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Ethnic groups in the Middle East

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There are many ethnic groups in West Asia and the region has historically been an crossroads of different cultures. Since the 1960s 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, Azeris, Kurds, Persians, and Turks[1] but there are dozens of other ethnic groups which have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of members (these include: Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Balochs, Bengalis, Britons, Chinese, Circassians, Copts, Crimean Tatars, Druze, Filipinos, Gagauz, Georgians, Gilaks, Greeks, Hindus, Jews, Lurs, Maltese, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nepalis, Ossetians, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Roma, Samaritans, Shabaks, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, Talishis, Tats, Turcomans, Yazidis, and Zazas).

Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and Mesopotamia

Arabic peoples
Israelite peoples
Syriac peoples
Mesopotamian peoples
Indo-European peoples
Tuckic peoples

Anatolia

Main article: Ethnic groups of Turkey
Ethnic map of Asia Minor and Caucasus in 1914

Caucasus

Main article: Peoples of the Caucasus

Cyprus

Further information: Ethnic groups of Cyprus

Iran

Main article: Demographics of Iran

Diaspora Populations

Further information: Demographics of Qatar, Foreign worker § Foreign workers in Middle East, Demographics of Saudi Arabia, Demographics of Oman, Demographics of the United Arab Emirates, Demographics of Kuwait, and Demographics of Bahrain

Because of the low population of many Gulf States 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, Chinese, Filipinos, Hindus, Nepalis, 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

References

  1. ^ Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
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