The Arab world

The Arab world consists of twenty-three countries stretching from Western Sahara and Mauritania in the west to Oman in the east. They have a combined population of 300 million people and their combined economies surpass one trillion U.S. dollars annually. The Arab world, based on Image:Israel and arab states map. ... USD redirects here. ...

Language, politics, and religion

The Arabic language forms a unifying feature of the Arab world: though different areas use local dialects of Arabic, all share in the use of the standard classical language. This contrasts with the situation in the wider Islamic world, where Arabic retains its cultural prestige primarily as the language of religion and of theological scholarship, but the populace generally speak non-Arabic languages. The linguistic denotation inherent in the term Arab is generally dominant over genealogical considerations; thus, individuals with little or no Arabian ancestry (e.g., black Africans, Berbers) could be considered Arabs and self-identify as such by virtue of their mother tongue (see Who is an Arab?). The Arabic language (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The Arabs ((Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large ethnic group widespread in the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... Genealogy is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. ... The term Blacks is often used in the West to denote race for persons whose progenitors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa. ... World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group indigenous to the Maghreb, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... First language (native language, mother tongue, or vernacular) is the language a person learns first. ... The Arabs ((Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large ethnic group widespread in the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ...

The Arab League is a political organization intended to encompass the Arab world. The organization defines as Arab, Flag of the League of Arab States The Arab League or League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية), is an organization of Arab states - compare Arab world. ...

a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic speaking country, who is in sympathy with the aspirations of the Arabic speaking peoples.

The Arab League's main goal is to unify politically the Arab populations so defined. Its permanent headquarters are located in Cairo. However, it was moved temporarily to Tunis during the 1980s, after Egypt was expelled due to the Camp David Accords (1978). Although technically in Giza, The Great Pyramids have become a symbol of Cairo internationally Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة; transliterated: al-Qāhirah) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... Anwar Sadat (left), Jimmy Carter (center), and Menachem Begin (right) shake hands in celebration of the success of the Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at...

The majority of people in the Arab world adhere to Islam and the religion has official status in most countries. Sharia law forms the basis of the legal system in some countries, especially in the Arabian peninsula, while others are secular. There are sizable numbers of Arab Christians, living primarily in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Syria. The greatest proportion of the people who make up the Arab diaspora (i.e. Arab-speaking emigrants, refugees and expatriates worldwide) are also Christian, including the majority of Arab Americans and Latin Americans of Arab origin. Formely, there were also significant minorities of Arab Jews throughout the Arab world; however, the establishment of the state of Israel prompted their subsequent mass emigration and expulsion within a few decades. Today tiny communities of Jews remain, ranging anywhere from ten in Bahrain to 7,000 in Morocco and more than 1,000 in Tunisia. Overall, Arabs make up less than one quarter of the world's 1.4 billion Muslims, a group sometimes referred to as the Islamic world. Islām is described as a dīn, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... Sharia (Arabic: ; also Sharīah, Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is the Arabic word for Islamic law, also known as the Law of Allah. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... Secularism is commonly defined as the idea that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society. ... Arab Christians are people who are ethnically Arab and who follow the religion of Christianity. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Arab diaspora refers to the numbers of Arab immigrants, and their descendants, who voluntarily or as refugees emigrated from their native countries and now reside in non-Arab nations, primarily in Western countries as well as parts of sub-Saharan Africa (West Africa, primarily Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Liberia) The... Emigration is the action and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ... An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. ... Arab Americans constitute an ethnicity made up of several waves of immigrants from 22 Morocco in the west to Oman in the east. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... This article deals with those Jewish communities indigenous to the Middle East. ... Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה; ascent) is a term widely used to mean Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948, the State of Israel). ... The Jewish exodus from Arab lands is the 20th century emigration, and sometimes expulsion, of Jews, primarily Sephardi and Mizrahi, from Arab lands. ... The Arabs ((Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large ethnic group widespread in the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... Dearest Linda and Jack. ...

Many Arab states have vast petroleum resources, moderate levels of public literacy and great disparity between social classes. Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Literacy is the ability to read and write. ... Social class describes the relationships between people in hierarchical societies or cultures. ...

