Smaller religious groups include Bahais, Druze, Yezidis, Zoroastrians, and others.ĭata source: The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), National Profiles, 2011 update. The third-largest religious group is Jews (0.8%).

The second-most numerous religious group in the region is Christians (4.0%), including Roman Catholics, multiple Eastern Orthodox churches, and numerous Protestant denominations. What percentage of the Middle East’s population is Muslim? 56-57.įollow-up questions: Perhaps you know which country has the largest percentage of the world’s Muslim population? Do you also know which countries are listed second, third, and fourth? Examine this map from the Pew Research Center’s report, Mapping the Global Muslim Population:ĥ. Zwemer, Islam: A Challenge to Faith (New York: Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1907), fold-out map between pp. This map, drawn by Christian missionaries a century ago, charts the approximate dates of the spread of Islam to various regions: (Just under one quarter of the world’s human population of 6.8 billion is Muslim, according to the Pew report.)Īlthough Islam emerged in the Middle East – revealed by God to the Messenger Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel (Jibril in Arabic) beginning in 610 C.E., according to Muslims - most Muslims now live outside of the Middle East. Without Pakistan, the answer would be (b) 30.1%: approximately 473 million. If we include Pakistan, as the Middle East Studies Association does, the answer is (c) 41.2%: approximately 647 million of the world’s total Muslim population of 1.57 billion, according to the Pew Research Center report, Mapping the Global Muslim Population, which undertook a systematic estimate of the world’s Muslim population in 2009. What percentage of the world’s Muslim population lives in the Middle East? The location of these language communities is colorfully displayed in this pair of maps from the Gulf/2000 collection at Columbia University (which defines the Middle East as distinct from North Africa):Ĥ. Other languages in the region include Hebrew and Tamazight (formerly known as Berber), among others. Persian (called Farsi in Persian) is spoken primarily in Iran and Afghanistan (where it is known as Dari), as well as Tajikistan (where it is known as Tajik).Įnglish is also widely spoken in the region, as well as French (primarily in former French colonies), but the question asked about “indigenous” languages.

Urdu is spoken primarily in Pakistan, as well as in northern India. Turkish and other Turkic languages are spoken primarily in Turkey, Azerbaijan, northwest and northeast Iran, and Central Asia. If we don’t include Pakistan in the Middle East, the fourth most commonly spoken language would be Kurdish, dialects of which are spoken in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.Īrabic is spoken primarily in North Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. If we use the Middle East Studies Association’s definition of the Middle East, then the four most widely spoken languages in the region are Arabic, Turkish, Urdu (if we include Pakistan in the category of the Middle East), and Persian, according to the Ethnologue atlas of the world’s languages. What are the four most widely spoken indigenous languages in the Middle East? Map (c) covers the Arab League.Īs an exercise, go to Wikipedia’s page on the Middle East and select various languages – what maps do they use?ģ. Some organizations, especially intergovernmental organizations, use the phrase “Middle East and North Africa” (MENA), in which the Middle East corresponds more to map (b), as distinct from North Africa. Other definitions of the Middle East do not include Pakistan. The Middle East Studies Association, the preeminent professional association for the study of the region, defines its subject as ranging from Pakistan in the east to Morocco in the west, in keeping with map (d). In the mid-20th century, however, the Middle East migrated westward. The term “Middle East” was rare enough that Mahan thought he had invented it. According to Mahan, global naval forces would need similar colonial way stations in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Malta and Gibraltar were colonial outposts for British naval forces. Source: Alfred Thayer Mahan, “ The Persian Gulf and International Relations,” National Review, September 1902, pages 27-45. global naval strategy, used the term in 1902: That’s how Alfred Thayer Mahan, the architect of U.S. The term “Middle East” referred to the region between the Far East (now called East Asia) and the Near East (what we now call the Balkans and the Middle East). In the early 20th century, (a) might have been the correct answer.

Middle eastern countries map quiz