Ethnic groups in West Asia

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There are many ethnic groups in West Asia, (also known as the Near East or Middle East) and the region has historically been a 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.

Other Indigenous, native or long standing ethnic groups include: Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Copts, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Mandeans, Mhallami, Samaritans, Shabaks Balochs, Talishis, Tats, Turcomans, Yazidis, Circassians, Berbers, Kawliya, Nawar, Gagauz, Gilaks, Lurs, Maltese, Mazanderanis, Ossetians and Zazas.

More recent migrant populations include Bengalis, Britons, Chinese, Crimean Tatars, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Roma (Gypsy), Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Indonesians, Malays, Sub-Saharan Africans and Sri Lankans.

Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and Mesopotamia

Arabic peoples
Africans
Israelites
Syriac-speaking peoples
Indo-European speakers
Turkic peoples

Anatolia

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

Caucasus

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Main article: Peoples of the Caucasus
Ethnolinguistic groups in the Caucasus region

Cyprus

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Further information: Ethnic groups of Cyprus

Iran

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Main article: Ethnicities in Iran

Diaspora Populations

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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 of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf 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, Britons, 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

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