Arab World
From Hobson's Choice
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Generally speaking, the Arab world is the region comprising member nations of the Arab League. The entire Arab world is part of Southwest Asia & North Africa; Iran has a small Arab minority, as does the East African nation of Tanzania.
Although ethnographers have at various times disputed the ethnological definition of "Arab," this site will avoid the issue. Israel is not an Arab state, although significant numbers of Arabs live there. India has had observer status, but is neither a full member, nor considered a part of the Arab world.
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Background
The Arab world traditionally was understood as the nations where the primary language was a dialect of Arabic. As a matter of a fact, the Arab League does presently include Sudan, Mauritania, Djibouti, and Somalia. Prior to the Islamic conquest of Southwest Asia and North Africa (7th century), the region was part of the Byzantine Empire, with the exception of Iraq and the Persian Gulf Emirates (Iraq was a part of the Sassanid Empire; the western coast of the Persian Gulf was occasionally under Persian rule as well, while the southern Arabian Peninsula was occasionally under Persian or Axumite rule).
See Also
External Links
Government
- Gov't & Ref Sites (Gunnar Anzinger)
- N. East S. Asia Ctr-Strategic Studies (NESA), National Defense University (USA)
- US AID | Asia
- CIA World Factbook
- Country Analysis Briefs, Department of Energy EIA
- Jaffee Ctr for Strat. Studies (Israel)
- Country Studies, US Library of Congress
- US Institute for Peace (Research for US Congress)
Multilateral
- Datafinder
courtesy Population Reference Bureau - United Nations System
- Social & Economic Data | ECOSOC
- Econ & Soc Commission-West Asia (ESCWA-Beirut)
- Economic Commission-Africa (ECA-Addis)**Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
- Regional Page-World Bank Group
News & Media
- Al-Jazeera.Net English - Home Page
- Al-Ahram Weekly
- Arab News
- BBC (UK)
- CSM: Middle East Archive
- Daily Star - Lebanon
- Al-Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] (Egypt) (Site of the political movement)
- Haaretz - English
- Jordan Times
- Payvand News of Iran
- Teheran Times
NGO/University: History
- Middle East & Islamic Studies, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen, Norway
- Middle East & Islamic Studies, Cornell University, NY
- Comparative Studies of S. Asia, Africa & the Middle East, Duke University
- GA Middle East Studies Consortium, Emory University
- Middle East Institute, George C. Keiser Library, Washington DC
- Electronic Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- History of the ME | Database, Northfield Mount Hermon School (MA)
- PASSIA | Chronology | Photos
NGO/University: Current Info
- Algeria Watch
- Amnesty International, Southwest Asia & North Africa
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) (Mostly conservative critique of neo-con performance)
- CorpWatch
- Crisis States Research, London School of Economics
- al-Mashriq (Luminous site devoted to Lebanon)
- Doctors without Borders | News
- Human Rights Watch (Southwest Asia & North Africa)
- International Crisis Group (Southwest Asia & North Africa)
- PASSIA | Maps


