Geographical and cultural region in Africa and the Middle East
This article is about geographical region. For the geopolitical entity, see Arab League.
Arab world
Area
13,132,327 km2 (5,070,420 sq mi)[1]
Population
456,520,777[2]
Population density
29.839/km2 (70.37/sq mi)[3]
GDP (nominal)
$2.782 trillion[4]
GDP per capita
$6,647[5]
Demonym
Arab
Countries
22 sovereign states
Minimum definition:
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Extended definition:
Comoros
Djibouti
Somalia
2 de facto states
Minimum definition:
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Extended definition:
Somaliland
Dependencies
Arab League[6]
Time zones
UTC±00:00 to UTC+04:00
Internet TLD
.africa, .asia
Largest cities
Major cities of Arab world
List
Cairo Baghdad Riyadh Alexandria Amman Algiers Jeddah Casablanca Sanaa Dubai
The Arab world (Arabic: اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّal-ʿālam al-ʿarabī), formally the Arab homeland (اَلْوَطَنُ الْعَرَبِيُّal-waṭan al-ʿarabī),[7][8][9] also known as the Arab nation (اَلْأُمَّةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُal-ummah al-ʿarabīyyah), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states,[10] comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in Western Asia and Northern Africa. While the majority of people in the Arab world are ethnically Arab,[11][12] there are also significant populations of other ethnic groups such as Berbers, Kurds, Somalis and Nubians, among other groups.[13] Arabic is used as the lingua franca throughout the Arab world.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
The Arab world is at its minimum defined as the 19 states where Arabs form at least a plurality of the population.[20][21] At its maximum it consists of the 22 members of the Arab League, an international organization,[6] which on top of the 19 plurality Arab states also includes the Comoros, Djibouti and Somalia. The region stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Indian Ocean in the southeast.[6] The eastern part of the Arab world is known as the Mashriq, and the western part as the Maghreb.
According to the World Bank, the Arab world has a total population of 456 million inhabitants and a gross domestic product of $2.85 trillion, as of 2021.[2] The region is nevertheless diverse in many ways, and economically includes some of the wealthiest as well as poorest populations.[21] The region mostly corresponds with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) definition.
In post-classical history, the Arab world was synonymous with the historic Arab empires and caliphates.[22] Arab nationalism arose in the second half of the 19th century along with other nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire. The Arab League was formed in 1945 to represent the interests of Arab people and especially to pursue the political unification of the Arab countries; a project known as Pan-Arabism.[23][24]
^"Arab World – Surface area". indexmundi.com.
^ ab"Arab World | Data". World Bank. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
^"Population density (people per sq. km of land area) | Data". World Bank.
^"GDP (current US$) | Data". World Bank.
^"GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) | Data". World Bank.
^ abcCite error: The named reference Frishkopf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Khan, Zafarul-Islam. "The Arab World – an Arab perspective". milligazette.com.
^Phillips, Christopher (2012). Everyday Arab Identity: The Daily Reproduction of the Arab World. Routledge. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-136-21960-3.
^Mellor, Noha; Rinnawi, Khalil; Dajani, Nabil; Ayish, Muhammad I. (2013). Arab Media: Globalization and Emerging Media Industries. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0745637365.
^"Majority and Minorities in the Arab World: The Lack of a Unifying Narrative". Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs.
^Hitti, Philip K. (1996). The Arabs : a short history. Philip K. Hitti. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 0-89526-706-3. OCLC 34753527.
^Rogan, Eugene L. (2011). The Arabs: A History (First paperback ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02504-6. OCLC 728657250.
^"Middle East – People and Society". World101 from the Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
^"Jordan and Syria". Ethnologue. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
^Jastrow, Otto O. (2006), "Iraq", in Versteegh, Kees; Eid, Mushira; Elgibali, Alaa; Woidich, Manfred; Zaborski, Andrzej (eds.), Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, vol. 2, Brill Publishers, p. 414, ISBN 978-90-04-14474-3
^Arabic, Najdi Spoken. Ethnologue
^Arabic, Hijazi Spoken. Ethnologue
^Arabic, Gulf Spoken. Ethnologue
^Simeone-Sinelle, Marie-Claude (2005). "Arabic Lingua Franca in the Horn of Africa". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. 2 – via Academia.edu.
