the are lots of arabs of iranian/persian origion in arab countries:

bahrain (second largest ethnic group after arabs)

kuwait

UAE (the combined ajami [arabs of iranian/persian descent, and iranian immigrants is more than the emirati population itself)

iraq (many iraqi are actually of iranian/persian descent and up to the as late as the 70's persian was stilll spoken in many parts of baghdad)

yemen (the community here is small, but there are arabs of iranian/persian origion that still live in yemen, and are known as Farsi's IIRC)

Oman

its not surprising that there are so many arabs of iranian/persian descent in these countries when you think about it, look at these maps:

Achaemenid Persia

Parthian Persia

sassanid persia

(also included yemen, egypt, all of the middle east, and parts of anatolia at one point)

as you can see, iran has had a prescence in the region for many many years.

o, i didnt know that ajamis also include iranian arabs, thanks for the info.

i thought that the ajami population plus the iranian immigrant population (those fleeing the iranian regime, those coming to dubai for work, etc... just like the iranians in USA or Europe) outnumber the emirati population...

is that true?

Originally posted by Perspolis United Arab Emirates Ethnic Groups      Religions      Ethnic Groups      Religions

These figures don't look accurate at all to me.

First - I'm sure we have Turkish and Kurdish residents, but their respective ethnicities have nothing to do with the UAE:  United Arab Emirates.  (I think I must also clarify that "Arab" is not an ethnic grouping that is passed down through blood; it's a linguistic one.  The "Father of Arabs," Ishmael son of Abraham (peace be upon Them) was not an Arab, but he married into the Arab tribe of Jurhum, and spoke Arabic.  Therefore, Arab is a linguistic designation, not an ethnic one.)  In any case, UAE nationals are not "ethnically" Turks or Kurds.

Second figure claims that 99.8% are Muslims.  While I would have loved for that to be true; it is not.  Islam is the state religion and all citizens must be Muslim.  However, nationals don't make up the majority, nor do those of Arab or Muslim backgrounds.

We have a huge Asian/South Asian community here, and most of them come from India, Phillipines, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.  Not all Indians are Muslims.  We have Hindus, Sikhs and Christian Indians.  The Muslims from India are usually Keralites (from Kerala,) and they aren't many.  Filipinos and Chinese are not Muslims.  The Asian community is the largest expatriate group in the UAE.

Then we have the rapidly growing North American + European community.  They, of course, are mostly non-Muslims, too.

Non-UAE Arabs, Iranians, Turks ... etc. are mostly Muslims (although we have Christians from Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and elsewhere) and they do not make up the majority.  Whether they're Sunni or Shia is irrelevant.  They are all Muslims.