What are Arabic Speaking Countries in the world?
Currently, there are many Arabic-speaking countries in the world, including the regions of the Middle East, North Africa, Central and Western Asia, and even portions of China. However, the presence of native Arabs on the opposite side of the world, along with their languages, religion, and culture, had a significant part in sowing the seeds for Arabic to grow for generations.
Arabic is primarily spoken in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Arabic is the national language of 22 nations.
The majority of the Arabic population follows the Islamic faith. Arabs account for almost one-quarter of all Muslims worldwide. Furthermore, Arabic is spoken by around 420 million people worldwide.
The Arabian Peninsula, Northern Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, the Caucasus, and Western, Central, and South Asia benefited from Muslim conquests and subsequent Islamic expansion.
A Brief History Of The Arabic Language:
Arabic is considered one of the most popular languages in the world. Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world, with 420 million native speakers. We will discuss below where Arabic is spoken in which countries.
Arabic belongs to the Central Semitic language group, which also includes Aramaic, Hebrew, and Phoenician. Since nomadic tribes first spoke Arabic in the Arabian Peninsula’s desert regions, it seems logical that the name “Arab” implies “nomad.” It has 28 letters, comparable to the English alphabet and is written in a cursive form from right to left.
This language has been conserved since the 7th century CE owing to the Prophet Muhammad’s revelations documented in the Qur’an. As more people embraced Islam by the eighth century CE, Arabic started to expand over the Middle East and North Africa. All Muslims vowed to use Arabic in their prayers. As a result, the Arab world has evolved into an area comprised of Middle Eastern and North African nations where Arabic is the official language. Countries that speak Arabic differ greatly in terms of their histories, cultures, political systems, and dialects.
Modern Standard Arabic, used in business, professional translation, and law, is the sole Arabic taught at all school levels. However, the Holy Quran and all literary manuscripts published between the seventh and ninth centuries are written in Classical Arabic.
This is how Arabic has evolved from being an ancient language to becoming one of the very important and famous languages in the world with utmost importance in modern times.
List of Main Arabic Speaking Countries in the world:
The GDP of Arabic language-speaking countries in their entirety is $2.522 trillion. This amounts to about 4% of the global GDP (GWP). The Arab world has many nations that are regarded as emerging economies. The Middle East produces most of the oil in the Arab world. Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait are the countries that produce the least oil globally, coming in at 7, 8, and 11, respectively. The economic strength of several of these nations is entirely dependent on oil sales. Petroleum contributes to more than 70% of all government revenue, over 60% of GDP, and about 85% of export profits in Qatar, the Arab nation with the fastest GDP growth (5.6%).
With a huge Arabic population, here is a list of Arabic-speaking countries with Arabic Speaking populations.
| No | Country | Population | No. of Arabic Speakers |
| 1 | Egypt | 100,000,000 | 82,449,200 |
| 2 | Algeria | 41,701,000 | 40,100,000 |
| 3 | Sudan | 40,235,000 | 28,164,500 |
| 4 | Iraq | 36,004,552 | 22,908,120 |
| 5 | Morocco | 35,250,000 | 25,003,930 |
| 6 | Saudi Arabia | 30,770,375 | 27,178,770 |
| 7 | Yemen | 23,833,000 | 14,671,000 |
| 8 | Syria | 20,956,000 | 17,951,639 |
| 9 | Tunisia | 10,982,754 | 10,800,500 |
| 10 | Somalia | 10,428,043 | 3,788,000 |
| 11 | Chad | 10,329,208 | 1,320,000 |
| 12 | United Arab Emirates | 9,346,129 | 3,607,600 |
| 13 | Jordan | 6,655,000 | 5,083,300 |
| 14 | Eritrea | 6,380,803 | 249,700 |
| 15 | Libya | 6,244,174 | 4,526,000 |
| 16 | Lebanon | 4,965,914 | 4,180,000 |
| 17 | Palestine | 4,484,000 | 3,762,076 |
| 18 | Oman | 4,055,418 | 2,518,816 |
| 19 | Mauritania | 3,359,185 | 3,140,000 |
| 20 | Kuwait | 2,789,000 | 1,735,000 |
The major portion of all Arabic-speaking countries is situated in what is known as “The Arab World,” which includes the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, and North Africa. You might wonder if Arabic is spoken in how many countries. There are over 25 Arab-speaking nations that have Arabic as an official or co-official language. These nations include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Chad, Algeria, Comoros, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Yemen. In addition, there are six separate Arabic official language countries, including Turkey, Niger, Iran, Senegal, and Mali, where Arabic is the official language.
