ABSTRACT
The most straightforward distinguishing feature of Arabs is the language. Arabic has been a written language since at least the 5th century CE, two centuries before the time of the Prophet, and spread through the region along with the spread of Islam as the language of the Quran. Educated Arabs tend to be conversant in both standard Arabic and their own colloquial form. Because Arabic is the language of Islam, Iranian mullahs have also traditionally learned it, especially those who teach in the major religious centres. The population of the region is about 350 million people, of whom about two-thirds approximately 240 million are Arabs. The largest other population groups in the region are Persian, Berber, Kurdish and Jewish. Persians form just over half of the population of Iran, and Jews are the majority in Israel, while there are large Berber populations in Algeria and Morocco, and significant numbers of Kurds in Iran, Iraq and Syria.
