Afro-Asiatic · ISO 639-3 ara · ar
Arabic Language العربية
Arabic is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by about 346 million people in 39 countries. It is an official language of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Syria and 18 more. It is written in the Perso-Arabic script.
Where Arabic is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Arabic
Language family
- Afro-Asiatic
- Semitic
- West Semitic
- Arabic
Writing system
Perso-Arabic script
Related languages
All 39 countries
| Country | Speakers | Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
 Egypt | 104,572,180 | 94% | Official |
 Saudi Arabia | 36,544,400 | 100% | Official |
 Algeria | 34,796,650 | 74% | Official |
 Sudan | 30,785,053 | 61% | Official |
 Iraq | 28,616,712 | 68% | Official |
 Yemen | 23,783,896 | 74% | Official |
 Morocco | 23,180,312 | 62% | Official |
 Syria | 19,092,320 | 80% | Official |
 Jordan | 11,174,000 | 100% | Official |
 Tunisia | 10,843,920 | 90% | Official |
 United Arab Emirates | 7,825,116 | 78% | Official |
 Libya | 5,447,332 | 74% | Official |
 Palestine | 5,385,010 | 100% | Official |
 Lebanon | 4,613,452 | 86% | Official |
 Somalia | 4,425,882 | 34% | Official |
 Mauritania | 3,678,834 | 85% | Official |
 South Sudan | 3,429,999 | 27% | — |
 Chad | 3,245,912 | 17% | Official |
 Oman | 3,160,611 | 81% | Official |
 Kuwait | 3,138,360 | 100% | Official |
 Qatar | 2,271,360 | 89% | Official |
 Israel | 1,880,524 | 20% | Official |
 Iran | 1,767,738 | 2% | — |
 Bahrain | 1,363,194 | 87% | Official |
 Canada | 892,280 | 2.3% | — |
 Western Sahara | 652,271 | 100% | Official |
 Comoros | 594,093 | 66% | Official |
 Türkiye | 471,069 | 0.56% | — |
 Australia | 384,872 | 1.4% | — |
 Eritrea | 310,854 | 4.9% | Official |
 United Kingdom | 205,377 | 0.3% | — |
 Mali | 197,915 | 0.9% | — |
 Nigeria | 168,090 | 0.07% | — |
 Cameroon | 120,767 | 0.39% | — |
 Djibouti | 72,633 | 7.3% | Official |
 Niger | 55,319 | 0.21% | — |
 Kenya | 26,793 | 0.05% | — |
 Cyprus | 1,294 | 0.1% | — |
 Tajikistan | 997 | 0.01% | — |
About the Arabic language
Arabic (العربية) is spoken by about 346 million people. It belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family and, more precisely, to the West Semitic group within the West Semitic branch.
Where is Arabic spoken?
Arabic is used in 39 countries. The largest communities live in Egypt (105 million), Saudi Arabia (37 million), Algeria (35 million), Sudan (31 million) and Iraq (29 million). More than half of the population speaks it in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia and 11 more — the places where travellers will hear it everywhere.
Share of the population that speaks Arabic: Egypt 94% (105 million), Saudi Arabia 100% (37 million), Algeria 74% (35 million), Sudan 61% (31 million), Iraq 68% (29 million) and Yemen 74% (24 million).
Arabic is an official language in 26 countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Palestine, Lebanon, Somalia and 11 more.
Writing system and status
Arabic is written in the Perso-Arabic script.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Standard Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Amharic and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 ar, ISO 639-3 ara.
Frequently asked questions about Arabic
How many people speak Arabic?
Where is Arabic spoken?
In which countries is Arabic an official language?
What language family does Arabic belong to?
What is Arabic called in Arabic?
Is Arabic an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.