Arabic is spoken as an official language in 25 countries. Moreover, it is the fifth most spoken language in the world.
Many people speak the Arabic language whether as an official language or as a secondary language. there are around 422 million people who speak it and the number keeps increasing. There are 25 five countries where Arabic is spoken as an official language. The highest population of Arabic speakers is in Egypt, which exceeds 90 million.
where Arabic is spoken?
Here’s a list of the countries and their population:
| Country | Region | Population |
| Algeria | Africa | 44,903,225 |
| Bahrain | Asia | 1,472,233 |
| Chad | Africa | 17,723,315 |
| Comoros | Africa | 836,774 |
| Djibouti | Africa | 1,120,849 |
| Egypt | Africa | 110,990,103 |
| Eritrea | Africa | 3,684,032 |
| Iraq | Asia | 44,496,122 |
| Jordan | Asia | 11,285,869 |
| Kuwait | Asia | 4,268,873 |
| Lebanon | Asia | 5,489,739 |
| Libya | Africa | 6,812,341 |
| Mauritania | Africa | 4,736,139 |
| Morocco | Africa | 37,457,971 |
| Oman | Asia | 4,576,298 |
| Palestine | Asia | 5,250,072 |
| Qatar | Asia | 2,695,122 |
| Saudi Arabia | Asia | 36,408,820 |
| Somalia | Africa | 17,597,511 |
| Sudan | Africa | 46,874,204 |
| Syria | Asia | 22,125,249 |
| Tanzania | Africa | 65,497,748 |
| Tunisia | Africa | 12,356,117 |
| United Arab Emirates | Asia | 9,441,129 |
| Yemen | Asia | 33,696,614 |
The History of the Arabic language.
Arabic is an ancient language, it dates back at least 1,500 years, it is an ancient language that affected the whole world.
Arabic is spoken as a native language in many countries like Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen with more than 300 million people speaking it. Plus, it is the language of the holy Quran which is the main book of the Islamic religion and many Muslims around the world are learning the Arabic language to be able to read the Quran in its original language.
Arabic is one of the Semitic language families that emerged in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula. No one really knows when it started but the clue of its appearance goes way back to the 8th century BCE. Many changes happened to the language over the years, a man part of this change was in the 3rd and 6th century AD.
While in the 7th century, AD signs were added to the alphabet to make it clear how to read and differentiate the letters from each other.
Information about the Arabic language.
The Arabic language was spoken by nomadic tribes in the northwestern frontier of the Peninsula. And it is said that the word Arabic means “nomadic.”. It is the most spoken Semitic language nowadays.
How did the Arabic language spread in the first place? It was spread by the traveling tribes, and the rapid growth of Arabic happened during the Islamic Conquests in the 7th century C.E.
The Arabic language is a unique yet beautiful language to learn with many dialects. Nowadays due to the internet and globalization, the Arabic language is once again spreading around the world. Also, more Arab students are going abroad for scholarships, which helps spread the language even more.
In the Arabic languages, there are letters that don’t exist in any other language like ‘ح’ and ‘خ’. The unique Arabic grammar makes it really different than any other language.
English includes many words of Arabic origin like algebra, algorithm, alchemy, coffee, cotton, ghoul, lemon, and many others.
Now people use what is called colloquial language to communicate with each other. The Colloquial Arabic called ‘Ammiyya’ is the Arabic that people use in their daily conversations. It differs from one country to another; each country has its different dialect from other countries. You might ask, Is colloquialism slang? And the answer is yes, it is slang.
While modern standard Arabic is the official language used for teaching at schools. It is also the Arabic used to write anything formal like work reports and so on. It is also taught to people who want to learn the Arabic language.
There are two main types of the Arabic language and they are modern and classical Arabic.
How much of the world speaks Arabic?