Non-Arab peoples in the Arab world

Within what is considered the Arab world, there resides several populations who are not Arab either by ethnic or linguistic definition, and who generally do not consider themselves as such. Still, they are just as native as the Arabs to the area, and many if not most actually resided in the area before the arrival of Arabs during the spread of Islam. Many of them resent the term "Arab world" and believe that their national and political rights have been unjustly brushed aside by the governments' focus on pan-Arabism and promoting an Arab identity. In some cases this has led to severe conflicts between the ethnic nationalism of these groups and the Arab nationalism promoted by Arab rulers, which sometimes amounted to denying the existence of or forcibly suppressing non-Arab minorities within their borders. Islām is described as a dīn, meaning way of life and/or guidance. Six articles of belief There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims: 1. ... Pan-Arabism is a movement for unification among the Arab peoples and nations of the Middle East. ... Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities); the underlying assumption is that ethnicities should be politically distinct. ... Arab nationalism refers to a common nationalist ideology in wider Arab world. ...

Some examples of these peoples are:

In North Africa the Berbers pre-dated the Arabs, and most North African Arab countries have large Berber populations. However, the distinction between Berber and Arab is sometimes hard to make, as many Berber communities have by now adopted Arabic as their main language. Also, both people's have adopted elements of each others culture and language, and intermarriage has blurred the ethnic distinction. Still, there still exists sizable minorities that relies almost exclusively on Berber languages such as Tamazight. In Morocco the Berbers form about 40% - 55% of the total population; in Algeria they represent 30% - 35% of the Algerian population, concentrated in the eastern region of Kabylie. There are also Berber communities in Libya and a clear Berber heritage in the Sahrawi or Moorish tribes of Mauritania and Western Sahara. The nomadic Touareg people whose traditional areas straddle the borders of several countries in the Sahara desert, are also of Berber origins. A chauvinist interpretation of Arab nationalism, as well as government worries about ethnic separatism, has led to the Berber communities being denied language and political rights. These problems have to some extent been redressed in later years, especially in Morocco, but in Algeria's Kabylie region, the Arab-Berber issue remains explosive. North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Afro-Asiatic - Berber The Berber languages (or Tamazight) are a group of closely related languages mainly spoken in Morocco and Algeria. ... The Berbers (also called Imazighen, free men, singular Amazigh) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwest Africa, speaking the Berber languages of the Afroasiatic family. ... Kabylie is a mountainous area in the north of Algeria. ... Sahrawi and Saharawi are terms most commonly used for the natives of the Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. ... Moor may refer to: A high altitude form of heathland habitat widespread in northern Britain; see heath (habitat). ... For the African ethnic group or nation see Tuareg. ... The Sahara is the worlds second largest desert (second to Antarctica), over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), located in northern Africa and is 2. ...

In the northern regions of Iraq (20%) and Syria (10%) lives the Kurds, a mountain people who speak Kurdish, a language completely unrelated to Arabic. The nationalist aspiration for self-rule or for a state of Kurdistan has created conflict between Kurdish minorities and their governments. Large Kurdish minorities also exist in non-Arab Iran (5-10%) and Turkey (25%). Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... Kurdish may refer to: The Kurdish people The Kurdish language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Arabic language (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Kurdish-inhabited areas (Kurdistan). ...

Other examples of non-Arab peoples originating in what is often labelled the Arab world include the Turkmen of Iraq, Syriac Christians, Assyrians and Jews (most of whom fled to Israel after its creation in 1948). Since most Arab League states are products of colonialism, their borders rarely reflect distinct ethnic or geographic boundaries. Thus, many peripheral states of the Arab world have border-straddling minorities of non-Arab peoples. This is the case with Iranians in Iraq (most of whom fled in the Iraq-Iran War) and the black African peoples in Sudan. Syriac is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ... As a noun, Christian is an appellation and moniker deriving from the appellation Christ, which many people associate exclusively with Jesus of Nazareth. ... This article concerns the Assyrian people. ... Flag of the League of Arab States The Arab League or League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية), is an organization of Arab states - compare Arab world. ... Iranian troops in the northern front. ...

States

The following entities (18 states and two territories) all use Arabic as their official state language and most of their inhabitants maintain Arab identities (irrespective of their race or ethnic origin) and are therefore considered part of the Arab world: The Arabic language (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... An official language is a language that is given a unique legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... The notion of identity has many uses throughout the social sciences. ...

