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Most North Africans are actually not Arabs. Most Moroccans are Amazigh (Berber) a fact that fails to be recognized today even among the ruling class of that country, as well as in Algeria and Tunisia, for political reasons.

The "Arab" identity has been ssen as a political driving force behind the de-colonization of the region after World War II. Today, genetic studies confirm that the vast majoirty of the North African population of the Maghreb is in fact related to the pre-islamic population of the region, with slight infusions of Middle eastern Arabs, Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans all amounting to some 20% or less.

Egyptians also used to classify themselves as "Egyptian until the time of Nasser when the country joined the Arab league. I believe that this "Arab" umbrella was used for political solidarity between mostly Islamic nations that sought to create a standing political force in the face of British and French colonial forces.


Even the Lebanese Christians today do not consider themselves "Arab" but descendants of the Phoenicians (also confirmed by genetic studies). The term "Arab" is mostly political as well as linguistic but does not necessarily reflect a "racial" indentity.

The "true" Arabs are those of the Arabian Peninsula, who are distinct genetically and racially from the rest of the Middle East because studies show the presence of the M1 gene that is common among black Africans (Cavalli Sforza). Even many Syrians consider themselves Arameans to this day.

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Q: What are Arabs of North Africa and the Middle East considered to be?
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What was it called before it was the Middle East?

The Middle East as a unified land-region only came out of the Middle Ages and the redefinition of the world into Christendom and the Islamic World. Before that point, the Middle East was not a unified region and never referred to as such. The Arabian Peninsula was disregarded completely until the Rise of Islam and was called (and still called) by the natives Jazirat Al-Arabiya (جزيرة العربية ) which means the Arabian Isle. Most of the remainder of the Middle East was part of the Eastern Roman Empire or was part of Persia. The terms Mesopotamia and Levant were quite common in that period as well. When the Arabs controlled all of the Middle East and North Africa, they termed their control in two general regions of the Maghreb (مغرب) and Mashriq (مشرق) which mean the Western and Eastern Regions. The Mashriq refers to the general Arab area in Asia whereas the Maghreb refers to Africa. However, the idea of a geopolitical idea of a region that has vertices at Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and Yemen is a medieval/modern conception that has only really been referred to as the Middle East.


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Where are the Arabs located?

Arabs are located in the Middle East and in Northern Africa


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Conflicts between the Arabs and Israelis go back to biblical times. They have influenced the history of North Africa and the Middle East by having a constant state of conflict and unrest.


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