Middle East Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Languages=== The six top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are [[Arabic dialects|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]], [[Hebrew languages|Hebrew]] and [[Modern Greek|Greek]]. Arabic and Hebrew represent the [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] [[language family]]. Persian, Kurdish and Greek belong to the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family. Turkish belongs to [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] language family. About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the Middle East. Arabic, with all its dialects, is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East, with [[Modern Standard Arabic|Literary Arabic]] being official in all North African and in most West Asian countries. Arabic dialects are also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. It is a member of the [[Semitic languages|Semitic branch]] of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Several [[Modern South Arabian languages]] such as [[Mehri language|Mehri]] and [[Soqotri language|Soqotri]] are also spoken in Yemen and Oman. Another Semitic language such as [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] and its dialects are spoken mainly by [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] and [[Mandaeans]]. There is also an [[Berber languages|Oasis Berber]]-speaking community in Egypt where the language is also known as [[Siwa language|Siwa]]. It is a non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic language. [[Persian language|Persian]] is the second most spoken language. While it is primarily spoken in [[Iran]] and some border areas in neighbouring countries, the country is one of the region's largest and most populous. It belongs to the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian branch]] of the family of [[Indo-European languages]]. Other Western Iranic languages spoken in the region include [[Achomi language|Achomi]], [[Daylami language|Daylami]], [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] dialects, [[Semnani language|Semmani]], [[Luri language|Lurish]], amongst many others. The third-most widely spoken language, [[Turkish language|Turkish]], is largely confined to Turkey, which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries, but it is present in areas in neighboring countries. It is a member of the [[Turkic languages]], which have their origins in East Asia. Another Turkic language, [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], is spoken by Azerbaijanis in Iran. [[Hebrew languages|Hebrew]] is one of the two official languages of [[Israel]], the other being Arabic. Hebrew is spoken and used by over 80% of Israel's population, the other 20% using Arabic. [[Modern Greek|Greek]] is one of the two official languages of [[Cyprus]], and the country's main language. Small communities of Greek speakers exist all around the Middle East; until the 20th century it was also widely spoken in Asia Minor (being the second most spoken language there, after Turkish) and Egypt. During the antiquity, [[Ancient Greek]] was the [[lingua franca]] for many areas of the western Middle East and until the Muslim expansion it was widely spoken there as well. Until the late 11th century, it was also the main spoken language in [[Asia Minor]]; after that it was gradually replaced by the Turkish language as the Anatolian Turks expanded and the local Greeks were assimilated, especially in the interior. [[File:1911 Ottoman Calendar.jpg|thumb|upright|1911 Ottoman calendar shown in several different languages such as: Ottoman Turkish (in Arabic script), Greek, Armenian, Hebrew, Bulgarian, and French.]] [[English language|English]] is one of the official languages of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Europe :: Akrotiri β The World Factbook β Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/akrotiri/ |publisher=CIA |date=25 October 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Europe :: Dhekelia β The World Factbook β Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/dhekelia/ |publisher=CIA |date=25 October 2021 }}</ref> It is also commonly taught and used as a second language, especially among the [[middle class|middle]] and [[upper class]]es, in countries such as [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Iran]], [[Kurdistan]], [[Iraq]], [[Qatar]], [[Bahrain]], [[United Arab Emirates]] and [[Kuwait]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jordan/ |title= World Factbook β Jordan |date= 20 October 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kuwait/|title=Kuwait|date=19 October 2021|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref> It is also a main language in some Emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is also spoken as native language by Jewish immigrants from Anglophone countries (UK, US, Australia) in Israel and understood widely as second language there. [[French language|French]] is taught and used in many government facilities and media in [[Lebanon]], and is taught in some primary and secondary schools of [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]]. [[Maltese language|Maltese]], a Semitic language mainly spoken in Europe, is used by the [[Maltese in Egypt|Franco-Maltese diaspora]] in Egypt. Due to widespread immigration of [[French Jews]] to [[French Jews in Israel|Israel]], it is the native language of approximately 200,000 Jews in Israel. [[Armenian language|Armenian]] speakers are to be found in the region. [[Georgian language|Georgian]] is spoken by the Georgian diaspora. [[Russian language|Russian]] is spoken by a large portion of the Israeli population, because of [[Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s|emigration in the late 1990s]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dowty|first=Alan|title=Critical issues in Israeli society|year=2004|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=9780275973209|page=95}}</ref> Russian today is a popular unofficial language in use in [[Israel]]; news, radio and sign boards can be found in Russian around the country after Hebrew and Arabic. [[Northwest Caucasian languages|Circassian]] is also spoken by the diaspora in the region and by almost all Circassians in Israel who speak Hebrew and English as well. The largest [[Romanian language|Romanian]]-speaking community in the Middle East is found in [[Israel]], where {{as of|1995|lc=on}} Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population.<ref group="note">According to the 1993 ''Statistical Abstract of Israel'' there were 250,000 Romanian speakers in Israel, at a population of 5,548,523 (census 1995).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 |title=Reports of about 300,000 Jews that left the country after WW2 |website=Eurojewcong.org |access-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100813205116/http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 |archive-date=13 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=185041 |title=Evenimentul Zilei |website=Evz.ro |access-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224113558/http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=185041 |archive-date=24 December 2007 }}</ref> [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] are widely spoken by migrant communities in many Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia (where 20β25% of the population is South Asian), the United Arab Emirates (where 50β55% of the population is South Asian), and Qatar, which have large numbers of [[Pakistan]]i, [[Bangladesh]]i and [[India]]n immigrants. 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