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Life in the Arab League
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Population Density of the League Members

The Arab League is a culturally and ethnically diverse league of 22 member states. As of January 1, 2007, the population of the Arab League was about 340 million people.

The most populous member state is Egypt, with a population of 80 million people. Djibouti is the least populated with around 500,000 inhabitants. Most of the gulf states import high amounts of foreign labor. For example, the UAE's native inhabitants make up less than 20% of its overall population.

Some gulf states import cheap labor from poorer Arab countries such as Yemen, while others turn to countries in Asia and Africa.

Population Growth

The population of the Arab League as estimated by the CIA in the year 2007 was around 340,000,000, making it (if ranked as a single country) third after China and India in overall population. No exact figures of the League's annual population growth, fertility rate, or mortality rate are known to exist.

Most of the Arab League's population is concentrated in and around major urban areas.

List of the largest cities in the Arab League

N	Country	City	Population (est. 2007)	Foundation Date
1	Egypt	Cairo	17,250,000	641 AD
2	Iraq	Baghdad	8,092,000	762 AD
3	Sudan	Khartoum	4,969,000	1821 AD
4	Egypt	Giza	4,779,000	____
5	Syria	Damascus	4,500,000	8000 BCE
6	Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	4,260,000	100 AD
7	Morocco	Casablanca	3,859,858	768 AD
8	Saudi Arabia	Jeddah	3,855,912	500 BCE
9	Syria	Aleppo	3,780,000	8000 BCE
10	Egypt	Alexandria	3,500,000	331 BCE

Religion

Map showing Percentages of Muslim in Arab States

Islam, Christianity, and Judaism were all founded in or near areas that are now Arab League countries. Consequently, the majority of the Arab League's citizens are either Muslims, Christians or Jews. The countries of the Arab League host several holy cities and other religiously significant locations, including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Alexandria, Mecca, Medina, Kirkuk, Arbil, and Baghdad. Sunni Muslims make up the Majority of the Arab League's citizens. However, large numbers of Shi'a Muslims make up the majority in areas of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and other Gulf States. Christianity is the second largest religion in the League, with over 20 million Christians living in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, and Jordan. There are smaller Jewish populations living mainly in the western part of the Arab league. Places such as Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, all have Jewish populations. However, most Arab Jews emigrated from the Arab states to Israel after its founding in 1948. Other minor religions such as the Bahá'í Faith are practiced on a much smaller scale.

• Muslim Population - 311,093,951
• Total Population - 339,510,535

Religious Percentages of the Arab League

N	Country	Muslims	Christians	Others
_	Arab League	88%	6.5%	5.5%
1	Algeria	99%	n/a	1%
2	Bahrain	81.2%	9%	8.81%
3	Comoros	99%	1%	n/a
4	Djibouti	94%	5%	1%
5	Egypt	90%	10%	n/a
6	Iraq	97%	2.3%	0.7%
7	Jordan	93%	6%	1%
8	Kuwait	67.5%	16%	16%
9	Lebanon	59.7%	39%	1.3%
10	Libya	97%	2.4%	0.6%
11	Mauritania	99%	n/a	1%
12	Morocco	99%	1%	n/a
13	Oman	92.5%	5%	2.5%
14	Palestinian Authority	83.5%	5%	11.5%
15	Qatar	77.5%	10%	12.5%
16	Saudi Arabia	89%	4.5%	6.5%
17	Somalia	99%	1%	n/a
18	Sudan	70%	5%	25%
19	Syria	90%	10%	n/a
20	Tunisia	98%	1%	1%
21	United Arab Emirates	62%	8.5%	29.5%
22	Yemen	99%	0.2%	0.8%

Language

Major Languages of the Arab League

Different Dialects of Arabic in the Arab World

Arabic is the Arab League's official language, but additional languages are often used in the daily lives of some of the League's citizens. Currently, three major languages other than Arabic are used widely: Kurdish in northern Iraq and parts of Syria, Berber in parts of North Africa, and Nubian in areas of the Nile Valley.

There are several minority languages that are still spoken today, such as Afar, Syriac, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Turkmen, and Somali.

Arabic is a non-native language to over 25% of the Arab League's population.

Arabic is divided into over 27 dialects. Almost every Arab state has at least one local dialect.

Ethnicities

Comparison of Population to Area and GDP

Country	Area (km²)	Population (est. 2007)	GDP PPP (in million $)
Arab League	13,676,641	340,043,965	1,860,193
Algeria	2,381,740	33,333,216	250,000
Bahrain	665	708,573	18,000
Comoros	2,170	711,417	1,275
Djibouti	23,000	496,374	1,878
Egypt	1,001,450	80,335,036	334,400
Iraq	437,072	27,499,638	50,720
Jordan	92,300	6,053,193	30,000
Kuwait	17,820	2,505,559	55,910
Lebanon	10,400	3,925,502	22,020
Libya	1,759,540	6,036,914	72,680
Mauritania	1,030,700	3,270,065	8,124
Morocco	446,550	33,757,175	152,500
Oman	212,460	3,204,897	44,530
Palestinian Authority	6,220	4,018,332	5,327
Qatar	11,437	907,229	26,370
Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	27,601,038	366,200
Somalia	637,657	9,118,773	5,259
Sudan	2,505,810	39,379,358	97,470
Syria	185,180	19,314,747	77,660
Tunisia	163,610	10,276,158	89,740
United Arab Emirates	83,600	4,444,011	129,500
Yemen	527,970	22,230,531	20,630

See also

• Arab League
• Largest Cities of the Arab League
• List of Arab League Countries By GDP
• Islam
• Arabic

References

• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/countrylisting
• (for Map)http://www.leeds.ac.uk/demographic-disentrapment/The%20disentrapment%20of%20North%20Kivu.htm