The Arabic Language

The Arab world consists roughly of the 22 different countries that make up the membership of the League of Arab States. These countries are:

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
The Kingdom of Bahrain
The Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Arab Republic of Syria
The Republic of Iraq
The State of Palestine
The Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros
The Republic of Lebanon
The Arab Republic of Egypt
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania		 The United Arab Emirates
The Republic of Tunisia
The Republic of Djibouti
The Republic of Sudan
The Republic of Somalia
The Sultanate of Oman
The State of Qatar
The State of Kuwait
The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
The Kingdom of Morocco
The Republic of Yemen

The population of the Arab world is somewhere close to 225 million, with its combined economies equaling over $1 trillion annually.1

When first approaching the Arabic language, one must be aware of the very important distinction made between its written form and its numerous spoken forms. The written form of Arabic - known as "Literary Arabic" or "Modern Standard Arabic" - is common to all the nations of the Arab world and is used in television and radio broadcasts, as well as all written materials such as newspapers, magazines, and government documents. Spoken Arabic, on the other hand, is colloquial and differs from country to country within the Arab world. In many cases, the different forms of spoken Arabic are mutually unintelligible to one another. For a comprehensive listing of the all the different forms of spoken Arabic, see the following: http://www.omniglot.com/language/arabic_stats.xls

Below are some brief but important facts about the larger markets within the Arabic-speaking world:

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Capital: Amman
Currency: Jordanian dinar (JOD)
Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
Population: 5,611,202 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .jo
Internet Hosts: 3,160 (2004)
Internet Users: 457,000 (2003)

The United Arab Emirates

Capital: Abu Dhabi
Currency: Emirati dirham (AED)
Government Type: Federation with specified powers delegated to the UAE federal government and other powers reserved to member emirates
Population: 2,523,915
Note: includes an estimated 1,606,079 non-nationals; the 17 December 1995 census presents a total population figure of 2,377,453, and there are estimates of 3.44 million for 2002 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .ae
Internet Hosts: 56,283 (2004)
Internet Users: 1,110,200 (2003)

The Kingdom of Bahrain

Capital: Manama
Currency: Bahraini dinar (BHD)
Government Type: Constitutional hereditary monarchy
Population: 677,886
Note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .bh
Internet Hosts: 1,334 (2003)
Internet Users: 195,700 (2003)

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Capital: Riyadh
Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR)
Government Type: Monarchy
Population: 25,795,938
Note: includes 5,576,076 non-nationals (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .sa
Internet Hosts: 15,931 (2004)
Internet Users: 1.5 million (2003)

The Arab Republic of Syria

Capital: Damascus
Currency: Syrian pound (SYP)
Government Type: Republic under military regime since March 1963
Population: 18,016,874
Note: in addition, about 40,000 people who live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli settlers (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .sy
Internet Hosts: 11 (2004)
Internet Users: 220,000 (2002)

The Republic of Iraq

Capital: Baghdad
Currency: New Iraqi dinar (NID) as of 22 January 2004
Government Type: None; note - the Interim Government was appointed on 1 June 2004.
Population: 25,374,691 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .iq
Internet Users: 25,000 (2002)

The State of Qatar

Capital: Doha
Currency: Qatari rial (QAR)
Government Type: Traditional monarchy
Population: 840,290 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .qa
Internet Hosts: 221 (2004)
Internet Users: 126,000 (2003)

The State of Kuwait

Capital: Kuwait
Currency: Kuwaiti dinar (KD)
Government Type: Nominal constitutional monarchy
Population: 2,257,549
Note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .kw
Internet Hosts: 3,437 (2001)
Internet Users: 567,000 (2003)

The Republic of Lebanon

Capital: Beirut
Currency: Lebanese pound (LBP)
Government Type: Republic
Population: 3,777,218 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .lb
Internet Hosts: 6,998 (2004)
Internet Users: 400,000 (2002)

The Arab Republic of Egypt

Capital: Cairo
Currency: Egyptian pound (EGP)
Government Type: Republic
Population: 76,117,421 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .eg
Internet Hosts: 3,401 (2004)
Internet Users: 2.7 Million (2003)

The Kingdom of Morocco

Capital: Rabat
Currency: Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
Population: 32,209,101 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .ma
Internet Hosts: 3,627 (2004)
Internet Users: 800,000 (2003)

The Republic of Yemen

Capital: Sanaa
Currency: Yemeni rial (YER)
Government Type: Republic
Population: 20,024,867 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .ye
Internet Hosts: 138 (2004)
Internet Users: 100,000 (2002)

For additional demographic information on the countries listed here, you can check out The World Factbook.

For information on The Arabic Writing System, please see our Quick Facts Library.

1 "Arab World" Wikipedia