Group

Arab people

Nation Active 1197 BCE – present

Arab people or Arab peoples (in the plural form) or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify as such on one or more of linguistic, cultural, political, or genealogical grounds.

Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so with it as their sole identity.

Most hold multiple identities, with a more localized prioritized national identity — such as Egyptian, Lebanese, or Palestinian — in addition to further tribal, village and clan identities.Arabic, the main unifying feature among Arabs, is a Semitic language originating in Arabia.

From there it spread to a variety of distinct peoples across most of West Asia and North Africa, resulting in their acculturation and eventual denomination as Arabs.

Arabization, a culturo-linguistic shift, was often, though not always, in conjunction with Islamization, a religious shift.With the rise of Islam in the 7th century, and as the language of the Qur'an, Arabic becomes the lingua franca of the wider Mediterranean region.

It is in this period that Arabic language and culture is widely disseminated with the early Islamic expansion, both through conquest and cultural contact.

Arabic culture and language, however, begins a more limited diffusion before the Islamic age, first spreading in West Asia beginning in the 2nd century, as Arab Christians such as the Ghassanids, Lakhmids and Banu Judham begin migrating north from Arabia into the Syrian Desert and the Levant.

Currently, as many as 7.1% up to 10% of Arabs are Arab Christians, with other smaller religious communities.

Member Cities

Moran, J. (n.d.). Arab people. History Atlas. Retrieved 29 October 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/arab-people/

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