Ethnic groups in the Middle East


Ethnic groups in the Middle East are ethnolinguistic groupings in the "transcontinental" region that is commonly a geopolitical term designating the intercontinental region comprising West Asia without the South Caucasus, and also comprising Egypt in North Africa. The Middle East has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors 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 largest ethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members.
Other indigenous, religious, or minority ethnic groups include: Antiochians, Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans in the Qalamoun Mountains, Baloch, Copts, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Kawliya, Laz, Lurs, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nawar, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talysh, Tats, Yazidis and Zazas.
Diaspora ethnic groups living in the region include: Albanians, Bengalis, Britons, Bosniaks, Chechens, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Filipinos, French people, Georgians, Indians, Indonesians, Italians, Malays, Malayali, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romanians, Romani, Serbs, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, Turkmens, and sub-Saharan Africans.

Demographics

Middle East

;Egyptians
  • Copts
;Arabs
;Sub-Saharan Africans
  • Afro-Arabs
  • Ethiopian Jews
  • Nubians
  • Sudanese in Israel
;Jews
  • Israeli Jews
  • Ashkenazi Jews
  • Ethiopian Jews
  • Mizrahi Jews
  • Sephardi Jews
  • Yemenite Jews
;Samaritans
;Aramaic-speaking peoples
  • Arameans
  • *Arameans in Israel
  • Assyrians
  • *Assyrians in Armenia
  • *Assyrians in Georgia
  • *Assyrians in Iran
  • *Assyrians in Iraq
  • *Assyrians in Israel
  • *Assyrians in Jordan
  • *Assyrians in Lebanon
  • *Assyrians in Syria
  • *Assyrians in Turkey
  • Mandaeans
  • Maronites
;Indo-European peoples
  • Albanians
  • *Albanians in Egypt
  • *Albanians in Syria
  • Armenians
  • *Armenians in the Middle East
  • *Armenians in Egypt
  • *Armenians in Iran
  • *Armenians in Iraq
  • *Armenians in Israel
  • *Armenians in Lebanon
  • *Armenians in Syria
  • *Armenians in Turkey
  • Greeks
  • *Greek Cypriots
  • *Greeks in Egypt
  • *Greeks in Israel
  • *Greeks in Lebanon
  • *Greeks in Syria
  • Iranian peoples
  • *Ajam of Bahrain
  • *Ajam of Iraq
  • Kurds
  • *Shabaks
  • *Yazidis
  • Italians
  • *Levantines
  • *Italian Egyptians
  • *Italians in Lebanon
  • Romani
  • *Dom
  • *Kawliya
  • *Nawar–Romani people in Syria
  • *Romani people in Egypt
;Turkic peoples
  • Azerbaijanis
  • Iraqi Turkmen
  • Syrian Turkmen
  • Turks in Egypt
  • Turks in Israel
  • Turks in Jordan
  • Turks in Lebanon

    Anatolia

;Indo-European peoples
  • Armenians in Turkey
  • Bosniaks in Turkey
  • Greeks in Turkey
  • Cappadocian Greeks
  • Pontic Greeks
  • Levantines
  • Pomaks in Turkey
  • Iranian peoples
  • Kurds in Turkey
  • Romani
  • *Dom
  • *Romani people in Turkey
  • Zazas
;Kartvelian peoples
  • Georgians in Turkey
  • Laz people in Turkey
;Semites
  • Arabs in Turkey
  • Assyrians in Turkey
  • Jews in Turkey
;Turkic peoples
  • Azerbaijanis in Turkey
  • Crimean Tatars in Turkey
  • Gagauz people
  • Turks
;Muhacir
  • Muslims from the Caucasus
  • Muslims from the Balkans

    Cyprus

  • Armenians in Cyprus
  • Greek Cypriots
  • Maronite Cypriots
  • Turkish Cypriots

    Iranian Plateau

;Indo-European peoples:
  • Armenians in Iran
  • Iranian peoples
  • *Persians
  • Baloch
  • Kurds in Iran
  • *Feylis
  • *Kaka'is
  • *Kurds of Khorasan
  • *Laks
  • Gilaks
  • Lurs
  • Mazanderanis
  • Talysh
  • Tats
;Kartvelian peoples:
  • Georgians in Iran
;Semites:
  • Arabs in Iran
  • Assyrians in Iran
  • Jews in Iran
  • *Persian Jews
  • Mandaeans
;Turkic peoples:
  • Azerbaijanis in Iran
  • Qashqai
  • Turkmen in Iran

    Diaspora populations

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. Ethnic groups which comprise the largest portions of this immigration include Afghans, Albanians, Armenians, Bengalis, Bosniaks, Britons, Chinese, Filipinos, Greeks, Indians, Indonesians, Italians, Malays, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Punjabis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, and Sub-Saharan Africans. 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.