Arabic is spoken in 25 countries as an official or co-official language, mainly in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle East. Those countries are called the Arab world. Here is a list of the countries where Arabic is spoken as an official language or co-official language:
Arab Countries in Africa:
- Algeria
- Chad
- Comoros
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Libya
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Sudan
- Tunisia
- Tanzania
- Somalia
Arab Countries in Asia:
- Bahrain
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Palestine
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
Countries with minority Arabic speakers:
- Iran
- Turkey
- Niger
- Senegal
- Mali
- Cyprus.
Those are not the only countries with Arabic speakers. Many Arabic speakers are scattered around the world.
How many Arabic speakers are in the world?
There are more than 300 million Arabic speakers in the world, which makes it comes in fifth place among the most spoken languages. You can see the population of each Arab country in the following table:
| Country | Region | Population |
| Algeria | Africa | 44,903,225 |
| Bahrain | Asia | 1,472,233 |
| Chad | Africa | 17,723,315 |
| Comoros | Africa | 836,774 |
| Djibouti | Africa | 1,120,849 |
| Egypt | Africa | 110,990,103 |
| Eritrea | Africa | 3,684,032 |
| Iraq | Asia | 44,496,122 |
| Jordan | Asia | 11,285,869 |
| Kuwait | Asia | 4,268,873 |
| Lebanon | Asia | 5,489,739 |
| Libya | Africa | 6,812,341 |
| Mauritania | Africa | 4,736,139 |
| Morocco | Africa | 37,457,971 |
| Oman | Asia | 4,576,298 |
| Palestine | Asia | 5,250,072 |
| Qatar | Asia | 2,695,122 |
| Saudi Arabia | Asia | 36,408,820 |
| Somalia | Africa | 17,597,511 |
| Sudan | Africa | 46,874,204 |
| Syria | Asia | 22,125,249 |
| Tanzania | Africa | 65,497,748 |
| Tunisia | Africa | 12,356,117 |
| United Arab Emirates | Asia | 9,441,129 |
| Yemen | Asia | 33,696,614 |
Nevertheless, there are many Arabic speakers scattered around the world. For example, in the United States, you will find more than one Million Arabic speakers.
The impotence of learning Arabic.
There are many benefits of learning the Arabic language, and here are some of them:
- Arabic is the language of the Quran:
The Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, and to understand the Quran and read it correctly, learning the Arabic language is essential.
- High demand for the Arabic language:
So, what jobs can you get knowing Arabic? And the reason why I love the Arabic language is that today the US government agencies are searching for Arabic speakers; if you can speak it then you will be an excellent candidate. As you see Arabic qualifications are really important.
Besides that, you could work in one of the Arab countries like the Emirates in different fields like engineering, medicine, and business.
One of the top 5 spoken languages in the world is Arabic, and only one percent of US universities study Arabic, if you learn it you will get many job opportunities and excel in them.
There are some languages like Spanish and French that learning will offer you opportunities to travel around the world and find many jobs. While other languages like Chinese will present your with job opportunities in a few countries.
The Arabic language is a mix of those two, you won’t find many of your colleagues speaking Arabic yet there are 25 countries speaking the Arabic language.
- Gain international experience:
The Arabic language offers you the opportunity to study abroad.
- Learn about the Islamic religion and culture:
The second-largest religion in the world is Islam, Islam is not just a religion it is a way of life. Learning Arabic gives you the advantage of exploring Arab culture and religion.
- Travel to Arab countries:
Many people travel around the world but few have the opportunity to travel to an Arab country. Learning Arabic will open that door for you, you can go there to study or work.
- Different dialects:
Arabic has many delicate, and each one of them has its own beauty and differences. You can choose the one that you like more and learn it.
Are you Interested in learning Arabic? If yes, then don’t worry we have online Arabic classes that are taught by a professional Arabic tutor.
How many words are in the Arabic language?
In Semitic languages are hard to give an exact number its number of words. Why? Because the Arabic language is a root language. and estimations will differ based on what is considered a word and what is not. Mainly you have around 13,000 roots from them different words are formed.
That’s it for today’s article, for more information or if you have any questions visit our website, Alif Arabic.
Read More
What are Question tools in Arabic?
How to form an Arabic verbal and an Arabic nominal sentence?