Palestine and Western Sahara are not de facto sovereign countries, but they are widely recognized as legitimate states that should be independent by many countries and international organizations (for example Palestine is a full-fledged member of the Arab League and Western Sahara of the African Union). In addition to the countries listed, Djibouti, Somalia and the Comoros are all member states of the Arab League, although their inhabitants are not predominantly Arabic-speaking. On the other hand, the Maltese language is closely related to Tunisian Arabic, but Malta does not use standard Arabic and its inhabitants do not consider themselves Arabs. Chad, Eritrea, Israel, Mali and Senegal all recognize standard Arabic either as an official or a national language but none of them are members of the Arab League (furthermore most Arab League members do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel). While the majority of the population of Israel is either Arabic-speaking or has parents or grand-parents that once were, only the Israeli Arab minority are considered Arabs, since most descendants of Arab Jews in Israel have shifted to using Hebrew in their daily lives. ... The adjective sovereign is used to refer to a state of sovereignty. ... For the political science journal, see: International Organization An international organization (also called intergovernmental organization) is an organization of international scope or character. ... Flag of the League of Arab States The Arab League or League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية), is an organization of Arab states - compare Arab world. ... Anthem: Let us all unite and celebrate together Official languages The African languages, as well as Arabic, English, French and Portuguese Some member states have other official languages. ... Maltese is the national language of Malta, and an official language of the European Union. ... Tunisian Arabic is a Maghrebi dialect of the Arabic language. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article deals with those Jewish communities indigenous to the Middle East. ... Language shift is the process whereby an entire speech community of a language shifts to speaking another language. ... Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 6 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ...

Different forms of government are represented in the Arab World: Some of the countries are monarchies: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The other Arab countries are all republics, and their official names may indicate that they are democracies. In practice, however, the Arab states are ruled by either a king, a male president or a single political party. This article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorising them. ... A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, one, and archein, to rule) is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. ... In a broad definition, a republic is a state whose political organization rests on the principle that the citizens or electorate constitute the ultimate root of legitimacy and sovereignty. ... The word king has many meanings: For the head of state, see Monarch. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ...

The borders of the various states were drawn up by European colonial powers in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are often straight lines drawn on a map with complete disregard to the geographic and demographic characteristics of the land. After World War II, there was a movement called Pan-Arabism that sought to unite all Arab countries into one political entity. Only Syria, Iraq, Egypt and North Yemen attempted the short-lived unification. Historical colonial divisions and geographical sprawl were major reasons for the failure of Pan-Arabism. Arab Nationalism was another strong force in the region which peaked during the mid 20th Century and was professed by many leaders in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. Arab Nationalist leaders incuded Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Ahmed Ben Bella (Algeria), Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad (Syria), Moammar al-Qadhafi (Libya) and Mehdi Ben Barka (Morocco). The various Arab states maintain close ties but national identities have been greatly strengthened by the political realities of the past 60 years, making a single Arab nation less and less feasible. Border has several different, but related meanings: // Generic borders A border can consist of a margin around the edge of something, such as a lawn, garden, photograph, or sheet of paper. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb. ... Pan-Arabism is a movement for unification among the Arab peoples and nations of the Middle East. ... The Yemen Arab Republic, also known as North Yemen, was a country in the northern part of what is now Yemen. ... Arab nationalism refers to a common nationalist ideology in wider Arab world. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Gamal Abdel Nasser (Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر) ‎ (January 15, 1918 – September 28, 1970) was the second President of Egypt after Muhammad Naguib and is considered one of the most important Arab leaders in history. ... Mohamed Ahmed Ben Bella (Muhammad Ahmad Bin Balla) (born December 25, 1916, Maghnia, Algeria) was the first President of Algeria, and seen by many as the Father of the Nation. ... Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (October 6, 1930 - June 10, 2000) was the President of Syria from 1971 to 2000. ... Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (بشار الاسد) (born September 11, 1965) is the current President of Syria (The Syrian Arab Republic) and the son of former President Hafez al-Assad. ... Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi 1 (Arabic: معمر القذافي Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhāfī) (born 1942), leader of Libya since 1970 and a controversial Arab statesman. ... Mehdi Ben Barka (1920 in Rabat – disappeared 1965 in Paris) was a Moroccan politician. ...

Geography

The Arab world stretches across more than eleven million square kilometers (four million square miles) of North Africa and the part of western Asia called the Middle East (the Arabian Peninsula or simply Arabia). (In conventional usage, the term "Middle East" includes Egypt and Libya, both part of Africa; hence the term is probably as much cultural as geographical.) North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. ... World map showing Asia (geographically) Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, and the worlds largest continent. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ...

Its total area is the size of the entire Spanish-speaking Western Hemisphere (also 11 million square kilometers), larger than Canada (10 million), China (9.6 million), the United States (also 9.6 million), Brazil (8.7 million), or Europe excluding Russia (5.6 million). Only Russia – at seventeen million square kilometers, the largest country in the world – and arguably anglophone North America (eighteen million square kilometers) are larger geocultural units. A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the...

