The ethnic groups in West Asia refers to the various peoples that reside in West Asia. The region has historically been a crossroad of different cultures. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors (especially the enormous oil wealth in the region and conflicts) have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The five largest ethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Persians, and Turks but there are dozens of other ethnic groups which have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of members.
Other Indigenous, native, or long-standing ethnic groups include: Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Balochs, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Kawliya, Lurs, Maltese, Mandeans, Mazanderanis Mhallami, Nawar, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talishis, Tats, Turcomans, Yazidis, and Zazas.
More recent migrant or diaspora populations include Albanians, Bengalis, British people, Bosniaks, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Filipinos, French people, Indians, Indonesians, Italians, Malays, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romani, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, and Sub-Saharan Africans.
Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and Mesopotamia
Africans
Afro-Iraqis
Afro-Jordanians
Berbers
Copts
Ethiopian Jews in Israel
Sudanese in Israel
Arabic peoples
Alawites
Bahranis
Bedoon
Bedouins
Egyptian Arabs (excluding ethnic minorities like Ababda, Ahamidat Alhoarh, Albanian diaspora, Beja, Berber, Bisharin, Copts, Circassian diaspora, El homaydat, Hedareb, Houara, Huteimi, Kouloughlis, Magyarab, Nubian, and Romani)
Emiratis
Hadhrami
Iraqis Arabs (excluding ethnic minorities like Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds-Shabakis, Kawliya-Romani, Mandeans, North Caucasian diaspora, Turkomans, and Yazidis)
Jordanians (excluding ethnic minorities like Armenians, North Caucasian diaspora, and Kurds)
Lebanese (excluding ethnic minorities like Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds)
Marsh Arabs
Mehri
Omani
Palestinians
Qataris
Saudi Arabians
Syrian Arabs (excluding ethnic minorities like Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, North Caucasian diaspora, Nawar-Roma, Turkomans, and Yazidis)
Yemenis
Israelites
Jews
Samaritans
Syriac-speaking peoples
Arameans
Arameans in Israel
Arameans in Syria
Assyrians
Assyrians in Iran
Assyrians in Iraq
Assyrians in Israel
Assyrians in Syria
Assyrians in Turkey
Mandaeans
Mhallami
Indo-European speakers
Armenians
Armenians in the Middle East
Armenians in Egypt
Armenians in Iran
Armenians in Iraq
Armenians in Israel
Armenians in Lebanon
Armenians in Syria
Greeks:
Greeks in Egypt
Greeks in Israel
Greeks in Lebanon
Greeks in Syria
Persians:
The Ajam of Bahrain
The Ajam of Iraq
The Ajam of Kuwait
Hola of Bahrain
Iranians in Israel
Kurds and related peoples:
Feyli Kurds
Shabak
Yazidis
Latin peoples:
Levantines
Italian Egyptians
Italian Lebanese
Romanis:
Doms
Kawliya
Nawars
Romani people in Egypt
Romani people in Syria
Turkic peoples
Azerbaijanis
Iraqi Turkmen
Syrian Turkmen
Turks
Turks in Israel
Other Ethnic Groups
Druze
Indo-European peoples:
Armenians in Turkey
Franco-Levantines
Greeks in Turkey
Iranic peoples
Kurds
Zazas
Romanis:
Doms
Kawliya
Romani people in Turkey
Semitic speakers:
Arabs in Turkey
Assyrians in Turkey
Jews in Turkey
Turkic peoples
Azerbaijanis in Turkey
Crimean Tatars in Turkey
Turks
Various Muslim immigrants from neighbouring regions:
Muslims from the Caucasus (Peoples of the Caucasus in Turkey)
Muslims from the Balkans (mainly Albanians, Bosniaks and Pomaks)
Armenian Cypriots
Greek Cypriots
Maronite Cypriots
Turkish Cypriots
Indo-European peoples:
Armenians in Iran
Iranic peoples
Balochs
Persians
Kurds
Feylis
Kaka'is
Gilakis
Lurs
Mazandaranis
Talysh people
Tat people (Iran)
Turkic peoples:
Azerbaijanis
Iranian Azerbaijanis
Qashqai
Turkmens
Semitic peoples:
Arab peoples
Iranian Arabs
Assyrians
Jewish peoples
Persian Jews
Mandaeans
Various Muslim immigrants from the Caucasus (Peoples of the Caucasus in Iran)
Because of the low population of many of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf and the demand for labor created by the large discoveries of oil in these countries there has been a steady stream of immigration to the region (mainly from South Asia). Ethnic groups which comprise the largest portions of this immigration include Bengalis, Britons, Chinese, Filipinos, Hindus, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Punjabis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, and Sri Lankans. Many of these people are denied certain political and legal rights in the countries in which they live and frequently face mistreatment by the native-born citizens of the host countries.
