Compiled by Clifton L. Holland

Religious Diversity among Arabs

Despite the common belief in the USA that "Arab" equals "Muslim," the majority of self-identifying Arabs in the United States are Eastern Rite Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, according to the Arab-American Institute.   On the other hand, most American Muslims are black or of South Asian (Indian or Pakistani) origin.

Arab Christians are people who are ethnically Arab or culturally and linguistically Arabized and who follow the religion of Christianity.

The majority of Christian Arabs live in the Middle East where, although Islam is undoubtedly the preponderant religion, significant religious minorities exist in a number of countries.  The largest number of Arab Christians, whether in real numbers or in proportion to a country's population, are to be found in Egypt, Israel (as well as the Palestinian territories), Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Emmigrant Arab communities throughout the Americas, especially among the Arab populations of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and the USA, are overwhelmingly Christian.  In Brazil alone, Arabs number over 12 million and are mostly Christian.

SOURCE:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christians

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Religious background of Arab Americans:  The majority of Arab Americans are Christian

While the majority of the population of the Arab World is composed of people of the Muslim faith, most Arab Americans, in contrast, are Christian: http://www.alhewar.org/gabriel_habib_What_About_Arab_Christians.htm

According to the Arab American Institute (see: Arab American demographics), the breakdown of religious affiliation among Arab Americans is as follows:

Religious Affiliations of Arab Americans
Based on Zogby International Survey (2002)

*Catholic include Roman Catholic, Maronite, and Melkite (Greek Catholic)
**Muslim includes Sunni, Shi’a, and Druze
***Orthodox includes Antiochian, Syrian, Greek, and Coptic

The percentage of Arab Americans who are Muslim has increased in recent years, because most new Arab immigrants tend to be Muslim; this stands in contrast to the first wave of Arab immigration to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during which immigrants were almost all Christians. Most Maronite Catholics tend to be of Lebanese or Syrian extraction; those Christians of Palestinian background are often Eastern Orthodox. A small number are Protestants, either having joined a Protestant denomination after immigrating to the U.S. or being from a family that converted to Protestantism while still living in the Middle East (European and American Protestant missionaries were fairly commonplace in the Levant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries).

There are substantial numbers of American Jews originating from the Arab World, notably of Mizrahi Jewish extraction. Most migrated from their respective countries of origin to the United States during the late 20th century. The number of Arab Jewish-Americans is difficult to determine. Overlaping identification as Jewish Americans (along with other American Jews of various backgrounds) and Arab Americans (along with other American Arabs of various religious traditions) seldom occurs for political reasons.

Additional source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_American

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Arab American Demographics in California, 1980-1997

Major communities: Los Angeles-Orange MSA, San Francisco-Bay Area, Bakersfield

California has a large immigrant community and is diversified. In addition to significant percentages of Egyptians, Assyrians, and Palestinians, 8.1% listed themselves as “Other” -- mainly due to substantial numbers of Yemeni farm workers in the Bakersfield area. Like the Metropolitan New York-Northern New Jersey area, the Los Angeles-Southern California Arab community is not only growing rapidly but also is becoming a major political and cultural center.

TABLE 1: ARAB POPULATION IN CALIFORNIA