of the world (with language tending to be the acid test), it has also at times been used exclusively for bedouin (Arab nomads [although a related word, "`a-RAB," with the Arabic letter "alif" in the second syllable, once was sometimes used when this specific meaning was intended] and their now almost entirely settled descendants). It is sometimes used that way colloquially even today in some places. Townspeople once were sometimes called "sons of the Arabs." As in the case of other ethnicities or nations, people identify themselves (or are identified by others) as "Arabs" to varying degrees. This may not be one's primary identity (it tends to compete with country, religion, sect, etc.), and whether it is emphasized may depend upon one's audience.

If the diverse Arab pan-ethnicity is regarded as a single ethnic group, then it constitutes one of the world's largest after Han Chinese.

Etymology[link]

The earliest documented use of the word "Arab" to refer to a people appears in the Monolith Inscription, an Akkadian language record of the 9th century BC Assyrian Conquest of Syria (Arabs had formed part of a coalition of forces opposed to Assyria).^[16] Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of "Gi-in-di-bu'u the ar-ba-a-a" or "[the man] Gindibu belonging to the ʕarab" (ar-ba-a-a being an adjectival nisba of the noun ʕarab).^[16]

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

The root of the word has many meanings in Semitic languages including "west/sunset," "desert," "mingle," "merchant," "raven" and are "comprehensible" with all of these having varying degrees of relevance to the emergence of the name. It is also possible that some forms were metathetical from ʿ-B-R "moving around" (Arabic ʿ-B-R "traverse"), and hence, it is alleged, "nomadic."

Identity[link]

Arab identity is defined independently of religious identity, and pre-dates the rise of Islam, with historically attested Arab Christian kingdoms and Arab Jewish tribes. Today, however, most Arabs are Muslim, with a minority adhering to other faiths, largely Christianity. Arabs are generally Sunni, Shia, or Ismaili Muslims, but currently, 7.1 percent to 10 percent of Arabs are Arab Christians.^[17] This figure does not include Christian ethnic groups such as Assyrians, Syriacs and those designated as Arameans or Phoenicians.

The early Arabs were the tribes of Northern Arabia speaking proto Arabic dialects. Although since early days other people became Arabs through an Arabization process that could mean intermarriage with Arabs, adopting the Arabic language and culture, or both. For example, the Ghassanids and the Lakhmids which originated from Southern Semitic speaking Yemen made a major contribution in the creation of the Arabic language. The same process happened all over the Arab world after the spread of Islam by the mixing of Arabs with several other peoples. The Arab cultures went through a mixing process. Therefore every Arab country has cultural specificities which constitute a cultural mix which also originate in local novelties achieved after the arabization took place. However, all Arab countries do also share a common culture in most Aspects: Arts (music, literature, poetry, calligraphy...), Cultural products (Handicrafts, carpets, henne, bronze carving...), Social behaviour and relations (Hospitality, codes of conduct among friends and family...), Customs and superstitions, Some dishes (Shorba, Mloukhia), Traditional clothing, Architecture...

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

Arabs have historically been racially classified as white/Caucasian^[18][19] and, since 1997, by the U.S. Census as well.^[20][21]

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,^[22] resulting in their 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. (See Anwar G. Chegne, "Arabic: Its Significance and Place in Arab-Muslim Society," Middle East Journal 19 (Autumn 1965), pp. 447–470. 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 2nd century, 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:

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 tribes of Arabia – the original inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula – and the Syrian Desert. This was the definition used in 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 J1 collapses 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 more than 300 million people. 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 each definition, as done by Palestinian Habib Hassan Touma,^[29] who defines an Arab "in the modern sense of the word", as "one who is a national of 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 the political and linguistic definitions. Few people consider themselves Arab based on the political definition without also having Arabic as a first or primary language. Thus Kurds, the Assyrian Christians and Mandeans of Iraq and its surrounds (who primarily speak Mesopotamian Aramaic), Armenians, Shabak, Turcoman, Circassians and Baluch do not identify as Arab, and some Berbers have also rejected the label.^[30] Some other ethno-religious minorities within Western Asia and North Africa who do speak Arabic as their primary community language also do not identify with the Arab identity, most notably the Syriac Christian communities such as Maronites of Syria and Lebanon and the Copts of Egypt.

