Ethnic groups in the Middle East are ethnolinguistic groupings in the "transcontinental" region that is commonly a geopolitical term designating the intercontinental region comprising West Asia (including Cyprus) without the South Caucasus, and also comprising Egypt in North Africa. The Middle East has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. 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 largest socioethnic groups in the region are Egyptians,[1] Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis[2] but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members.
Other indigenous, religious, or minority ethnic groups include: Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans in the Qalamoun Mountains,[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Baloch, Copts, Cypriots, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Kawliya, Kurds, Laz, Lurs, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nawar, Pontic Greeks, Rūm Christians, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talysh, Tats, Yazidis and Zazas.
Diaspora ethnic groups living in the region include: Albanians, Bengalis, Britons, Bosniaks, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Jews, Filipinos, French people, Georgians, Indians, Indonesians, Kawliya, Italians, Malays, Malayali, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romanians, Romani, Serbs, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, Turkmens, and sub-Saharan Africans.
See main article: Demographics of the Middle East.
| Countries | Demographics |
|---|---|
 Bahrain | Ethnic groups in Bahrain |
 Cyprus | Ethnic groups in Cyprus |
 Egypt | Ethnic groups in Egypt |
| Ethnic groups in Iran | |
 Iraq | Ethnic groups in Iraq |
 Israel | Ethnic groups in Israel |
 Jordan | Ethnic groups in Jordan |
 Kuwait | Ethnic groups in Kuwait |
 Lebanon | Ethnic groups in Lebanon |
 Oman | Ethnic groups in Oman |
| Ethnic groups in Palestine | |
 Qatar | Ethnic groups in Qatar |
 Saudi Arabia | Ethnic groups in Saudi Arabia |
| Ethnic groups in Syria | |
 Turkey | Ethnic groups in Turkey |
 United Arab Emirates | Ethnic groups in the United Arab Emirates |
 Yemen | Ethnic groups in Yemen |
See main article: Ethnicities 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 Afghans, Bengalis, Britons, Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Malays, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Punjabis, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, and Sub-Saharan Africans. 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.