# Arabs in Germany

Arab Germans, also referred to as German Arabs or Arabic Germans (German: Araber in Deutschland/Deutsch-Araber; Arabic: العرب في المانيا), are ethnic Arabs living in Germany. They form the second-largest predominantly Muslim immigrant group.
Today, by far the largest group of Arabs living in Germany is from Syria, with 1,281,000 people with a Syrian immigrant background alone in 2023. Syrians mostly arrived in Germany after 2015, when the German government under Angela Merkel decided to keep the borders open to refugees from the Syrian civil war. Since then, they have been by far the largest group of immigrants to Germany. To a lesser extent, there has been Arab immigration before, most notably by Moroccans during the guest worker movement or by Palestinian and Lebanese refugees who moved to Germany, especially West Berlin, in the 1980s. The majority of Arabs in Germany are refugees from the conflicts in the Middle East.

## History

The first notable Arab-German was Emily Ruete, born 1844, originally Salama bint Said, a Princess of Zanzibar who became pregnant by a German man who was her neighbor. Fearing retaliation, she eloped with him to Germany, converted to Christianity, and married him. She later published her autobiography, “Memoirs of an Arabian Princess”.

## Geographical distribution

The largest concentration of Arab people in Germany, can be found in Berlin, where they make up 2%–3% (100,000 people) of the population. The percentage is significantly higher in the Berlin neighborhoods of Neukölln, Kreuzberg and Gesundbrunnen. Other significant centres of Arab populations in Germany can be found in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, Frankfurt, Munich, Hanover and Hamburg. Most Arabs reside in urban areas and cities in former West-Germany. The only place in former Eastern Germany with a sizeable number of Arabs is Leipzig, where people of any Arab descent make up 0.8% of the total population (4,000 out of 522,800). Among the German districts with the highest shares of Arab migrants in 2011 were especially cities in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region (Frankfurt, Offenbach) and the Rhineland (Bonn, Düsseldorf) with large groups of Moroccan migrants.
| No | Country of birth | Population (2015) | Population (2016) | Population (2017) | Population (2020) |
| 1. | Syria | 366,556 | 637,845 | 698,950 | 818,460 |
| 2. | Iraq | 136,399 | 227,195 | 237,365 | 259,500 |
| 3. | Morocco | 72,129 | 75,855 | 75,620 | 79,725 |
| 4. | Lebanon | 37,160 | 41,445 | 41,375 | 41,090 |
| 5. | Somalia | 23,350 | 33,900 | 38,675 | 47,495 |
| 6. | Tunisia | 30,696 | 32,900 | 34,140 | 38,405 |
| 7. | Egypt | 22,979 | 26,915 | 29,600 | 37,430 |
| 8. | Algeria | 20,505 | 21,320 | 19,845 | 19,160 |
| 9. | Libya | 13,123 | 14,265 | 14,805 | 14,900 |
| 10. | Jordan | 10,041 | 10,755 | 11,520 | 13,340 |
| 11. | Sudan | 7,145 | 7,715 | 7,760 | 7,605 |
| 12. | Yemen | 4,150 | 4,870 | 5,540 | 7,845 |
| 13. | Saudi Arabia | 6,207 | 5,835 | 5,350 | 4,665 |
| 14. | Palestine | 2,531 | 3,470 | 3,770 | 4,540 |
| 15. | Kuwait | 3,043 | 3,845 | 3,310 | 2,525 |
| 16. | UAE | 3,551 | 4,185 | 3,715 | 2,260 |
| 17. | Qatar | 1,047 | 1,085 | 1,060 | 1,025 |
| 18. | Mauritania | 704 | 750 | 740 | 770 |
| 19. | Oman | 620 | 600 | 540 | 435 |
| 20. | Bahrain | 390 | 435 | 480 | 545 |
| 21. | Djibouti | 104 | 125 | 135 | 160 |
| 22. | Comoros | 68 | 80 | 70 | 70 |
| Σ 22 | Total | 762,498 | 1,155,390 | 1,234,635 | 1,401,950 |

## Notable Germans of Arab descent

* Hamed Abdel-Samad, political scientist and author of Egyptian origin
* Khalid al-Maaly, Arab writer and publisher of Iraqi origin
* Tarek Al-Wazir, politician of Yemeni origin
* Hans Hauck, son of Algerian soldier
* Lamya Kaddor, scholar of Islamic studies and writer of Syrian origin
* Adel Karasholi, writer of Syrian origin
* Souad Mekhennet journalist and author of Moroccan origin
* Bassam Tibi, Syrian-born political scientist
* Najem Wali journalist and novelist of Iraqi origin

### Film, television, acting

* Lexi Alexander, film director of Palestinian origin
* Elyas M'Barek, actor of Tunisian/Austrian origins
* Hisham Zreiq, filmmaker and visual artist of Palestinian origin

### Music

* Laith Al-Deen, pop musician of Iraqi origin
* Farid Bang rapper of Moroccan origin
* Bushido, rapper of Tunisian origin
* Tony D, rapper of Lebanese origin
* Samy Deluxe, rapper and hip hop artist of Sudanese origin
* Loco Dice, DJ and electronic music producer of Tunisian origin
* Senna Gammour, pop singer and songwriter of Algerian-Moroccan origin
* Fady Maalouf, singer of Lebanese origin
* Massiv rapper of Palestinian origin
* Baba Saad, rapper of Lebanese origin
* Tarééc, singer of Lebanese-Palestinian origin
* Adel Tawil, singer of Egyptian-Tunisian origin
* U-cee, soul singer of Egyptian-Tunisian origin
* Safy Boutella, musician of Algerian origin

### Sports

* Carlo Boukhalfa, footballer of Algerian origin
* Jérome Polenz, footballer of Algerian origin
* Mustapha Amari, football player of Algerian origin
* Mohamed Amsif, footballer of Moroccan origin
* Nassim Banouas, footballer of Algerian origin
* Mohammad Baghdadi, football player of Lebanese origin
* Karim Bellarabi, footballer of Moroccan origin
* Karim Benyamina, football player of Algerian origin
* Soufian Benyamina, football player of Algerian origin
* Sofian Chahed, footballer of Tunisian origin
* Mounir Chaftar, footballer of Tunisian origin
* Adil Chihi, footballer of Moroccan origin
* Amin Younes, footballer of Lebanese origin
* Daniel Brückner, German-Algerian footballer
* Rola El-Halabi, boxer of Lebanese origin
* Rachid El Hammouchi footballer of Moroccan origin
* Rafed El-Masri, swimmer of Syrian origin
* Rani Khedira, football player of Tunisian origin
* Sami Khedira, football player of Tunisian origin
* Malik Fathi, footballer of Sudannese origin
* Murat Salar, football player of Egyptian-Turkish origin
* Mahmoud Charr, WBA heavyweight champion boxer of Lebanese/Syrian origin
* Yassin Ibrahim, football player of Sudanese origin
* Hany Mukhtar, football player of Sudanese origin