Demographics of the Middle East

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The Demographics of the Middle East describes populations of the Middle East or the Greater Middle East that includes Northern Africa.

Overview[]

Population growth[1]

There are 6,335,000 Jews in the Middle East mostly residing in Israel, there are between 27 and 34 Million Christians across the Middle East, there are 800,000 - 1,100,000 Druze who live in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. There are large communities of Hindus in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia who number over 3.1 Million and an estimated 902,890 Buddhists and 700,000 Yazidi and numerous other religions. Non Muslims are about 43 Million or 23% of the Middle East population, Muslims form the majority and the rest.

# 1990 2008 2010 1990-2008 2016 Growth %
Million 1990-08 1990-10
1 Bahrain 0.49 0.77 1.26 0.3 56% 157%
2 Cyprus 0.58 0.80 0.80 0.2 38% 38%
3 Egypt 57.79 81.53 81.12 23.7 41% 40%
6 Iran 54.40 71.96 73.97 17.6 32% 36%
5 Iraq 18.14 28.22 32.32 10.1 56% 78%
6 Israel 4.68 7.31 7.62 2.6 56% 63%
7 Jordan 3.17 5.91 6.05 2.7 86% 91%
8 Kuwait 2.13 2.73 2.74 0.6 28% 29%
9 Lebanon 2.97 4.14 4.23 1.2 39% 42%
10 Oman 1.84 2.79 2.78 0.9 51% 51%
11 Palestine 1.90 3.91 4.12 2.0 106% 117%
12 Qatar 0.47 1.28 1.76 0.8 174% 274%
13 Saudi Arabia 16.38 24.65 27.45 8.3 50% 68%
14 Syria 12.72 21.23 20.45 8.5 67% 61%
15 Turkey 55.12 71.08 72.85 16.0 29% 32%
16 UAE 1.87 4.37 7.51 2.5 134% 302%
17 Yemen 12.31 23.05 24.05 10.7 87% 95%
x Total 246.96 355.73 371.08 66.9 51 % 61%
x World 5,265.2 6,687.9 6,825 1,422.7 27 % 30%
Source: OECD/World Bank
Encyclopedia Britannica definition of Middle East

Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 2018 that "by the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates])."[2]

Historical[]

In the year 1600, the population of the Middle East stood at about 18.5 million. Within modern borders:[3]

  • Anatolia - c. 6,500,000[4]
  • Iran - 4,472,000
  • Yemen - 2,243,000
  • Saudi Arabia - 1,809,000
  • Syria - 1,175,000
  • Iraq - 1,000,000
  • Lebanon - 292,000
  • Oman - 275,000
  • Jordan - 191,000
  • Palestine - 161,000
  • Cyprus - 98,000
  • Kuwait - 71,000
  • Bahrain - 54,000
  • United Arab Emirates - 35,000

In addition, the population of North Africa was 11 million, with the following breakdown within borders:

  • Egypt - 5,000,000
  • Algeria - 2,250,000
  • Morocco - 2,250,000
  • Tunisia - 1,000,000
  • Libya - 500,000

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Population 1971-2010 (pdf Archived 2012-01-06 at the Wayback Machine pages 89) IEA (OECD/ World Bank) (original population ref OECD/ World Bank e.g. in IEA Key World Energy Statistics 2010 page 57)
  2. ^ "Middle East | Countries & Facts," Britannica.com.
  3. ^ Alexander V. Avakov, Two Thousand Years of Economic Statistics, Volume 1, pages 12 to 14.
  4. ^ The figure is 7,275,000 counting all of modern Turkey, which includes East Thrace and the city of Istanbul/Constantinople, both of which were very densely populated.
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