Arabs

Population7,900
Language groupSemitic languages
LanguageArabic
RegionMiddle Asian Repuplics
ReligionIslam/Sunnite

*Population estimates for 1994

The Arabs of the former USSR live in Central Asia. They live in small clusters mainly in Buchara and Samarkand (regions of Uzbekistan among the Uzbeks), Tajiks, and Turkmen, gradually merging with them.

The Central Asian Arabs speak the dialect of Arabic and the languages of those territories in which they live. Linguistic and anthropological data give all the reasons to suggest that the Central Asian Arabs are the descendants of the Mesopotamian and Central Arabian migrants who moved to North Afghanistan during different times; then to the right bank of the Amudaria River in Uzbekistan.

Culturally and according to their manners, the Central Asian Arabs are close to the neighboring peoples, although they have preserved certain features of ancient culture.

Central Asian Arabs are of the Islam-Sunnite faith.

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