When people think of Arabs, what nationality is the first that comes to mind? (home, areas)
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I can't speak for all but I usually think of Saudi Arabia because it has the word "Arabia" in it. So does the United Arab Emirates but since I think of it as UAE it doesn't pop up in my head as a country containing the word "Arab".
Arabic = A language spoken from Senegal to Iraq.
Arabian = Of or relating to the Arabian Peninsula, mainly south of a line from Jordan to Kuwait.
Arab = A person whose ancestors come from the Arabian Peninsula.
However, there has been so much historical mixing of true Arabs and other ethnicities, such as Berbers in North Africa, that nearly all who are of mixed ancestry now think of themselves as Arabs.
There are so many immigrants and guest workers in the Persian Gulf states (Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, etc.), that only a small minority of the present population of those countries consider themselves Abab, and most are Filipino, Palestinian, Indian, Pakistani, etc.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen are probably the only countries in which a great majority of the population is fairly pure Arab. Maybe also Jordan.
Arabic = A language spoken from Senegal to Iraq.
Arabian = Of or relating to the Arabian Peninsula, mainly south of a line from Jordan to Kuwait.
Arab = A person whose ancestors come from the Arabian Peninsula.
However, there has been so much historical mixing of true Arabs and other ethnicities, such as Berbers in North Africa, that nearly all who are of mixed ancestry now think of themselves as Arabs.
There are so many immigrants and guest workers in the Persian Gulf states (Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, etc.), that only a small minority of the present population of those countries consider themselves Abab, and most are Filipino, Palestinian, Indian, Pakistani, etc.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen are probably the only countries in which a great majority of the population is fairly pure Arab. Maybe also Jordan.
Berbers remain very distinct. No mixing there. The Arabic population TRIED to assimilate them, but recently with everyone else exerting their rights to be acknowledged everywhere else in the world, they're getting recognized as well as a separate distinct people with different customs, habits, etc. Definitely not mixed into the Arabic population.
Also, the many filipino, pakistani, and other guest workers. They come in on very limited contracts. No Arabic person would ever consider them as part of their nation. They are simply there to perform generally low-paid and demeaning work, and treated accordingly, almost worst than dirt. Usually they take their passports from them upon arrival, and just not a pretty picture. Basically no rights whatsoever. The Philippines in particular is really trying to educate their populace and create much stricter international agreements, as too many of their women go home in bodybags, from physical abuse, sexual abuse, and everything else. Not all have terrible stories happen to them, but enough do, that it's a major concern.
Berbers remain very distinct. No mixing there. The Arabic population TRIED to assimilate them, but recently with everyone else exerting their rights to be acknowledged everywhere else in the world, they're getting recognized as well as a separate distinct people with different customs, habits, etc. Definitely not mixed into the Arabic population.
That may be the attitude at the moment. but the current fashion does not change the historical fact. For many centuries, there has been mixing of Arabs and Berbers, and a majority of the people in the Maghreb have mixed ancestry. It is the minority that is (or claims to be) pure Berber that is trying to remain distinct in the 21st century. Just as Americans with Indian ancestry are now trying to be distinct, while only a few decades ago, they would deny that they were Indian at all. And, of course, there are some who are full-blooded Berber, just as there are full-blooded Indians in the USA, but they are in the minority, and can be vocal about their distinct ancestry.
North Africa is a lot like Mexico, in that a very large majority of the population is of mixed (Mestizo) ancestry of both European and Indigeno, with many areas where the full-blooded indigenous minority dominates and remains distinct..
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