Arab Germans, also referred to as German Arabs or Arabic Germans (; ), form the second-largest predominantly Muslim immigrant group.

The largest group of Arabs living in Germany is from Syria, with 1,281,000 people with a Syrian immigrant background 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 had been Arab immigration before, most notably by Moroccans during the guest worker movement or by Palestinian and Lebanese immigrants 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”.Women Imagine Change p. 411

Geographical distribution The largest concentration of Arab people in Germany lives 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 centres of Arab population 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 Arab descent make up 0.8% of the total population (4,000 out of 522,800). Among the German districts with the highest share of Arab migrants in 2011 were 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. 366,556 637,845 698,950 818,460 2. 136,399 227,195 237,365 259,500 3. 72,129 75,855 75,620 79,725 4. 37,160 41,445 41,375 41,090 5. 23,350 33,900 38,675 47,495 6. 30,696 32,900 34,140 38,405 7. 22,979 26,915 29,600 37,430 8. 20,505 21,320 19,845 19,160 9. 13,123 14,265 14,80514,900 10. 10,041 10,755 11,520 13,340 11. 7,145 7,715 7,760 7,605 12. 4,150 4,870 5,540 7,845 13. 6,207 5,835 5,350 4,665 14. 2,531 3,470 3,770 4,540 15. 3,043 3,845 3,310 2,525 16. 3,551 4,185 3,715 2,260 17. 1,047 1,085 1,060 1,025 18. 704 750 740 770 19. 620 600 540 435 20. 390 435 480 545 21. 104 125 135 160 22. 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 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 Safy Boutella, musician of Algerian origin

Politicians Sanae Abdi, politician of Moroccan origin Alaa Alhamwi, politician of Syrian origin Tarek Al-Wazir, politician of Yemeni 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 Syrian and 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

See also Arabs in Berlin Arabs in Europe Arab diaspora

References