Ethnic groups in the Middle East
The ethnic groups in the Middle East refers to the various peoples that reside in West Asia and Egypt in North Africa. The region has historically been a crossroad of different cultures. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors (especially the enormous oil wealth in the region and conflicts) have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The five largest ethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Persians, and Anatolian Turks[1] but there are dozens of other ethnic groups which have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of members.
Other Indigenous, native, or long-standing ethnic groups include: Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Balochs, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Kawliya, Lurs, Mandeans, Mazanderanis Mhallami, Nawar, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talishis, Tats, Turcomans, Yazidis, and Zazas.
More recent migrant or diaspora populations include Albanians, Bengalis, British people, Bosniaks, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Filipinos, French people, Indians, Indonesians, Italians, Malays, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romani, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, and Sub-Saharan Africans.
Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and Mesopotamia
- Alawites
- Bahranis
- Bedoon
- Bedouins
- Egyptian Arabs (excluding ethnic minorities like Ababda, Ahamidat Alhoarh, Albanian diaspora, Beja, Berber, Bisharin, Copts, Circassian diaspora, El homaydat, Hedareb, Houara, Huteimi, Kouloughlis, Magyarab, Nubian, and Romani)
- Emiratis
- Hadhrami
- Iraqis Arabs (excluding ethnic minorities like Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds-Shabakis, Kawliya-Romani, Mandeans, North Caucasian diaspora, Turkomans, and Yazidis)
- Jordanians (excluding ethnic minorities like Armenians, North Caucasian diaspora, and Kurds)
- Kuwaitis
- Lebanese Arabs, (excluding most Christians and some Muslims who instead claim a Phoenician heritage, and ethnic minorities like Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds)
- Marsh Arabs
- Mehri
- Omani
- Palestinians
- Qataris
- Saudi Arabians
- Syrian Arabs (excluding ethnic minorities like Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, North Caucasian diaspora, Nawar-Roma, Turkomans, and Yazidis)
- Yemenis
- Other Ethnic Groups
Anatolia
- Indo-European peoples:
- Kartvelian peoples:
- Romanis:
- Semitic speakers:
- Turkic peoples
- Various Muslim immigrants from neighbouring regions:
Cyprus
Iranian Plateau
- Indo-European peoples:
- Kartvelian peoples:
- Turkic peoples:
- Semitic peoples:
- Various Muslim immigrants from the Caucasus (Peoples of the Caucasus in Iran)
Diaspora populations
Because of the low population of many of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf and the demand for labor created by the large discoveries of oil in these countries there has been a steady stream of immigration to the region (mainly from South Asia). Ethnic groups which comprise the largest portions of this immigration include Bengalis, Britons, Chinese, Filipinos, Hindus, Nepalis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Punjabis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, and Sri Lankans. Many of these people are denied certain political and legal rights in the countries in which they live and frequently face mistreatment by the native-born citizens of the host countries.
See also
- Archaeogenetics of the Near East
- Arab diaspora
- Assyrian diaspora
- Jewish diaspora
- Jews
- Arab world
- Demographics of the Arab League
- Demographics of Iran
- Demographics of Iraq
- Iranian diaspora
- Ethnic groups of the Caucasus
- Ethnic groups of North Africa
- Ethnic groups of Europe
- Ethnic groups of South Asia
- Iranic peoples
- Armenian diaspora
- Semitic peoples
- Turkic peoples
References
- ↑ Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