The term "Arab" often connotes the Middle East, but the larger (and more populous) part of the Arab world is North Africa. Its eight million square kilometers include the two largest countries of the African continent, Sudan (2.5 million square kilometers) in the southeast of the region and Algeria (2.4 million) in the center, each about three-quarters the size of India, or about one-and-a-half times the size of Alaska, the largest state in America. The largest country in the Arab Middle East is Saudi Arabia (two million square kilometers). State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski (R) Senators Ted Stevens (R) Lisa Murkowski (R) Official language(s) English Area 663,267 mi² / 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 571,951 mi² / 1,481...

At the other extreme, the smallest autonomous mainland Arab countries in North Africa and the Middle East are Djibouti (23,000 square kilometers) and Lebanon (10,400), and the smallest island Arab countries are the Comoros (2,170) and Bahrain (665).

Historical boundaries

The political borders of the Arab world have wandered with history, leaving Arab minorities in non-Arab countries of the Sahel and the Horn of Africa as well as in the Middle Eastern countries of Turkey and Iran (Persia), and also leaving non-Arab minorities in Arab countries. However, the basic geography of sea, desert, and mountain provide the enduring natural boundaries for this region. The location of Sahel in Africa The Sahel (from Arabic ساحل, sahil, shore, border or coast of the Sahara desert) is the boundary zone in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the more fertile region to the south, known as the Sudan (not to be confused with the country... Nations of the Horn of Africa. ... Persia can refer to: the Western name for Iran. ...

The Arab world straddles two continents, Africa and Asia, and is oriented mainly along an east-west axis, dividing it into African and Asian (Arabian, Middle Eastern) areas. // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day...

Arab Africa

Arab Africa—or more commonly Arab North Africa, though this is redundant—is roughly a long trapezoid, narrower at the top, that comprises the entire northern third of the continent. It is surrounded by water on three sides (west, north, and east) and desert or desert scrubland on the fourth (south).

In the west, it is bounded by the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. From northeast to southwest, Morocco, Western Sahara (claimed by Morocco), and Mauritania make up the roughly 2,000 kilometers of Arab Atlantic coastline. The southwestern sweep of the coast is gentle but substantial, such that Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott (18°N, 16°W), is far enough west to share longitude with Iceland (13-22°W). Nouakchott is the westernmost capital of the Arab world and the third-westernmost in Africa, and sits on the Atlantic fringe of the southwestern Sahara. Next south along the coast from Mauritania is Senegal, whose abrupt border belies the gradient in culture from Arab to black African that historically characterizes this part of West Africa. Nouakchott (Arabic: نواكشوط or انواكشوط; population estimate 1999: 881,000) is the capital and by far the largest city of Mauritania. ... West Africa is the region of western Africa that is generally considered to include the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte dIvoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. ...

Arab Africa's boundary to the north is again a continental boundary, the Mediterranean Sea. This boundary begins in the west with the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, the thirteen kilometer wide channel that connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic to the west, and separates Morocco from Spain to the north. East along the coast from Morocco are Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, followed by Egypt, which forms the region's (and the continent's) northeastern corner. The coast turns briefly but sharply south at Tunisia, slopes more gently southeastward through the Libyan capital of Tripoli, and bumps north through Libya's second city, Benghazi, before turning straight east again through Egypt's second city, Alexandria, at the mouth of the Nile. Along with the spine of Italy to its north, Tunisia thus marks the junction of western and eastern Mediterranean, and a cultural transition as well: west of Tunisia begins the region of the Arab world known as the Maghreb. Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from space. ... This page refers to Tripoli, the capital of Libya. ... Benghazi (Arabic بنغازي, transliterated Banġāzī) is a seaport in Libya, Africa. ... Antiquity and modernity stand cheek-by-jowl in Egypts chief Mediterranean seaport Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, الإسكندرية, transliterated al-ʼIskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that countrys second largest city, and the capital... The Maghreb (المغرب العربي ; sometimes also rendered Moghreb), meaning western in Arabic, is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert and west of the Nile — specifically, the modern countries of Morocco, Western Sahara (annexed and occupied by Morocco), Algeria, Tunisia, Libya — and to a much lesser extent...

