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 (including Cyprus) 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 (especially the enormous oil wealth in the region and conflicts) 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 (including Cypriots and Pontians), 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

Countries	Demographics
Bahrain	Ethnic groups in Bahrain
Cyprus	Ethnic groups in Cyprus
Egypt	Ethnic groups in Egypt
Iran	Ethnic groups in Iran
Iraq	Ethnic groups in Iraq
Israel	Ethnic groups in Israel
Jordan	Ethnic groups in Jordan
Kuwait	Ethnic groups in Kuwait
Lebanon	Ethnic groups in Lebanon
Oman	Ethnic groups in Oman
Palestine	Ethnic groups in Palestine
Qatar	Ethnic groups in Qatar
Saudi Arabia	Ethnic groups in Saudi Arabia
Syria	Ethnic groups in Syria
Turkey	Ethnic groups in Turkey
United Arab Emirates	Ethnic groups in the United Arab Emirates
Yemen	Ethnic groups in Yemen

Middle East

Egyptians

Copts

Arabs

Arabs in Turkey
Iranian 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 (Peoples of the Caucasus in Turkey)
Muslims from the Balkans (mainly Albanians, Bosniaks, and Pomaks)

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 (mainly from South Asia). 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.