Demographics of the Middle East explained

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

Population growth[1] There are 371,000,000 Muslims in middle eastthere 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		0.49	0.77	1.26	0.3	56%	157%
2		0.58	0.80	0.80	0.2	38%	38%
3		57.79	81.53	81.12	23.7	41%	40%
6		54.40	71.96	73.97	17.6	32%	36%
5		18.14	28.22	32.32	10.1	56%	78%
6		4.68	7.31	7.62	2.6	56%	63%
7		3.17	5.91	6.05	2.7	86%	91%
8		2.13	2.73	2.74	0.6	28%	29%
9		2.97	4.14	4.23	1.2	39%	42%
10		1.84	2.79	2.78	0.9	51%	51%
11		1.90	3.91	4.12	2.0	106%	117%
12		0.47	1.28	1.76	0.8	174%	274%
13		16.38	24.65	27.45	8.3	50%	68%
14		12.72	21.23	20.45	8.5	67%	61%
15		55.12	71.08	72.85	16.0	29%	32%
16		1.87	4.37	7.51	2.5	134%	302%
17		12.31	23.05	24.05	10.7	87%	95%
x	Total	246.96	355.73	371.08	66.9	51 %	61%
x		5,265.2	6,687.9	6,825	1,422.7	27 %	30%
Source: OECD/World Bank

Encyclopedia Britannica definition of Middle EastEncyclopedia 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

See main article: List of Asian countries by life expectancy. List of countries by life expectancy at birth for 2022 according to the World Bank Group:^{[3] [4] [5]}

Countries &<br>territories	2022				Historical data	COVID-19 2019→2022
All	Male	Female		2014		2019	2019 →2020	2020	2020 →2021	2021	2021 →2022	2022
	82.70	80.70	84.80	4.10	82.15	0.65	82.80	−0.16	82.65	−0.15	82.50	0.20	82.70	−0.10
	81.89	80.07	83.67	3.61	80.77	0.63	81.40	−0.01	81.39	−0.19	81.20	0.69	81.89	0.49
	81.56	80.63	83.10	2.47	79.77	1.22	80.99	−1.89	79.10	0.17	79.27	2.29	81.56	0.57
	80.26	78.88	82.75	3.87	79.44	0.24	79.69	−2.77	76.92	1.75	78.67	1.59	80.26	0.58
	79.25	78.24	80.50	2.25	79.33	0.69	80.02	−0.84	79.17	−0.41	78.76	0.49	79.25	−0.77
	79.20	77.72	81.41	3.69	79.04	0.68	79.73	−0.78	78.95	−0.24	78.71	0.49	79.20	−0.53
	78.47	75.38	81.50	6.12	76.56	1.27	77.83	−1.98	75.85	0.18	76.03	2.44	78.47	0.64
	77.91	76.67	79.53	2.86	76.76	0.55	77.30	−1.06	76.24	0.70	76.94	0.97	77.91	0.60
	74.56	71.93	77.45	5.52	74.78	1.32	76.10	−1.27	74.83	−0.96	73.88	0.68	74.56	−1.55
	74.42	72.24	76.60	4.36	78.97	0.26	79.24	−1.43	77.80	−2.76	75.05	−0.63	74.42	−4.82
	74.22	72.12	76.67	4.55	74.79	1.25	76.04	−0.86	75.18	−0.93	74.26	−0.04	74.22	−1.83
	73.94	72.36	76.05	3.69	77.45	0.56	78.00	−3.24	74.76	−2.22	72.54	1.39	73.94	−4.07
	73.44	71.02	75.95	4.92	72.62	2.62	75.24	−0.84	74.40	−0.93	73.47	−0.03	73.44	−1.80
	72.30	68.67	76.12	7.45	63.15	8.67	71.82	0.32	72.14	−0.08	72.06	0.24	72.30	0.48
World	72.00	69.60	74.53	4.93	71.88	1.10	72.98	−0.74	72.24	−0.92	71.33	0.67	72.00	−0.98
	71.34	69.16	73.36	4.20	68.91	2.66	71.58	−2.45	69.12	1.25	70.38	0.96	71.34	−0.24
	70.16	67.87	72.56	4.69	70.42	0.94	71.36	−0.37	70.99	−0.77	70.22	−0.06	70.16	−1.20
	63.72	60.49	67.22	6.73	67.38	−2.29	65.09	−0.44	64.65	−0.90	63.75	−0.03	63.72	−1.37

Historical

In the year 1600, the population of the Middle East stood at about 18.5 million. Within modern borders:Alexander V. Avakov, Two Thousand Years of Economic Statistics, Volume 1, pages 12 to 14.

• Anatolia - c. 6,500,000^[6]
• 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
• Israel/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

• 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

Notes and References

1. Population 1971-2010 (pdf pages 89) IEA (OECD/ World Bank) (original population ref OECD/ World Bank e.g. in IEA Key World Energy Statistics 2010 page 57)
2. https://www.britannica.com/place/Middle-East "Middle East | Countries & Facts,"
3. Web site: Life expectancy at birth, total. The World Bank Group. 30 May 2024. 16 June 2024.
4. Web site: Life expectancy at birth, male. The World Bank Group. 30 May 2024. 16 June 2024.
5. Web site: Life expectancy at birth, female. The World Bank Group. 30 May 2024. 16 June 2024.
6. 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.