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( Arab World)
The Arab World (Arabic ?????? ???????; Transliteration al-`alam al-`arabi) refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. It consists of 24 countries and territories with a combined population of some 325 million people straddling two continents. The Arabic language forms a unifying feature of the Arab World. Though different areas use local dialects of Arabic, all share in the use of the standard classical language (see diglossia). This contrasts with the situation in the wider Islamic World, where Arabic retains its cultural prestige primarily as the language of religion and of theological scholarship, but the populace generally do not speak the Arabic language. The linguistic and political denotation inherent in the term "Arab" is generally dominant over genealogical considerations. Thus, individuals with little or no direct ancestry from the Arabian Peninsula could identify as, or be considered to be, Arabs partially by virtue of their mother tongue (see Who is an Arab?). However, this definition is disputed by many peoples of non-Arab origins; thus Egyptians for example may or may not identify as Arabs (see Egypt_Identity), but Egyptians enriched the Arabic language and definitely Egyptians are Arabs according to the definition of the "Arab League". The Arab League, a political organization intended to encompass the Arab World, defines as Arab,
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