| Population |
No estimate available. |
| Region |
Middle east, north Africa, other Muslim countries. Also spoken in 24 other countries including Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros Islands, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian West Bank and Gaza, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria. |
| Alternate names |
HIGH ARABIC, AL FUS-HA, AL ARABIYA |
| Dialects |
MODERN STANDARD ARABIC (MODERN LITERARY ARABIC), CLASSICAL ARABIC (KORANIC ARABIC, QURANIC ARABIC). |
| Classification |
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic. |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, written materials, and formal speeches. Classical Arabic is used for religion and ceremonial purposes, having archaic vocabulary. Modern Standard Arabic is a modernized variety of Classical Arabic. In most Arab countries only the well educated have adequate proficiency in Standard Arabic, while over 100,500,000 do not. National language. VSO. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. Bible 1984-1991. |
| Algeria |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Preserves the ancient grammar. Used for written materials, formal speeches. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. National language. Arabic script. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Bahrain |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Alternate names |
MODERN LITERARY ARABIC, FASIH, HIGH ARABIC |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Chad |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Official language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Comoros Islands |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Not a mother tongue. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Egypt |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Preserves ancient grammar. Used for nearly all written materials and formal speeches. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Eritrea |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used in some schools. Official language. Newspapers, radio programs. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Iraq |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Israel |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education and communication among Arabic speaking countries. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Jordan |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, communication among Arabic speaking countries. Education officials promoting this variety among students. Regional varieties have been used in classrooms, but this is changing. National language. Newspapers, TV. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Kuwait |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Lebanon |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, communication among Arabic speaking countries. National language. Dictionary. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Libya |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Preserves ancient grammar. Used for nearly all written materials, formal speeches. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Morocco |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, communication among Arabic speaking countries. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Oman |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, formal speeches. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Palestinian West Bank and Gaza |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purpose, formal speeches. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Qatar |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, formal speeches. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Somalia |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Most Somalis have very limited or no ability in Arabic. Not used as a medium of communication by the government. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Sudan |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Preserves ancient grammar. Not intelligible with Sudanese Spoken Arabic or Sudanese Creole Arabic. Used for nearly all written materials and formal speeches. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. Very little known and even less used in the south. Serious educational and sociolinguistic problems in the north also. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Syria |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, formal speeches. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Tanzania |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Tunisia |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Preserves ancient grammar. Used for written materials and formal speeches. Not a mother tongue, but taught in schools. National language. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| United Arab Emirates |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, formal speeches. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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| Yemen |
| Language name |
ARABIC, STANDARD |
| Comments |
Used for education, official purposes, formal speeches. National language. Newspapers. Bible 1984-1991. See main entry under Saudi Arabia. |
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