Arab

Any of the Semitic (see Semite) people native to the Arabian peninsula, but now settled throughout North Africa and the nations of the Middle East.

The homeland of the Arabs comprises Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. Predominantly Arab nations also include Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, and the North African Arab nations comprise Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, though the last-named has substantial non-Arab minorities. Although Mauritania and Somalia are not predominantly Arab, they support the Arab League.

The term Arab was first recorded 853 BC but was not widely used until the end of the 6th century AD. The 7th century saw the rise of Islam and by the 8th century non-Arab converts were being assimilated by the Arabs. Arabic became the principal language of the Arab Empire. In 1258 the empire was broken up by the Mongols and it was not until the decline of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I that the Arab nations emerged again as separate, if not independent, states.