Demographics of the Middle East

Populations of the Middle East

The Demographics of the Middle East describes populations of the Middle East, a region covering western and northern parts of the Asian and African continents respectively.

## Overview

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Population growth[1]

There are 371,000,000 Muslims in Middle East there are between 11 and 10 Million Christians across the Middle East, there are 800,000 - 1,100,000 Druze who live in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. There are large communities of Hindus in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia who number over 3.1 Million and an estimated 902,890 Buddhists and 700,000 Yazidi and numerous other religions. Non Muslims are about 43 Million or 23% of the Middle East population, Muslims form the majority and the rest.

#  |  | 1990  | 2008  | 2010  | 1990-2008  | 2016  | Growth %
| Million  | 1990-08  | 1990-10
1 | Bahrain | 0.49 | 0.77 | 1.26 | 0.3 | 56% | 157%
2 | Cyprus | 0.58 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 0.2 | 38% | 38%
3 | Egypt | 57.79 | 81.53 | 81.12 | 23.7 | 41% | 40%
6 | Iran | 54.40 | 71.96 | 73.97 | 17.6 | 32% | 36%
5 | Iraq | 18.14 | 28.22 | 32.32 | 10.1 | 56% | 78%
6 | Israel | 4.68 | 7.31 | 7.62 | 2.6 | 56% | 63%
7 | Jordan | 3.17 | 5.91 | 6.05 | 2.7 | 86% | 91%
8 | Kuwait | 2.13 | 2.73 | 2.74 | 0.6 | 28% | 29%
9 | Lebanon | 2.97 | 4.14 | 4.23 | 1.2 | 39% | 42%
10 | Oman | 1.84 | 2.79 | 2.78 | 0.9 | 51% | 51%
11 | Palestine | 1.90 | 3.91 | 4.12 | 2.0 | 106% | 117%
12 | Qatar | 0.47 | 1.28 | 1.76 | 0.8 | 174% | 274%
13 | Saudi Arabia | 16.38 | 24.65 | 27.45 | 8.3 | 50% | 68%
14 | Syria | 12.72 | 21.23 | 20.45 | 8.5 | 67% | 61%
15 | Turkey | 55.12 | 71.08 | 72.85 | 16.0 | 29% | 32%
16 | UAE | 1.87 | 4.37 | 7.51 | 2.5 | 134% | 302%
17 | Yemen | 12.31 | 23.05 | 24.05 | 10.7 | 87% | 95%
x | Total | 246.96 | 355.73 | 371.08 | 66.9 | 51 % | 61%
x | World | 5,265.2 | 6,687.9 | 6,825 | 1,422.7 | 27 % | 30%
Source: OECD/World Bank

Encyclopedia Britannica definition of Middle East

Encyclopedia Britannica stated in 2018 that "by the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates])."[2]

## Life expectancy

[edit]

Main article: List of Asian countries by life expectancy

List of countries by life expectancy at birth for 2023 according to the World Bank Group:[3][4][5]

World Bank Group (2023) Countries and
territories  | 2023  | Historical data  | recovery from
COVID-19:
2019→2023

