Arab Christians facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Arab Christians
العرب المسيحيون

Christian Arab women in Bethlehem c. 1900
Regions with significant populations
Syria	520,000–703,000 (excluding 25,000–52,000 Maronites)
Lebanon	350,000 (excluding 1 million Maronites)
Jordan	221,000 (also 1,000 Maronites)
Israel	134,130 (including 1,000 Copts and excluding 7,000 Maronites)
Palestine	38,000 (excluding East Jerusalem)–50,000
Iraq	10,000
Egypt	10,000–350,000 (not including 9-15 million Copts and 5,000 Maronites)
Turkey	18,000
Morocco	8,000–40,000.
Languages
Arabic, Hebrew (within Israel), French (within Lebanon and diaspora), English, Spanish and Portuguese (diaspora)
Religion
Christianity: Catholic (Eastern, Latin) Greek Orthodox (Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria) Protestantism
[a]. excluding Copts [b]. excluding Assyrians [c]. excluding Maronites [d]. prior to Syrian civil war

Arab Christians are people who speak Arabic or come from Arabic-speaking families, and they follow the religion of Christianity.

Most Arab Christians live in the Middle East, where Islam is the main religion. A large number of Arab Christians are found in Egypt. Many Arabs have moved away from the Middle East in recent times. In places like the Americas, a big number of these Arabs are Christians. For example, in Brazil, there are over 12 million people of Arab background, and most of them are Christian.

History of Arab Christians

Arab Christians faced challenges after the Muslim conquests of Christian lands. Sometimes, people who did not convert to Islam had to pay a special tax called 'jizya'. At different times in history, Arab Christians faced unfair treatment. Despite these difficulties, many Christians chose to keep their faith. Muslims sometimes refer to Christians and Jews as "People of the Book."

In the early 21st century, difficulties for Christians in some areas increased. In many countries, they are expected to follow Islamic laws. In some places, like Egypt, getting permission to build or fix a church can be hard. This kind of rule is not usually there for building mosques. Countries in the Arabian Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, generally do not allow churches or public Christian worship. However, this is slowly changing in some areas like the UAE. Coptic Christians in Egypt still face challenges in getting certain jobs or reaching top positions in universities, companies, and government offices.

Arab Christians were present even before Arab Muslims. This is because many Arab tribes became Christians as early as the first century. Two important groups were the Nabateans and the Ghassanids. They helped protect the southern parts of the Byzantine Empire in northern Arabia.

Arab Christians have made important contributions to the Arab world, and they still do. Some of the best poets at different times were Arab Christians. Many Arab Christians were also doctors, writers, government workers, and people who knew a lot about literature and learning.

Images for kids

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  One of the first Christian kings in history, Abgar V of Osroene, belonged to the Nabataean Arab Abgarid dynasty

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  Saint Abo of Tiflis (756–786 AD), martyred for his faith in Georgia

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  Jordanian author and historian Suleiman Mousa with King Hussein

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  Majida El Roumi is a Lebanese soprano singer

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  Starving man and children in Mount Lebanon during the Great Famine, 1915–18

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  A 1920 photograph of four prominent members of The Pen League (from left to right): Nasib Arida, Kahlil Gibran, Abd al-Masih Haddad, and Mikhail Naimy

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  Map of the Diocese of the East 400 AD, homeland of the Christian Rūm; showing modern day Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Israel, Palestine and Jordan

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  Maunsell's map, a Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of the Middle East showing "Nestorians" (6), "Chaldeans" (7) and "Jacobites" (8).

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  Copts praying in Tahrir

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  A small percentage of Jordanian Christians are ethnically Bedouin. This picture shows Arab Christian tribalists from the city of Madaba

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  Left to right: Christian mountain dweller from Zahlé, Christian mountain dweller of Zgharta, and a Druze (1873)

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  Married Eastern Orthodox priest from Jerusalem with his family (three generations), circa 1893

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  Baptism of a baby in Syria by Syriac Orthodox Christians

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  Our Lady of Trapani procession in La Goulette, Tunisia

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  Antiochian Greeks from Antakya

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  Nasif al-Yaziji (1800–1871) was a Lebanese author, poet and key figure of the Nahda

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  Mary Ajami (1888–1965) was a Syrian writer who launched the first women's newspaper in the Middle East

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  May Ziadeh (1886–1941) was a Lebanese-Palestinian poet and pioneer of Oriental feminism

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  Khalil Beidas (1874–1949) was a Palestinian scholar, translator, educator and novelist

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  Qustaki al-Himsi (1858–1941) was a Syrian intellectual who was the founder of modern Arabic literary criticism

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  Maryana Marrash (1849–1919) was a writer, poet and the first Syrian woman to publish a collection of poetry

See also

In Spanish: Árabes cristianos para niños