Linguistic Diversity and Plurality in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract

The Middle East and North Africa covers an immense geographic region and includes within its boundaries a great deal of social, cultural, political, and linguistic diversity. Although a number of majority languages are spoken throughout the region, with Arabic being the largest, the region as a whole shows substantial language diversity, with the region’s languages cutting across a number of different language groups and families. The broader geopolitics of the region have also played a meaningful role in shaping the trajectory of these languages and their future vitality. This entry provides a broad overview of a selection of the many languages spoken in the Middle East and North Africa while noting how many of these languages fit into the region’s broader social and political life.