Arab Christians
ﺍﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ | |
|---|---|
Greek Orthodox Easter in Suwayda, Syria | |
| Total population | |
| 10–15+ million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Lebanon | 1,150,000–1,200,000 |
| Jordan | 250,000–400,000 |
| Syria | 300,000 (Number was around 1,200,000-1,500,000 pre-Syrian civil war) |
| Israel | 133,130 |
| Sudan | 100,000 excluding 500,000 Copts |
| Iraq | 50,000 excluding 1,500,000 Assyrians |
| Palestine | 50,000 excluding disputed territories |
| Algeria | 45,000–380,000 |
| Morocco | 40,000–150,000 |
| Tunisia | 23,500 |
| Turkey | 18,000 |
| Egypt | 10,000–350,000 excluding 6–11 million Copts |
| Libya | 1,500 |
| Bahrain | 1,000 |
| Yemen | 400 |
| Kuwait | 259–400 |
| Languages | |
| Arabic Liturgical: Coptic, Koine Greek, Latin, Classical Syriac, Classical Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Greek Orthodox Church Catholic Church Oriental Orthodox Church Nestorianism Protestantism Restorationism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Arab Christians (Arabic: ﺍﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, romanized: al-Masīḥiyyūn al-ʿArab) are the Arabs who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million, although most predominant in Lebanon. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, but are concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of the Levant and Egypt, with smaller communities present throughout the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.
The history of Arab Christians begins with the history of Christianity in pre-Islamic Arabia, which coincides with the history of Eastern Christianity and the history of the Arabic language. Arab Christian communities either result from pre-existing Christian communities adopting the Arabic language, or from pre-existing Arabic-speaking communities adopting Christianity. The jurisdictions of three of the five patriarchates of the Pentarchy primarily became Arabic-speaking after the early Muslim conquests – the Church of Alexandria, the Church of Antioch and the Church of Jerusalem – and over time many of their adherents adopted the Arabic language and culture. Separately, a number of early Arab kingdoms and tribes adopted Christianity, including the Nabataeans, Lakhmids, Salihids, Tanukhids, Ibadis of al-Hira, and the Ghassanids.
In modern times, Arab Christians have played important roles in the Nahda movement, and they have significantly influenced and contributed to the fields of literature, politics, business, philosophy, music, theatre and cinema, medicine, and science. Today Arab Christians still play important roles in the Arab world, and are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate. Emigrants from Arab Christian communities also make up a significant proportion of the Middle Eastern diaspora, with sizable population concentrations across the Americas, most notably in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and the US. However those emigrants to the Americas, especially from the first wave of emigration, have often not passed the Arabic language to their descendants, having integrated into the majority-Christian communities to which they emigrated.
The concept of an Arab Christian identity remains contentious, with some Arabic-speaking Christian groups in the Middle East, such as Assyrians, Armenians, Greeks and others, rejecting an Arab identity. Individuals from Egypt's Coptic Christian community and Lebanon's Maronite community sometimes assume a non-Arab identity.