For over a century, Arab Americans have been making valuable contributions to every aspect of American society by sharing their rich culture and traditions with neighbors and friends, while also setting fine examples of model citizens and public servants. Arab Americans have resilient family values, strong work ethic, dedication to education, and diversity in faith and creed that have added strength to our democracy.
Arab Americans have roots in 22 countries located in the Middle East and North African regions: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
There are nearly 3.6 million Arab Americans in the United States and population that identifies as having Arabic speaking ancestry in the U.S has grown more than 72% between 2000 and 2010. 90% of Arab Americans live in urban areas. The Arab American Institute (AAI) reports that more than one-third of the 3.5 million Arab Americans living in the U.S. are in metropolitan Los Angeles, Detroit and New York.