^"Why the Arab world has an identity crisis". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
^ abTamari, Steve (2008). Who are the Arabs?. Washington, D.C., United States: Georgetown University-Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. p. 1.
^"The Arab League". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
^"Arab League Sends Delegation to Iraq". Encyclopedia.com. 8 October 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
^"Arab League Warns of Civil War in Iraq". Encyclopedia.com. 8 October 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
The Arabworld (Arabic: اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ al-ʿālam al-ʿarabī), formally the Arab homeland (اَلْوَطَنُ الْعَرَبِيُّ al-waṭan al-ʿarabī), also known...
The Arabworld consists of 22 states.[citation needed] As of 2021, the combined population of all the Arab states was around 475 million people.[citation...
protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arabworld in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and...
Antisemitism (prejudice against and hatred of Jews) has increased greatly in the Arabworld since the beginning of the 20th century, for several reasons: the dissolution...
and the Arabworld ranged from indifference, resistance, collaboration and emulation. Nazi Germany used collaborators throughout the Arabworld to support...
The roles of women in the Arabworld have changed throughout history, as the culture and society in which they live has undergone significant transformations...
Shia Islam, each with its own sub-sects. Large numbers of Shia Arab Muslims live in some Arab countries including Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia...
Jāmiʿat ad-Duwal al-ʿArabiyya), is a regional organization in the Arabworld. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with six members:...
phenomenon" that are important to understanding the political landscape of the Arabworld. Variants include conspiracies involving Western colonialism, Islamic...
colors in Arab flags are Pan-Arab colors (red, black, white and green); common symbols include stars, crescents and the Shahada. Flag of the Arab Revolt...
In the Arabworld, racism targets non-Arabs and the expat majority of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf coming from South Asian (Sri Lanka, Pakistan...
immigrants of the countries comprising the ArabWorld. According to the 2010 U.S. census, there are 1,698,570 Arab Americans in the United States. 290,893...
This is the list of the 22 currencies presently in circulation in the ArabWorld. "BHD - Bahraini Dinar". Xe.com. 18 October 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2014...
cities in the Arabworld. The Arabworld is here defined as the 22 member states of the Arab League. Largest cities in the Arabworld by official cities...
region of the Middle East and North Africa known as the Arabworld. The various religions the Arabs have adopted throughout their history and the various...
Stability in the ArabWorld", Alternatives (Volume 3, No. 2 & 3, Summer/Fall 2004). Democracy in Yemen Gary Gambill, "Jumpstarting Arab Reform: The Bush...
Arab Christians (Arabic: ﺍﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, romanized: al-Masīḥiyyūn al-ʿArab) are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic speakers who follow Christianity...
Miss ArabWorld (Arabic: مسابقة ملكة جمال العرب) is an annual regional beauty pageant in the ArabWorld. The contest seeks to select the Arab girl that...
inhabiting the Arabworld in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the...
primary goals of modern Arab nationalism is ridding the Arabworld of influence from the Western world, and the removal of those Arab governments that are...
The Second Arab Spring is a series of anti-government protests which took place in several Arabworld countries from late 2018 onwards. In Iraq, the deadliest...
originating from the Arab world. The term is politically contested, often by Zionists or by Jews with roots in the Arabworld who prefer to be identified...
identity. Throughout Arab history, there have been three major national trends in the Arabworld. Pan-Arabism rejects the individual Arab states' existing...
populous city, is an international hub. The United Arab Emirates' oil and natural gas reserves are the world's sixth and seventh-largest, respectively. Zayed...
The Arabworld consists of 22 countries[citation needed] located in Western Asia, Northern Africa, the Maghreb, the Horn of Africa, and the Indian Ocean...
of the Arabworld. Although Arabs account for the largest ethnicity among the world's adherents of Islam, they are a minority in the Muslim world in terms...
Economic history of the Arabworld addresses the history of economic activity in the Arabic-speaking countries and the stretching of Atlantic Ocean in...
approximately 800000 Jews were living on lands that now make up the Arabworld. Of this figure, just under two-thirds lived in the French- and Italian-controlled...