Arabs are any group of people living in North Africa and the Middle East, from
western Morocco, to Oman, and from Turkey in the north to Yemen and Sudan in
the south. The history of the Arab peoples may be split into two major periods: that of
the caliphates from 632 to 1924 and the era of modern Arab nationalism since 1924.
The word caliph comes from an Arabic word meaning "successor." The caliphs were
the successors of Muhammad. It was intended that Muslims would always live under
a Muslim who ruled from the city of Medina, but this principle did not endure.

From 632 to 732 the Arab tribes united to conquer the Middle East, North Africa, and
Spain. Arab nationalism began to grow early in the 20th century, largely inspired by
European ideas of nationhood. The essence of Arab nationalism was defined in 1938
as "all who are Arab in their language, culture, and loyalty." To consolidate Arab
unity, the Arab League was founded in 1945. The members are Algeria, Bahrain,
Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and
the Palestine Liberation Organization. The cultural factors that best define the Arabic
culture are language, food, territoriality, raw materials, clothing, structures, fine arts,
kinship, marriage and family, social stratification, and religion.

Arabic language is one of the world's most widely used languages. It is the official
language of all the nations in the Arab League. There are two types of language
though. They are the written and spoken forms. Colloquial, or spoken Arabic consists
of dialects from Gulf, Iraqi, Levantine, Maghrebi, North Egyptian, Saudi Arabian,
South Egyptian, Sudanese, and Tunisian. All of these could still be subdivided further,
that's how diverse their language is. On the other hand, written Arabic serves as a
standard of written language for all Arab nations. The form is a descendant of the
language of Koran, the sacred book of the Islamic religion. Arabs use the spoken of
the written form for radios and TV news broadcasts, in plays and in motion pictures. 

Arabic cuisine has roots in tent cookery. Nomadic tribes could use only transportable
foods such as rice and dates or ambulatory stock such as sheep and camel in their
recipes. Nowadays, beans, chickpeas, lentils, and rice are the most basic foods. They
can be made into stew, or cooked with water, oil, vegetables, and seasonings to form
various pastes. Sesame seed paste adds a special flavor to many dishes. Pastes are
eaten by scooping up mouthfuls with thin Arab bread known to us as pita. In northern
Africa, couscous which is a steamed cracked wheat, replaces rice as a basic food to
some extent. Some form of yogurt accompanies each meal. Fresh and dried fruits are
the main dessert. But sweet pastries such as baklava, which is made with honey and
chopped nuts, are served on special occasions. Arab hospitality towards guests is
second to none. Nowhere is it better expressed than in the age-old custom of serving
freshly brewed coffee or mint tea to every guest, whether the gathering is business or
social.

The Arab world extends over five million square miles. There are three main regions
in which the Arabs occupy: the Arabian Peninsula, northern Africa, and the Fertile
Crescent (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine). Five million square miles may
seem like a lot, but only a small portion of it is suitable for life. Much of it is hot and
dry with vast areas of desert (Sahara, deserts of the Arabian Peninsula, Syrian
Desert). Though, there are extremes of the other end like the snow capped mountains
of the Grand Atlas in Morocco and the Lebanon Mountains. Vast majorities of the
Arabs live in well-watered hilly regions, fertile river valleys, and humid coastal areas.
The most densely settled areas are the Nile Valley and the Nile River Delta of Egypt,
where one-quarter of the Arabs live. 55% of Arabs live in urban areas, 45% live in
rural areas, and less than 1% live as nomads, and are only nomadic during the dry
seasons.

For centuries, Arab nations have been the crossroads of international commerce.
Spices, textiles, and glass travel between Asia, Africa, and Europe. In the 1700's, due
to expanding European commerce, led to an economic decline for the Arab world. In
the 1900's, petroleum became one of the most important economic resources.
Together, Arab lands hold about 3/5 of the world's reserves of oil. It has brought
enormous prosperity to Arab governments and improvement in education, health care,
and, transportation. Now, many of the countries are dependent on this export of
petroleum as their main source of income.