Libya, Mauritania, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Western Sahara are among the Arabic-speaking African countries.
The Arabic-speaking region in India
The first Arab immigrants arrived as merchants in the Malabar coastline area of South West India, now the state of Kerala. Arab descendants can also be found in the Gujarat villages of Variav and Rander. Chaush is an Arab community of Hadhrami heritage in Hyderabad. Nowadays, you can find Arabic-speaking regions in major Muslim colonies in India.
An Arabic-speaking region in Europe
Arabs in Europe are persons of Arab origin who live in Europe today and have done so for generations. Countries in Europe with a considerable Arabic-speaking population include Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Cyprus. As part of the European migrant crisis, thousands of Arab families fled from Syria and Iraq in 2015.
Arabic speaking region in North and South America
There are various Arabic-speaking communities in the United States, most of which are settlements of Arab immigrants. Arab Americans can trace their origins to any of the different waves of Arab World immigrants.
An Arabic-speaking region in Asia-Oceanic
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and many more Asian nations have a large Arab population.
Unlike its neighbor and former republic, South Sudan, where English is the prevalent language, Literary Arabic is Sudan’s official language. Sudan has a population of 39 million, 28 million of whom speak Arabic.
Saudi Arabia is a big Arabian Peninsula nation. It is home to 33 million people, with around 27 million speaking Arabic as their native tongue. The people of Saudi Arabia speak a variety of Arabic dialects.
The Syrian Arab Republic is a Western Asian country with steep mountains, deserts, rich plains, and a large Arabic-speaking population.
Arabic speaking region in Africa
The official language of Egypt is Arabic. Egypt’s rich Arabic culture and history give it a distinct national identity. Egypt, being one of the cradles of humanity, witnessed some of the world’s oldest forms of development in areas such as agriculture, religion, and urbanism.
Algeria has over 40 Arabic speakers. Algerian Arabic is the country’s national language, spoken by 73% of the population. Algerian Arabic is regarded as a distinct Arabic dialect.
Sudan’s official language is Arabic. Sudan has a population of 39 million, 28 million of whom speak Arabic.
Tunisia, one of Africa’s smallest countries, has a sizable Arab population. Tunisia belongs to the League of Arab States. 98% of Tunisians speak Arabic.
Facts About the Arabic Language
- A large population of Arabic speakers:
Learning Arabic, particularly Modern Standard Arabic, allows you to communicate with Arabic language countries with a population above 466 million people.
- There are several dialects of Arabic:
Arabic speakers employ many dialects, with at least 30 identified.
- Arabic is the official language of 22 countries:
Today, Arabic is the official language of at least 22 nations, including Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries.
- Many English words derive from Arabic.
The Arabic language has indirectly and directly impacted the English language. Many English terms may be traced back to their Arabic origins. These words include alcohol, algebra, and candy.
- There are just three vowels in Arabic.
The Arabic language has only three vowels among its 28 consonant letters.
- Arabic is read and written left to right.
The majority of widely spoken languages are written from left to right. Instead, Arabic is written from left to right.
Why Learn Arabic?
Arabic is the language of Islam and the Holy Quran. Therefore, if you visit any place where Islam is most prevalent, you will want to brush up on your Arabic since you will undoubtedly hear it spoken everywhere. Furthermore, knowing Modern Standard Arabic will enable you to communicate with the hundreds of millions of Arabic speakers worldwide, opening up a world of new opportunities for learning about their culture, meeting new friends, and achieving professional career opportunities.
Throughout its history, Arabic has inspired many worldwide languages, including Spanish, which has nearly one-third of its vocabulary derived from Arabic.
FAQS
How will you read Arabic?
Like Latin script, Arabic is also written in left-to-right format.
Is it possible to have “capital” and “small” Arabic letters?
There are no capital or tiny letters in Arabic; just one form is offered.
When is Global Arabic Language Day?
Since 2012, the 18th of December has been designated as World Arabic Language Day.
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