DUMB Question: Middle East Ethnic Groups

I believe Persians speak Farsi and Iraqis speak Arabic. But while they are race differences, what is grouped as one "race" can be very mixed anyways. So it probably comes down to cultural differences.

 

you might say that arabs and kurds are sunni and the persians/iranians are shia correct? or are they all mixed too?

 

They are mixed. The Shi'ite iraqis aren't ethnically persian (nor are the shi'ite lebanese or shi'ite pakistanis)

 

Iraq is Arab and Kurd
Iran is Persian and Azeri
Israel is Jewish and Arab (though Israel breaks the Arabs in Druze and Arab)

The differences are very ancient. Arabs have Islam, the Jews consider themselves the chosen people, and the Persians have had the superpower mentality ever since they were a superpower.

Israel is a theocractic republic who is a very militant state. It's roots are from conflict with the Arabs of the region. The land was owned by foriegners and then sold to foriegners. This caused the Palestinian Arabs to rise up.

Arab is term to designate the tribes from the Arabian peninsula that have assimulated with the local populations across the region.

An Iraqi is a nationalist term created by the British. It was supposed to encompass the Babylonian empire and even Saddam Hussein used this fact to keep the nation together. The Iraqi speak a dialect of Arabic and use Arabesque as their alphabet.

A Kurd is a term used to designate an individual from the migrating tribes of the region. The Kurds were able to migrate freely to find food sources during the reign of the Ottoman empire. Once the Caliphate was dissolved, the Kurds were cemented into the regions of east Turkey, western Iran and northern Iraq. The people are very diverse and Kurds in Turkey speak a different language than the Kurds of Iran, but both Kurds speak a dialect of Kurdi.

Does that help any RR?

 

They're not.

Persians came from Indo-Aryan tribes in Central Asia into Persia around 2000 BC; "Arabs" even though that term is very generic, probably came from Mesopotamia/the Fertile Crescent which was settled by 4000 BC.

 

The overwhelming majority of Kurds are Muslims. They are deeply rooted within the history of Islam and the region. Saladdin was a Kurd.

And some Persians would go to great lengths -- if asked or provoked -- to let you know that they are NOT Semitic people, but Aryans.

 

I think it is the Armenians that are Christian.

 

I just recently met a couple that were Chaldean. They are Catholics in Northern Iraq that speak a modern form of Aramaic.

 

There are ancient Christian 'tribes' still living in that region...millions of them, in fact.

 

all these groups live in los angeles.

 

...as well as Houston.

 

Wikiality?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldean_Catholic_Church

There has been a large emigration to the United States particularly to the state of Michigan. The church's most famous member was Saddam Hussein's most senior foreign minister, Tariq Aziz.