Arabs are quite unique when it comes to clothing. A traditional garb effectively
conceals the outlines of the human figure, covering it from neck to foot. The reason is
that of the hot climate and such garment would shield them from the sun. In the
middle to upper class urban society, women may wear a veil over their faces. All
women wear a floor length dress and a head scarf or hood. Though, western influence
has caused many to wear Western style dresses or slacks, but rarely wear short or
sleeveless dresses or let their hair hand free. Traditional men's clothing would be
full-length robes or a cloak over some combination of shirt or vest. Many men also
wear a turban, skullcap, or kaffiyeh (a loose folded head scarf held by a decorative
cord called and agal). In South Arabia, men only wear a loincloth and walk about
without any covering on the head. Women there wear no clothing above the waist, are
unveiled, and wear no handkerchief.

Most rural Arabs live in one or two story houses of brick, mud-brick, or stone.
Mud-brick architecture takes a wide variety of forms, from simple rectangular
structures to the beehive-shaped houses of northern Syria. Mud-brick is cheap and
easy to use. It provides insulation against heat, and cold. However, many homes are
being replaced with concrete and cinder blocks as building materials. Western-style
apartment buildings are common in large cities. The distinctive many storied,
mud-brick or stone buildings of Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia rank among the
world's first "skyscrapers." Privacy is an important factor in much Arabic architecture,
both urban and rural. Many homes or buildings open onto a private of semi-private
central courtyard, while blank walls face the street.

There are many forms of art within the Arab society. Poetry is a powerful source of
identity within the Arab culture. It has been a public form to be recited and sung.
Tribal poets use qualities such as courage, loyalty, beauty of their women, the speed
of their horses, and the hardiness of their camels as themes to their poems. Modern
poetry has a few new themes like: wine, hunting, philosophical reflections on the
individual's role in life, and the glory of the ruler. Arabian music includes a wide range
of styles, from urban pop to Sudanese swing, to the "belly dance" rhythms. What
makes Arabian music unique is that its structure uses twenty modes that compares
with the modes or scales of medieval Europe (24 quarter-tone intervals). Western
music is based on eight-note sequences. Books, such as, Thousand and One Nights or
better known as the Arabian Nights is a famous piece of Arabic literature written in
the 1300's. Maqamahs are short witty narratives in which two characters visit cities
throughout the Middle East. They observe the way people behave and play tricks on
them.

Arabs strongly value family ties and hospitality. Traditionally, Arabs place great
importance on belonging to family or kinship groups. In some areas, family bonds are
so strong that all members suffer "blackening of the face" after the dishonorable act of
a member. The greatest dishonor that can befall a man is the sexual misconduct of his
daughter or sister. Roots of this particular male honor go deep into the structure and
dynamics of the Arab kinship group. Ties of blood, of patrilineal descent can never be
severed and never weaken throughout a person's life. They stress hospitality as a
source of honor, a host who richly entertained a guest raises the standing of the entire
tribe (tribe: hundreds of families living together). Many children are raised by
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives in addition to their parents. It is a
common tradition for parents to arrange their children's marriages and often, partners
are sought after within the clan (several related families) or tribe.

Arab religion goes back a long way. Islam was founded in 622 by Muhammad, an
Arab religious leader who lived in what is now Saudi Arabia. Muhammad is revered
throughout the Islamic world as the Prophet of Allah. Islam united the Arab peoples
and it inspired them to spread the new religion, after Muhammad's death in 632. Islam
was the driving force behind the Arab invasion and conquest of Northern Africa.
Today, more than 85% of the Arabs are Sunni Muslims, 10% are Shi'i Muslims, and
less than 5% are Christians. Those that are Christians belong to various Eastern
Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Protestant Churches.

Overall, the Arab culture is unique among others in this world. Their language is
diverse and used throughout the world. They diet mostly on rice, fruits, pastes and
yogurts at each meal. They occupy quite an astonishing amount of land in the Middle
East and Africa. In those lands, they posses 3/5 of the world's reserves of oil. Men
and women wear traditional clothing that covers their body from neck to foot.
Women sometimes wear a veil. They live in mud-brick housings which are slowly
being replaced by concrete and cinder block. Their culture emphasizes on poetry as
the most important art of expression. Though, fiction is becoming more and more
popular. Arabs have very strong family ties and which are never severed or
weakened. Today, more than 90% of all Arabs are Muslims in faith. The Arabs are a
very family oriented group of people that cannot be matched with any other in this
world. The have existed for many years now, and hopefully, that will continue to be
true.