Comparative data
The Region in Numbers
Twenty communities, one measuring stick: how many they are, what the law says about them, and how their languages are faring. Every number here is an estimate — the methodology page explains how they were chosen.
Side by side
Twenty populations
The span is the story: the largest community here outnumbers the smallest by a factor of thirty-five thousand. Two scales are needed just to draw them.
The larger communities
Estimated population living in the Middle East & North Africa
The same regional estimates shown on each profile — mid-ranges of published figures, diaspora excluded. Basis and caveats: see Methodology.
View as table
| Where | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Kurds | ≈33 million |
| Amazigh | ≈25 million |
| Alevis | ≈12 million |
| Copts | ≈10 million |
| Jews | ≈7.3 million |
| Alawites | ≈3 million |
| Circassians | ≈2.3 million |
| Yarsan | ≈2 million |
| Druze | ≈1.1 million |
| Maronites | ≈1 million |
The smaller communities
Estimated population living in the Middle East & North Africa
Mind the scale: drawn on the chart above, the widest bar here would be about ten pixels long.
View as table
| Where | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Turkmen | ≈850,000 |
| Ismailis | ≈800,000 |
| Yazidis | ≈550,000 |
| Assyrians | ≈350,000 |
| Shabak | ≈350,000 |
| Baha'is | ≈300,000 |
| Armenians | ≈250,000 |
| Zoroastrians | ≈25,000 |
| Mandaeans | ≈15,000 |
| Samaritans | ≈900 |
Law & the lack of it
Recognition at a Glance
What each state's law says about each community — reduced, unavoidably, to a phrase. Recognition on paper is not protection in practice, and its absence is not always persecution; take this as a map of the legal terrain, not a verdict. Reviewed July 2026; details and sources on the methodology page.
recognised partial / limited no status at risk
| Community | Legal position, by state |
|---|---|
| Yazidis | Iraq · named in the constitution; a quota seat in parliament Kurdistan Region · recognised by the 2015 minorities law; Lalish protected Syria · no separate legal status |
| Assyrians | Iraq · Christians recognised; five quota seats; Syriac official where they are concentrated Türkiye · outside the Lausanne minority framework in practice Syria · churches recognised; communities depleted by war |
| Shabak | Iraq · one quota seat in parliament; the religion itself unrecognised |
| Yarsan | Kurdistan Region · recognised by the 2015 minorities law Iraq (federal) · not named in the constitution Iran · unrecognised; believers registered as Muslims |
| Turkmen | Iraq · Turkmen official where they are concentrated; quota seats in the Kurdistan parliament, none federally |
| Kurds | Iraq · Kurdistan Region autonomous; Kurdish co-official nationally Türkiye · no minority status; language space widened, politics constrained Iran · constitution permits regional languages — barely implemented Syria · de-facto self-administration; status under negotiation since 2024 |
| Mandaeans | Iraq · named in the constitution; a quota seat in parliament Iran · not among the constitution's named minorities; tolerated precariously |
| Zoroastrians | Iran · constitutionally recognised; a reserved seat in the Majlis Kurdistan Region · recognised by the 2015 minorities law |
| Baha'is | Iran · unrecognised and systematically persecuted Egypt · unrecognised since 1960; identity papers long withheld Israel · world centre at Haifa; by its own policy, no local congregation |
| Alevis | Türkiye · cemevis still lack legal worship-place status despite European court rulings |
| Alawites | Syria · post-2024: the Assad-era shield is gone; coastal communities attacked in March 2025 Lebanon · one of the eighteen recognised sects; two reserved seats Türkiye · no separate status for Hatay's Arab Alawites |
| Armenians | Türkiye · Lausanne-recognised minority: schools and a patriarchate, within limits Lebanon · recognised sect with reserved parliamentary seats Iran · recognised Christian minority; two reserved Majlis seats |
| Maronites | Lebanon · the presidency itself is reserved for a Maronite Israel · recognised community; Aramean identity registrable since 2014 |
| Druze | Lebanon · recognised sect; reserved seats and senior posts Israel · recognised community; men are conscripted Syria · Suwayda's autonomy contested; deadly clashes in 2025 |
| Circassians | Jordan · reserved parliamentary seats (shared with Chechens); the royal honour guard Israel · recognised community; men are conscripted Türkiye · no minority status |
| Jews | Iran · recognised minority with a reserved Majlis seat — under a state hostile to Israel Türkiye · Lausanne-recognised minority; the community is shrinking Morocco · Jewish family courts; heritage named in the 2011 constitution |
| Samaritans | Israel · citizens; recognised religious community Palestinian territories · Gerizim Samaritans hold Palestinian IDs; a reserved seat in the 1996 legislature |
| Copts | Egypt · Christianity recognised; church-building eased by the 2016 law; discrimination persists |
| Amazigh | Morocco · Tamazight constitutionally official since 2011 Algeria · Tamazight official since 2016 Egypt · no recognition for Siwa's Amazigh |
| Ismailis | Syria · recognised as Muslims; Salamiyah's place in the new Syria unsettled Portugal · seat of the Ismaili Imamat established by treaty (2015) |
The words themselves
Languages Holding On
The region's minority languages carry unbroken lines to Babylon, to the Aramaic of Jesus, to ancient Egypt. Most are now spoken by the old more than the young. Status follows UNESCO and Ethnologue categories.
| Language | Community | Where | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suret — Northeastern Neo-Aramaic | Assyrians & Chaldeans | Nineveh Plains · Urmia · diaspora | definitely endangered |
| Turoyo | Syriac Orthodox | Tur Abdin (Türkiye) · diaspora | severely endangered |
| Western Neo-Aramaic | Maaloula & neighbours | Anti-Lebanon mountains, Syria | severely endangered |
| Neo-Mandaic | Mandaeans | Ahvaz, Iran | critically endangered |
| Western Armenian | Armenians | Türkiye · Lebanon · diaspora | definitely endangered |
| Judeo-Arabic dialects | Jews of the region | Israel & diaspora | severely endangered |
| Zoroastrian Dari (Gavruni) | Zoroastrians | Yazd & Kerman, Iran | definitely endangered |
| Hawrami (Gorani) | Yarsan & Hawrami Kurds | Hawraman mountains | definitely endangered |
| Adyghe & Kabardian | Circassians | Caucasus · Levant diaspora | vulnerable |
| Siwi (eastern Tamazight) | Amazigh of Egypt | Siwa oasis | definitely endangered |
| Samaritan Hebrew & Aramaic | Samaritans | liturgy only | liturgical |
| Coptic | Copts | liturgy only | liturgical |
Hear one of them: the last living language of ancient Mesopotamia →