The Arab People in the Middle East: Between Cultural Unity and Political Diversity

When discussing the Middle East, the word "Arab" often comes up, as it is so deeply rooted in the region's history, culture, language, and identity. But who are the Arabs of the Middle East? How many countries can be considered predominantly, or even exclusively, Arab? And what is the place of religion in this vast mosaic? This article offers a chronological and nuanced look at the question.

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1. The origins of the Arab people

The Arabs, historically, are a Semitic people originating from the Arabian Peninsula. Before the emergence of Islam in the 7th century, they were mainly divided between nomadic and sedentary tribes. Their language, Arabic, gradually spread through trade, oral poetry, and later Islamic preaching.

With the arrival of Islam and the Arab conquests beginning in the 7th century, Arab culture spread far beyond the peninsula. Entire regions, previously dominated by languages such as Aramaic or Greek, shifted to Arabic, which became a language of administration, liturgy, and identity.

2. Expansion and construction of the Arab world

Between the 7th and 13th centuries, the Arabs built several successive empires: the Umayyad Caliphate, then the Abbasid Caliphate, with Damascus and Baghdad as their capitals. This rapid religious and military expansion spread the Arabic language and culture from the Maghreb to Mesopotamia.

Over the centuries, Arab identity has been consolidated around several pillars: language, Islam (mostly Sunni), a common historical memory, and a shared vision of a collective destiny, although often politically fragmented.

3. Arab-majority countries in the Middle East

Today, several Middle Eastern countries are considered to be predominantly or exclusively Arab. Here is a list of Middle Eastern countries considered 100% Arab or overwhelmingly Arab :

• Saudi Arabia

• Jordan

• Yemen

• Syria

• Iraq (Arab majority, but with a large Kurdish minority in the north)

• Kuwait

• Bahrain

• Qatar

• United Arab Emirates

• Oman

• Lebanon (culturally Arab, but very ethnically and religiously diverse)

Note that Egypt, although in Africa, is often associated with this region and is a major pillar of the Arab world.

Other countries in the region, such as Iran, Israel or Turkey, are not Arab , although they are fully part of the Middle Eastern geopolitical space.

4. Religion: a central but not exclusive link

In these Arab countries, the dominant religion is Islam. The majority of Arabs in the Middle East are Sunni, with a significant Shiite presence in some countries (notably Iraq, Lebanon, and Bahrain).

But it would be reductive to reduce the Arab world to Sunni Islam. There are also Alawites (in Syria), Druze (in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel), Ismailis, and very ancient Christian communities (Maronites, Chaldeans, Copts, Melkites, etc.).

The coexistence of these religious currents, sometimes peaceful, sometimes conflictual, is an integral part of the history of the Arab Middle East.

5. Linguistic unity, political diversity

All these countries share a major commonality: the Arabic language. It is both a powerful cultural vector and a profound marker of identity. However, this linguistic unity masks significant political, economic, and social divisions.

The dream of a unifying pan-Arabism marked the 20th century (notably with Nasser in Egypt), but it came up against geopolitical realities, divergent interests, and internal or regional conflicts.

Conclusion: one people, many faces

The Arab people of the Middle East are not a monolithic bloc. They are a mosaic of histories, beliefs, tensions, and solidarities. Understanding this complexity means rejecting clichés and recognizing that behind the apparent linguistic and religious unity lies an immense human and political richness.

Through Echo Middle East, this independent perspective continues to explore these nuances, these intersecting memories, and this region which, more than ever, deserves to be read carefully.