Arabs in Europe

The Arabs in Europe (often called Euro-Arabs) are the people with full or partial Arab ethnic background living permanently in Europe.

History

The Historical conquest

The Arabs in Europe have a long history beginning with the Arab Empire when the Arabs conquest the Iberian peninsula (i.e. what is now Spain and Portugal) and the island of Sicily in Italy. But most of the Arabs of that time were expelled after the Reconquista.

Modern migration

The post-World War II migration of Arabs to Europe began as many Arabs from former French colonies like Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria migrated permanently to France. Also other source of migration began with guest workers, particularly from Morocco, who arrived under the terms of a Labour Export Agreements between several European countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and France. Also other events in the Arab world send new immigration waives to Europe like the Palestinian exodus, the Lebanese Civil War, the first and second Iraq war and many other immigrated to Europe because of political persecusions in their native countries. Not on the last place many Arabs came to study in the European universities and decided to stay.

Demographics

The current estimate of the Arab population in Europe, including North African and Middle Eastern Arabs, is approximately 5 million, mostly concentrated in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain and Denmark. The majority of migrants come from Morocco (1.9 million), Algeria (1.7 million), Tunisia (450,000) and Egypt (220,000).

Religion

The predominant part of the Arabs in Europe are followers of Islam but there is also a sizable Arab Christian community living in Europe, 60% of Lebanon's and Egypt's immigrants were originally Christian.

See also

• Beur
• Eurabia
• Western Muslims
• Islam in Europe
• Immigration to Europe
• Turks in Europe