Introduction:

Arabs, name originally applied to the Semitic peoples of the Arabian peninsula; now used also for populations of countries whose primary language is Arabic, e.g., Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen. Socially, Arabs are divided into the settled fellahin (villagers) and the nomadic Bedouin. The invasions of Muslims from Arabia in the 6th and 7th cent. Diffused the Arabic language and Islam, the Arabic religion. At its peak the Arab empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean across North Africa and the Middle East to central Asia.

Arabia, peninsula, 1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), SW Asia, containing the world's largest known reserves of oil and natural gas. It is politically divided between Saudi Arabia (the largest and most populous nation), Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Jordan and Iraq are to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and the Persian Gulf to the east.