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.^[31]

The relation of ʿarab and ʾaʿrāb is complicated further by the notion of "lost Arabs" al-ʿArab al-ba'ida mentioned in the Qur'an as punished for 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 of origin 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 southern group. The so-called Sabaean or Himyarite language described by Abū Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdānī (died 946) appears to be a special case of language contact between the two groups, an originally north Arabic dialect spoken in the south, and influenced by Old South Arabian.^{[citation needed][dubious – discuss]}

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 land empires in history. In much of this area, the Arabs spread Islam and the Arabic culture, Science, and Language (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, Dialogues in Arab Politics: Negotiations in Regional Order (Columbia University Press, 1998).

Arab population[link]

A Bedouin in Saudi Arabia

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

Arab states

Flag	Country	Total Population	% Arabs	Notes
	Egypt	82,079,636[32]	90%[33]	The classification as Arab is only cultural as Egyptians are not ethnically Arabs nor do they consider themselves as such.	[34][35]
	Sudan	45,047,502	70%[36]
	Algeria	35,423,000	80%[37]	Classification as arab is cultural[38], not ethnic. although almost all Algerians are Berber in origin (not Arab)[39].
	Morocco	32,381,000	66%[40]	The high level of mixing between Arabs and Berbers makes differentiating between the two ethnicities in Morocco difficult. This figure includes Arabs of Berber descent.
	Saudi Arabia	26,246,000	90%[41]
	Iraq	31,467,000	75%-80%[42]
	Yemen	24,256,000	100%[43]
	Syria	22,505,000	90%[44]
	Tunisia	10,374,000	98%[45]	Almost all of Tunisia's citizenry has Arab and Berber background. Because of the high degree of assimilation Tunisians are often referred to as Arab-Berber.[46]
	Libya	6,546,000	97%[47]	Almost all of Libya's citizenry has Arab and Berber background. Because of the high degree of assimilation Libyans are often referred to as Arab-Berber.[48]
	Jordan	6,472,000	98%[49]
	Lebanon	4,255,000	95%[50]
	Palestinian territories	4,225,710	90%	Gaza Strip: 1,657,155, 100% Palestinian Arab,[51] West Bank: 2,568,555, 83% Palestinian Arab and other[52]
	Israel	1,500,000	20.5%[53]
	Kuwait	3,030,000	80%[54]
	UAE	4,707,000	19%[55]	Less than 20% of the population in the Emirates are citizens, the majority are foreign workers and expatriates. Those holding Emirati citizenship are overwhelmingly Arab.
	Oman	3,090,150	81%[56]
	Mauritania	3,343,000	80%[43]	The majority of Mauritania's population are ethnic Moors, an ethnicity with a mix of Arab and Berber ancestry, with a smaller Black African ancestry. Moors make up 80% of the population in Mauritania, the remaining 20% are members of a number of Black African ethnic groups.[43][dubious – discuss]
	Qatar	1,508,000	55%[41]	The native population is a minority in Qatar, making up 20% of the population. The native population is ethnically Arab. An additional 35% of the population is made up of Arabs, mostly Egyptian and Palestinian workers. The remaining population is made up of other foreign workers.[41]
	Bahrain	1,234,571	51.4%[57]	46.0% of the Bahrain's population are native Bahrainis. Bahrainis are ethnically Arabs.[58] 5.4% are Other Arabs (inc. GCC)[57]

Arab diaspora[link]

The Arab diaspora is a global diaspora distributed across many continents.

Arab diaspora

Flag	Country	Number of Arabs	Total Population	% Arabs	Notes
	Brazil	6,000,000	191,241,714	3.0%	[59]
	Canada	470,000	34,190,000	1.4%	[60]
	France	3,500,000	65,073,482	5.4%	[61]
	United States		311,965,000
	Netherlands	418,000	17,196,000	2.5%
	Argentina	1,336,000	40,482,000	3.3%	[62]
	Italy		60,234,000
	Australia		21,885,016
	United Kingdom		61,113,205
	Turkey		78,785,548
	Mexico		111,211,789
	Chile	700,000	16,928,873	4.2%	[63]
	South Africa		26,814,843[citation needed]
	Germany		82,060,000
	Ecuador		13,625,000
	Russia		142,008,838
–	Total		–	–