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Bedouins

Bedouin
Bedouin family-Wahiba Sands.jpg
A Bedouin family in Oman
Total population
(21,250,700)
Regions with significant populations
 Sudan 10,199,000
 Algeria 230,000-2,257,000 ±
 Iraq 350,000-1,100,000
 Saudi Arabia 467,000 (2013)
380,000 (2007)
 Libya 916,000
 Egypt 902,000 (2007)
 UAE 763,000
 Syria 620,000 (2013)
 Yemen 457,000
 Kuwait 290,000
 Tunisia 177,000
 Morocco 144,000
 Israel 250,000 (2012)
 Mauritania 54,000
 Bahrain 50,000
 Lebanon 47,000
 Qatar 39,000
 Palestine 30,000
 Oman 28,000
 Western Sahara 13,300
 Ethiopia 2,000 (2004)
Languages
Arabic dialects:  BedawiHejaziNajdiHassāniyya
Religion
Sunni IslamShia Islam
Related ethnic groups
Arabs

The Bedouin (/ˈbɛdu.ɪn/;Arabic: بَدَوِي badawī) is a recent term in the Arabic language that is used commonly to refer to the people (Arabs and non-Arabs) who live, or have descended from tribes who lived, stationary or nomadic lifestyles outside cities and towns. The term contrasts against 'Hathar' ("حضر") which refers to the city or town dwellers in the Arabic language. Bedouin means "Badiyah dwellers" in the Arabic language, as 'Badyah' means literally the visible land (the desert). The Bedouins identify themselves as Arabs or by the names of their tribes. City dwellers in Arabia who descended from known tribes refer to themselves as Bedouins to recognize their native origin to Arabia. The term has lost exact meaning; it is sometimes used in racial profiling, and it is commonly mixed with another term "A-araab" "" which is mentioned in Quran in reference to unruly tribesmen who do not follow the lifestyle codes of bedouin tribes or city dwellers. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky sands of the Middle East. They are traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ʿashāʾir; عَشَائِر) and share a common culture of herding camels and goats.

The Bedouin form a part of, but are not synonymous with, the modern concept of the Arabs. Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, including Qedarites in the Old Testament and Arabaa by the Assyrians (ar-ba-a-a being a nisba of the noun Arab, a name still used for Bedouins today). They are referred to as the Araab (أعراب) in the Koran.


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Wikipedia

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