People of Semitic origin living since ancient times, the Arabian Peninsula. The ancient Arabs mingled after the seventh century with the population living in territories occupied by them, which was in large part arabizacji. The most common religion among the Arabs is Sunni Islam, but there are also many Shiites (notably in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon) and Christians (mainly in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt).
Arabs often considered not to be one nation, but for cultural community. This view is due to the fact that most Arabs are descendants of the conquered peoples during the Arab conquests (including Syrians, Egyptians, Vandals, Berbers, inhabitants of the Middle East and the Romanized inhabitants of northern Africa).
Countries and territories dominated by the Arab population are: Morocco, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen , Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Oman. It is estimated that currently live in the world about 200 million Arabs, most of which were in Egypt (66.8 million in 2001).