Historically the 4,000-kilometer Mediterranean boundary has fluttered. Population centers north of it in Europe have invited contact and Arab exploration—mostly friendly, though sometimes not. Islands and peninsulas near the Arab coast have changed hands. The islands of Sicily and Malta lie just a hundred kilometers east of the Tunisian city of Carthage, which has been a point of contact with Europe since its founding in the first millennium B.C.E.; both Sicily and Malta at times have been part of the Arab world. Just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco, regions of the Iberian peninsula were part of the Arab world throughout the Middle Ages, extending the northern boundary at times to the foothills of the Pyrenees and leaving a substantial mark on local and wider European and Western culture. A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... Sicilian disambiguates here; see also Sicilian language or Sicilian Defence. ... A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Central Pyrenees The Pyrenees (French: Pyrénées; Spanish: Pirineos; Occitan: Pirenèus or Pirenèas; Catalan Pirineus; Aragonese: Perinés; Basque: Pirinioak) are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. ...

The northern boundary of the African Arab world has also fluttered briefly in the other direction, first through the Crusades and later through colonization by France, Britain, Spain, and Italy. Another visitor from northern shores, Turkey, controlled the east of the region for centuries, though not as a colonizer. Spain still maintains two small enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, along the otherwise Moroccan coast. Overall this wave has ebbed, though like the Arab expansion north it has left its mark. The proximity of North Africa to Europe has always encouraged interaction, and this continues with Arab immigration to Europe and European interest in the Arab countries today. However, population centers and the physical fact of the sea keeps this boundary of the Arab world settled on the Mediterranean coastline. This article is about historical Crusades . ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Colonialism. ... Eastern Ceuta, as photographed from Morocco. ... Melilla is a Spanish exclave in North Africa, located on the northernmost tip of Maghreb, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

To the east, the Red Sea defines the boundary between Africa and Asia, and thus also between Arab Africa and the Arab Middle East. This sea is a long and narrow waterway with a northwest tilt, stretching 2,300 kilometers from Egypt's Sinai peninsula southeast to the Bab al Mendeb strait between Djibouti in Africa and Yemen in Arabia but on average just 150 kilometers wide. Though the sea is navigable along its length, historically much contact between Arab Africa and the Arab Middle East has been either overland across the Sinai or by sea across the Mediterranean or the narrow Bab al Mendeb strait. From northwest to southeast, Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea form the African coastline, with Djibouti marking Bab al Mendeb's African shore. Conshelf II in the Red Sea (Sudan) Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day... World map showing Asia (geographically) Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, and the worlds largest continent. ... Sinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez (west), Gulf of Aqaba (east) from Space Shuttle STS-40 Sinai redirects here. ...

Southeast along the coast from Djibouti is Somalia, but the Somali coast soon makes a 90-degree turn and heads northeast, mirroring a bend in the coast of Yemen across the water to the north and defining the south coast of the Gulf of Aden. The Somali coast then takes a hairpin turn back southwest to complete the horn of Africa. For six months of the year the monsoon winds blow from up equatorial Somalia, past Arabia and over the small Yemeni archipelago of Socotra, to rain on India; they then switch directions and blow back. Hence the east- and especially southeast-coast boundary of Arab Africa has historically been a gateway for maritime trade and cultural exchange with both East Africa and the subcontinent. The trade winds also help explain the presence of the Comoros islands, an Arab-African country, off the coast of Mozambique, near Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, the southernmost part of the Arab world. For the band Monsoon see Sheila Chandra Monsoon in the Vindhya, a mountain chain in central India A monsoon is a periodic wind, especially in the Indian Ocean and southern Asia. ... Map of the Socotra archipelago Socotra or Soqotra (Arabic سقطرة Suquṭrah) is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa some 350 km south of the Republic of Yemen, which administers Socotra for the Banu Afrar Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and... East Africa is a region generally considered to include: Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Tanzania Uganda Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Sudan are sometimes considered a part of East Africa. ...

The southern boundary of Arab North Africa is the stripe of scrubland known as the Sahel, that crosses the continent south of the Sahara, dipping further south in Sudan in the east.

Arabia and the Arab Middle East

Main articles Arabia and Middle East The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

The Asian or Middle Eastern Arab world comprises of the Arabian peninsula, more broadly or narrowly defined. The peninsula is roughly a tilted rectangle that leans back against the slope of northeast Africa, the long axis pointing toward Turkey and Europe.

References

• Hourani, Albert (1991). A History of the Arab Peoples. Cambridge, MA: Warner Books.
• Reader, John (1997). Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Vintage.

See also

• Arab League
• Arab

Flag of the League of Arab States The Arab League or League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية), is an organization of Arab states - compare Arab world. ... The Arabs ((Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large ethnic group widespread in the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ...

External links

• Links to CIA factbook articles on nations of the Arab World
• ArabLand.com - Directories of all Arab World countries