Arab Cultural Overview
A quick look at the geography, history, daily life, society, economics, beliefs, and arts of Arab peoples.
Arabs are the major ethnic group of the Arab League, a collection of countries united by shared religious, linguistic, and historic ties.
Geography
The Arab League consists of 22 member states, primarily located in the Middle East and North Africa. It encompasses diverse geographic regions such as the Maghreb of North Africa; the Fertile Crescent of Egypt and Mesopotamia; and the Arabian Peninsula. These areas are home to primarily desert landscapes fed by major rivers and divided by mountain ranges. They are far from homogeneous, however, and even the deserts of the Arab world show significant differences in climate and geology. Besides arid regions, the League is also home to temperate forests, tropics, and grasslands.
Climate: Regional variations, but generally hot and dry
Total Population: Approximately 391,500,000
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History
Prior to the founding of Islam, Arab peoples formed a number of small kingdoms and trading states centered on the Arabian Peninsula. During the 7th century, united by the Prophet Muhammad and his message of Islam, they expanded rapidly outward. The Islamic Empire they founded at its height stretched from modern Spain to Central Asia. It presided over a golden age of wealth and learning, especially in the capital city of Baghdad. This period of unity and prosperity came to an end in 1258, when Mongol armies destroyed the city and its libraries. The Arab world fragmented into smaller states, the majority of which were ruled by other Islamic cultures like the Persians, Turks, Mamluks, and Mongols.
By the 16th century, much of the former Islamic Empire had fallen under the control of the Ottoman Turks. As the Ottoman Empire declined, however, Arab nationalism grew. While European powers fought the Ottomans in World War I, the Middle East and North Africa saw widespread revolts waged by native populations. But by the end of the war, instead of unifying as a single Arab state, the region was divided into smaller nations by European leaders. Many of these countries developed in an era of colonialism before claiming their own independence. Since that time, each member of the Arab world has seen different fortunes, many directly tied to the global oil market.
Daily Life
The lifestyles of Arab people have been highly diverse throughout their long history. Their empire grew from humble desert nomads and traders into cosmopolitan societies, taking influences from every culture they conquered along the way. Traditional diets heavy in dates, dairy, mutton, goat, and wheat came to include citrus, seafoods, rice, coffee, yogurt, and various sweets. Nomadic tents transformed into urban apartments and houses. In time, even customary clothing like the thawb robe and head coverings have been replaced in some areas by Western-style apparel. Today, people of the Arab world occupy a spectrum of traditional and Western lifestyles, largely dependent on their wealth and location.
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Society
During the Islamic Empire, Arab Muslims occupied privileged roles in multicultural and religiously diverse societies. Their social status declined as other Muslim ethnic groups assumed power, though they maintained a respected position in most non-Arab states. After several centuries under Ottoman rule, a number of Arab territories rebelled in partnership with the British Empire. They succeeded in overthrowing the Ottomans, but the nations formed in the aftermath were largely determined by the Sykes-Picot Agreement between Russia, France, and the United Kingdom. As a result, border disputes and the status of ethnic minorities within Arab nations have caused significant political turmoil. Most modern Arab states now use both Islamic law, or Sharia, and secular laws to govern.
Major Languages: Arabic
Economy
The economy of the Arab world is similarly regional. Early Arab peoples primarily lived as traders, herders, and farmers. Their empire soon came to control important trade routes flowing through cities like Baghdad, Damascus, Cordoba, and Samarkand. Under the Ottoman Empire, however, foreign trade diminished somewhat. The fortunes of the modern Arab states have for the most part depended on access to oil reserves. Those nations possessing significant oil deposits tend to be wealthier than those without, but significant inequality exists throughout the Arab League. Cities like Dubai have sprung out of the desert to cater to the wealthy classes, bringing with them new industries and more widespread access to education.
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Beliefs
The majority of Arab peoples practice Islam, the second largest religion in the world today. It was founded in the early 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad, an orphaned member of a wealthy merchant family. As an adult, Muhammad received messages from the Archangel Gabriel and declared himself a prophet of the one true God, Allah. He taught a new faith that claimed to perfect the teachings of earlier prophets like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. His followers would go on to form numerous branches of Islam, which today boasts a global 1.8 billion worshippers.
Arts & Music
Historically, Arab art has been dedicated to religious themes. Muslim artists tended to avoid depicting the forms of humans and animals. Instead, they developed the arts of geometric patterns, architecture, calligraphy, and poetry in particular. Mosque architecture is perhaps the best representation of regional Islamic art styles. More controversial artforms like figure painting and music have also, however, been practiced on both a secular and religious basis at times. Modern arts in the Arab states are shaped by individual tastes as well as the policies and cultures of their nations.
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References
“Arab World.” The World Bank, The World Bank Group, data.worldbank.org/region/arab-world?view=chart.
Barakat, Halim. The Arab World: Society, Culture, and State. University of California Press. 1993.
“Country Comparison: Population.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html.
Habib Hourani, Albert and Malise Ruthven. A History of the Arab Peoples. Harvard University Press. 2002.
Hitti, Philip Khuri. The Arabs: A Short History. Regnery Publishing. 1996.
Warnock Fernea, Elizabeth and Robert A. Fernea. The Arab World. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. 2011.
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