From the year 1920s to the 1970s, the use of what is often referred to as the "veil" with this term referring anything from a face veil to a shawl loosely draped over the head was declined until only a minority of Muslim women outside the conservative societies of the Arabian peninsula still used. However, in recent decades there has been an increase in the number of Muslim women wearing new types of head coverings which are known by the generic appellation "ḥijab".