Arabic language

Arabic is a Semitic language, in the same family as Hebrew and Aramaic. Around 250 million people use it for their first language. Many more people can also understand it, but not as a first language. It is written with the Arabic alphabet. There are many different dialects of it found around the Arab world.

The language is very important in Islam, because Muslims believe that Allah (God) used it to talk to Muhammad through the Archangel Gabriel Jibreal, giving him the Quran in Arabic. Most Arabic speakers are Muslims; however, not all are.

In the Western world, Arabic is also becoming a popular language to learn. Many other languages have borrowed words from Arabic, because of its importance in history. Some of the many English words that can be traced to Arabic are: sugar, cotton, magazine, algebra, and alcohol.

Arabic is an official language of: Algeria Bahrain Comoros Chad Djibouti Egypt Eritrea Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania Morocco Oman Palestinian National Authority Qatar Western Sahara Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen

It's also a "national language" of: Mali Senegal

Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the Islamic world, like Turkish, Urdu and Persian. During the Middle Ages, literary Arabic was a major vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have also borrowed many words from it. Arabic influence is seen in Mediterranean languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and Sicilian, owing to both the proximity of European and Arab civilizations and 700 years of Arab rule in some parts of the Iberian peninsula (see Al-Andalus).

English has many Arabic loan words, some directly but most through the medium of other Mediterranean languages. Examples of such words include admiral, adobe, alchemy, alcohol, algebra, algorithm, alkaline, almanac, amber, arsenal, assassin, banana, candy, carat, cipher, coffee, cotton, hazard, jar, jasmine, lemon, loofah, magazine, mattress, sherbet, sofa, sugar, sumac, tariff and many other words.

The major dialect groups are:

Egyptian Arabic

Egyptian Arabic, spoken by around 80 million in Egypt. It is one of the most understood varieties of Arabic, due in large part to the widespread distribution of Egyptian films and television shows throughout the Arabic speaking world. Closely related varieties are also spoken in Sudan.

Maghrebi Arabic

Maghrebi Arabic includes Moroccan Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Saharan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, and Libyan Arabic, and is spoken by around 75 million North Africans in Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, and western Egypt; it is often difficult for speakers of Middle Eastern Arabic varieties to understand. The Berber influence in these dialects varies in degree.

Levantine Arabic

Levantine Arabic includes North Levantine Arabic, South Levantine Arabic, and Cypriot Arabic. It is spoken by almost 35 million people in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, The Palestinian territories, Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey. It is also called Mediterranean Arabic.

Mesopotamian Arabic

Iraqi Arabic, spoken by about 29 million people, with significant differences between the Arabian-like dialects of the south and the more conservative dialects of the north. Closely related varieties are also spoken in Iran, Syria, and Turkey. North Mesopotamian Arabic, spoken by around 7 million people in northern Iraq, northern Syria and southern Turkey.

Gulf Arabic

Gulf Arabic (Khaliji Arabic), spoken by around 4 million people in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Sultanate of Oman, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran.