| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 France | 4,000,000–7,000,000[1] |
 Spain | 1,600,000–1,800,000[2] |
 Germany | 1,401,950[3] |
 Netherlands | 682,873[4] |
 Italy | 680,000[5] |
 United Kingdom | 500,000[6] |
| Languages | |
| European languages,Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Islam Christianity Druze | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arabs (Arab diaspora) | |
Arabs in Europe are people fromArabic-speaking countries living inEurope. Millions ofArabs are residents inEurope. The vast majority form part of what is sometimes called the "Arab diaspora".
In 2010 the estimate of the Arab population in Europe was at minimum 6 million (the total number of the Arab population in Europe described beneath is 6,370,000 people), mostly concentrated inFrance,Italy,Spain,Germany, theNetherlands, theUnited Kingdom,Belgium,Sweden,Denmark,Norway,Finland andGreece. The majority of migrants come fromMorocco (2.2 million),Algeria (1.4 million),Tunisia (950,000),Lebanon (700,000),Palestine (700,000),Syria (350,000),Iraq (250,000),Egypt (220,000),Jordan (150,000),Yemen (150,000),Libya (100,000) andSudan (100,000).[7][failed verification]
Most Arabs in Europe are followers ofIslam but there is also a sizableArab Christian community living inEurope. For example, most of theLebanese immigrants in Europe are Christians.
Arab presence in Europe predatesIslam, and became predominant during the eras of theRoman andByzantine Empire. The Romans conquered theNabatean Kingdom in theSouthern Levant, and named the provinceArabia Petraea, and led a failed invasion of Yemen and South Arabia and what they calledArabia Felix or "Happy Arabia". Although at the time, Syria was a non-Arab nation for the most part, it had already been home to a large Arab minority. These were assimilated Arabs, and they established a well-known presence, especially in theSeveran Dynasty. In the late 180s, the Roman emperorSeptimius Severus married a prominent SyrianArab by the name ofJulia Domna. Domna had a descendant,Elagabalus who eventually became Roman Emperor as well. In 244 A.D., another Syrian Arab by the name ofMarcus Julius Philippus or Philip ascended to the Roman throne upon EmperorGordian III's death. He was given the famous nicknamePhilip the Arab (Latin:Philippus Arabus) and came from an equestrian family. His fatherJulius Marinus was known to have been an Arab tribal leader and a prominent Roman citizen who played a part in Philip's ascension to the throne. The Arabs were more culturally independentunder Byzantine rule. OriginallyAzdi pagan migrants, they had adopted Christianity, and boreArabic names notLatin orGreek.
The famous ArabianPalmyrene queenZenobia led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. TheAugustan History recorded that after suffering an eventual defeat against the Romans, EmpeorAurelian gave Zenobia a villa inTibur nearHadrian's Villa, where she lived with her children.[8][9]Zonaras wrote that Zenobia married a nobleman,[10] andSyncellus wrote that she married a Roman senator.[8]
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Arabs in Europe have a history beginning with theUmayyad Caliphate, which conquered theIberian Peninsula, including what is nowSpain andPortugal, in 711 AD. Other Arabs occupied the Italian island ofSicily from 831 to 1072. Arabs were later expelled from those domains after theReconquista and the Catholic Church'sInquisition of non-believers. There were also brief periods of independent Arab-Islamic colonization and occupation, in modern-dayFrance,Switzerland, andItaly, usingFraxinet in theGulf of St. Tropez as a base for raids and colonisation.[11]
The Iberian Peninsula was mapped as "Al-Andalus" by the new Muslim invaders. The Arabs were an aristocratic elite who ruled over, a Muslim population (a mix of Berbers, Arabs and Iberian convert the made the vast majority of the population) in Al-Andalus and North Africa. All Muslims in Muslim Spain, regardless of ethnicity, were referred to as "Moors". Spain enjoyed a golden era of Islamic culture, accompanied by a golden age of Sephardic Jewish culture. This era spawned great polymaths and intellectuals such asAverroes andAlbucasis. The Islamic rule in Spain also saw the birth of theAljamiado alphabet, an Arabic alphabet for theSpanish language. In the 15th century, the Muslims were defeated by the Christian armies in a historical process calledReconquista (meaning reconquest in Spanish and Portuguese), which led the Christian monarchs to regain control over the Iberian peninsula. Much of the architecture that was concocted from this era remains intact in Spain and functions as famous tourist destinations since the Catholic monarchs decided to use them rather than destroy them.
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After the Moors lost control of Spain,King Philip II made treaties with them allowing them to practice their religion if they gave up their sovereignty, signing the Treaty of Granada in 1491. The Catholic monarchs however, abrogated the treaties and threatened to expel the Moors if they did not become Christians. The Moors did so, but continued speaking Arabic, and using Aljamiado alphabet for spoken Spanish. Some followed Islam in secret (Crypto-Islam). They were later referred to asMoriscos, Moors and their descendants who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled. Religious conversion was simply not enough for the Catholic monarchs. Phillip II implemented a policy to fully assimilate the Moriscos into the Christian Spanish population and eliminate Moorish and Arab culture from Spain. The Moriscos were forced to abandon their Arabic names and adopt a completely Hispanized heritage and give up their children to be educated by priests. Philip II also made speaking Arabic illegal in the kingdom, ordered all Arabic texts to be burned, and banned Moorish attire. After a failed revolt by Morisco leaderAben Humeya (or Ibn Umayyah) in 1568, the Christian monarchs expelled the Moriscos from Spain. Many of these Moriscos headed for North Africa, mainly in Morocco, where many of their descendants settled.
The post-World War II migration of Arabs to Europe began as many Arabs from formerFrench colonies likeAlgeria,Morocco,Tunisia,Lebanon andSyria migrated permanently toFrance. Another source of migration began withguest workers, particularly fromMorocco, who arrived under the terms of aLabour Export Agreement between several European countries includingGermany,Spain, theNetherlands,Belgium,Austria andFrance. Other events in theArab world sent new immigration waives to Europe like thePalestinian exodus, theLebanese Civil War, the first and secondIraq War,Libyan Civil War andSyrian civil war. Many other Arabs emigrated to Europe because of political issues in their native countries. Arabs who studied in European universities and decided to stay are another source of migration.
After the 2011 events of theArab Spring inTunisia andLibya, around 20,000 Tunisian and also Libyan immigrants have left their countries forFrance andGermany, migrating through Italy.Nicolas Sarkozy andAngela Merkel recommended suspending theSchengen Agreement and imposing border control in order to keep immigrants from migrating to their countries, but no actions have yet been taken on the issue.Italy andGreece kept receiving migration waves fromEgypt andSyria since the violence in these two Arab countries escalated in 2013.[12] In 2015 the European continent witnessed its biggest Arab immigration as part of theEuropean migrant crisis when thousands of Arab families escaped fromSyria andIraq.[13]
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