|
|
|

All  | Male  | Female  | Sex gap | 2014  | 2014
→2019 | 2019  | 2019
→2020  | 2020  | 2020
→2021  | 2021  | 2021
→2022  | 2022  | 2022
→2023  | 2023
Israel | 83.20 | 81.00 | 85.50 | 4.50 | 82.15 | 0.65 | 82.80 | −0.16 | 82.65 | −0.15 | 82.50 | 0.20 | 82.70 | 0.50 | 83.20 | 0.39
Kuwait | 83.19 | 82.70 | 83.70 | 1.00 | 79.08 | 2.89 | 81.97 | −3.21 | 78.76 | −0.02 | 78.74 | 1.85 | 80.59 | 2.60 | 83.19 | 1.22
United Arab Emirates | 82.91 | 81.98 | 84.20 | 2.23 | 81.99 | 0.61 | 82.60 | −0.66 | 81.94 | −2.85 | 79.08 | 1.40 | 80.49 | 2.42 | 82.91 | 0.31
Qatar | 82.37 | 81.61 | 83.37 | 1.76 | 81.39 | 1.55 | 82.94 | −2.54 | 80.41 | 0.67 | 81.08 | 0.77 | 81.86 | 0.51 | 82.37 | −0.58
Cyprus | 81.65 | 79.64 | 83.67 | 4.03 | 81.34 | 0.12 | 81.45 | −0.22 | 81.23 | −0.66 | 80.57 | −0.14 | 80.43 | 1.21 | 81.65 | 0.19
Bahrain | 81.28 | 80.67 | 81.99 | 1.31 | 80.21 | 0.26 | 80.47 | −1.79 | 78.68 | −0.60 | 78.08 | 2.91 | 80.99 | 0.29 | 81.28 | 0.81
Oman | 80.03 | 78.49 | 81.88 | 3.39 | 79.03 | 0.92 | 79.95 | −2.18 | 77.76 | −1.79 | 75.97 | 1.94 | 77.91 | 2.12 | 80.03 | 0.09
Saudi Arabia | 78.73 | 77.10 | 81.16 | 4.06 | 77.12 | 1.20 | 78.31 | −0.72 | 77.60 | −0.51 | 77.09 | 0.22 | 77.31 | 1.42 | 78.73 | 0.42
Lebanon | 77.82 | 75.74 | 79.73 | 3.99 | 78.15 | 0.06 | 78.21 | −1.91 | 76.30 | −2.65 | 73.65 | 4.35 | 78.00 | −0.19 | 77.82 | −0.39
Jordan | 77.81 | 75.71 | 80.19 | 4.48 | 74.61 | 2.26 | 76.86 | −1.28 | 75.58 | −1.38 | 74.20 | 2.88 | 77.09 | 0.73 | 77.81 | 0.95
Iran | 77.65 | 75.79 | 79.63 | 3.84 | 75.64 | 1.22 | 76.86 | −2.71 | 74.14 | −0.39 | 73.75 | 3.05 | 76.80 | 0.85 | 77.65 | 0.80
Turkey | 77.16 | 74.53 | 79.86 | 5.33 | 76.45 | 1.28 | 77.74 | −1.21 | 76.53 | −0.80 | 75.72 | 1.87 | 77.59 | −0.43 | 77.16 | −0.58
World | 73.33 | 70.95 | 75.84 | 4.89 | 71.78 | 1.09 | 72.87 | −0.68 | 72.18 | −0.97 | 71.22 | 1.75 | 72.97 | 0.36 | 73.33 | 0.46
Iraq | 72.32 | 70.43 | 74.06 | 3.63 | 69.68 | 1.57 | 71.25 | −1.59 | 69.65 | 1.05 | 70.70 | 1.33 | 72.04 | 0.29 | 72.32 | 1.08
Syria | 72.12 | 69.83 | 74.41 | 4.58 | 65.49 | 5.48 | 70.97 | 0.97 | 71.94 | 0.47 | 72.42 | 0.37 | 72.79 | −0.67 | 72.12 | 1.15
Egypt | 71.63 | 69.49 | 73.81 | 4.32 | 69.91 | 1.30 | 71.21 | −1.42 | 69.79 | −0.81 | 68.98 | 2.03 | 71.01 | 0.62 | 71.63 | 0.42
Yemen | 69.30 | 67.23 | 71.39 | 4.15 | 68.00 | −1.44 | 66.57 | −0.13 | 66.44 | −0.42 | 66.02 | 1.93 | 67.95 | 1.34 | 69.30 | 2.73
Palestine | 65.17 | 59.69 | 71.50 | 11.81 | 72.78 | 3.03 | 75.81 | −0.81 | 75.00 | −1.11 | 73.89 | 2.77 | 76.66 | −11.49 | 65.17 | −10.64

Change in life expectancy in the Middle East from 2019 to 2021[3]

## Historical

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In the year 1600, the population of the Middle East stood at about 18.5 million. Within modern borders:[6]

* Anatolia \- c. 6,500,000[7]
* Iran - 4,472,000
* Yemen - 2,243,000
* Saudi Arabia - 1,809,000
* Syria - 1,175,000
* Iraq - 1,000,000
* Lebanon - 292,000
* Oman - 275,000
* Jordan - 191,000
* Palestine- 161,000
* Cyprus - 98,000
* Kuwait - 71,000
* Bahrain - 54,000
* United Arab Emirates - 35,000

In addition, the population of North Africa was 12 million, with the following breakdown within borders:

* Egypt - 5,000,000
* Algeria - 2,250,000
* Morocco - 2,250,000
* Tunisia - 2,000,000
* Libya - 500,000

## See also

[edit]

* Demographics of the Arab League
* Demographics of the Middle East and North Africa
* Ethnic groups in the Middle East
* Genetic history of the Middle East
* Largest metropolitan areas of the Middle East
* List of Middle Eastern countries by population

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Population 1971-2010 (pdf Archived 2012-01-06 at the Wayback Machine pages 89) IEA (OECD/ World Bank) (original population ref OECD/ World Bank e.g. in IEA Key World Energy Statistics 2010 page 57)
2. ^ "Middle East | Countries & Facts," Britannica.com.
3. ^ a b "Life expectancy at birth, total". The World Bank Group. 15 April 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
4. ^ "Life expectancy at birth, male". The World Bank Group. 15 April 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
5. ^ "Life expectancy at birth, female". The World Bank Group. 15 April 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
6. ^ Alexander V. Avakov, Two Thousand Years of Economic Statistics, Volume 1, pages 12 to 14.
7. ^ The figure is 7,275,000 counting all of modern Turkey, which includes East Thrace and the city of Istanbul/Constantinople, both of which were very densely populated.

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