The Detroit metropolitan area has one of the largest concentrations of people of Middle Eastern origin, including Arabs and Chaldo-Assyrians in the United States."Arab, Chaldean, and Middle Eastern Children and Families in the Tri-County Area." (Archive) From a Child's Perspective: Detroit Metropolitan Census 2000 Fact Sheets Series. Wayne State University. Volume 4, Issue 2, February 2004. p. 1/32. Retrieved on November 8, 2013. As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeast Michigan traced their descent from the Middle East. Dearborn's sizeable Arab community consists largely of Lebanese people who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, and of more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. In 2010 the four Metro Detroit counties had at least 200,000 people of Middle Eastern origin. Bobby Ghosh of TIME said that some estimates gave much larger numbers.Ghosh, Bobby. "Arab-Americans: Detroit's Unlikely Saviors." TIME. Saturday November 13, 2010. Retrieved on November 8, 2012. From 1990 to 2000 the percentage of people speaking Arabic in the home increased by 106% in Wayne County, 99.5% in Macomb County, and 41% in Oakland County."Arab, Chaldean, and Middle Eastern Children and Families in the Tri-County Area." (Archive) From a Child's Perspective: Detroit Metropolitan Census 2000 Fact Sheets Series. Wayne State University. Volume 4, Issue 2, February 2004. p. 2/32. Retrieved on November 8, 2013.

From 1990 to 2000 Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties had a combined increase of 16,632 people who were born in Iraq. The publication "Arab, Chaldean, and Middle Eastern Children and Families in the Tri-County Area" of the From a Child's Perspective: Detroit Metropolitan Census 2000 Fact Sheets Series states that "Arab and Chaldean representation cannot be determined" in that figure. During the same period there was an increase of 7,229 people born in Lebanon.

Arab Americans

By 2007 Metro Detroit, if defined as Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties, had the United States's largest Arab American population, larger than that of Greater Los Angeles if that region was defined as Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties. As of that year Arab Americans are one of the largest immigrant groups into Southeastern Michigan."Arab American Economic Contribution Study: Gauging the economic contributions that persons of Arab ancestry have on Southeast Michigan’s Economy." (Archive) Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies. Submitted to the League for Economic Empowerment on March 1, 2007. p. 4. Retrieved on November 11, 2013. The majority of Metro Detroit's Arabs are Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqis, and Yemeni.Shryock and Abraham, "On Margins and Mainstreams," p. 18.

According to Jen'nan Ghazal Read of the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2000, in the Wayne-Oakland-Macomb-Washtenaw region there were 96,363 persons of Arab ancestry,"Arab American Economic Contribution Study: Gauging the economic contributions that persons of Arab ancestry have on Southeast Michigan’s Economy." (Archive) Wayne State University Center for Urban Studies. Submitted to the League for Economic Empowerment on March 1, 2007. p. 7. Retrieved on November 11, 2013. of whom 92,122 people lived in Wayne, Oakland, or Macomb counties; these made up 79.2% of Michigan residents of Arab ancestry. According to Read, within the Wayne-Oakland-Macomb-Washtenaw region there were 131,650 persons of Arab ancestry in 2004. The largest number of Arab Americans in the Metro Detroit area live in Wayne County. As of 2004 religions among Arab Americans in Detroit include the faiths of Islam and Christianity, with Christian varieties including Maronite, Melkite, Greek Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox beliefs. The Muslim branches of Sunni and Shia beliefs are present in Metro Detroit. Jordanians and Palestinians in Metro Detroit include believers of Sunni Islam, Catholic, Protestant, and Greek Orthodox Christian beliefs. Yemeni and Iraqi people include believers of the Shafi'i Sunni Muslim school of thought and the Zaidiyyah Shia Muslim school of thought. As of 2004 most recent Arab immigrants to Metro Detroit are Muslim. A 2007 Wayne State University study said that the Metro Detroit Arab American community produced $7.7 billion annually in earnings and salaries. Annually these businesses produced $500 million in taxes to the state."Metro Muslims, Arabs overcome 9/11 tensions by forging ties." () Wayne State University. September 8, 2011. Retrieved on November 11, 2013.

As of 2006 Hamtramck has a large concentration of Yemeni people.Almasmari, Hakim. "." () Yemen Observer. November 21, 2006. Retrieved on September 9, 2013.

As of 2004 Arabs stated that they wish to come to Detroit to unify their families, escape from conflicts in the Middle East, and improve their economic standing. As of 2000, victims of population displacement, economic hardship, and political oppression included Palestinians, Yemenis, and Iraqi Chaldo-Assyrians, and refugees from war included Shia from Iraq and Lebanon.Shryock and Abraham, "On Margins and Mainstreams," p. 19. Andrew Shryock and Nabeel Abraham, authors of "On Margins and Mainstreams", wrote that "When asked to explain why so many Arabs have migrated to Detroit, most people in the community will mention the automobile industry. As a kind of historical shorthand, this answer is certainly the best."

History of the Arabs Arriving in the early 1870s, the first Middle Eastern settlers in the Detroit area were Lebanese people. Most of them were Christians, including Maronites, Melkites, and Eastern Orthodox. Some immigrants were Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. Some Druze also immigrated. A February 6, 1900 article in the Detroit Free Press stated that "Detroit's Colony of Syrians" included 75-100 people, mostly Lebanese Maronites.Shryock and Abraham, "On Margins and Mainstreams," p. 18-19. The Lebanese worked as peddlers and shopkeepers. Henry Ford's factories had 555 Syrian employees, including many recently arrived Muslims, by 1916. 9,000 Arabic-speakers were among the residents of Detroit in 1930. Of them, 6,000 were Syrians. The remainder included Assyrians, Yemenis, and Palestinians. Immigrants from the Levant were originally labeled as being from the Ottoman Province of Syria. After 1920 the Ottoman Empire collapsed and European colonial administrators divided the areas in the Levant into Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. Therefore immigrants into Detroit began to be classified as Lebanese, Palestinians, and Syrians.

Immigration from Iraq started in the beginning of the 20th century, and immigration from Yemen and the Arabian peninsula began in the early 20th century. A peak immigration of Iraqis occurred from 1927 to 1950, and a peak immigration of Yemenis and those from the Peninsula occurred from 1912 to 1925. Of those three groups, in 1951 most of them lived together in a section of Dearborn.Mayer, p. 27. "Data on the arrival of the first people from Iraq[...]" Around 1951 there were about 50,000 people in Detroit who had descent from Lebanon and Syria.Mayer, p. 73. "There are about 50,000 people of Syrian and Lebanese descent in Detroit,[...]" Around the same year there were about 4,000 to 5,000 persons in Detroit and Dearborn who had origins from the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Yemen, and other Middle Eastern countries.Mayer, p. 27. "There are approximately 4,000 to 5,000 persons from Iraq, Yemen, Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries living in Detroit and Dear-[...]" Sally Howell, author of "Competing for Muslims: New Strategies for Urban Renewal in Detroit", wrote that Yemeni people had a presence in the area since the late 1960s.Howell, p. 210. Arab immigrants continued traveling to Detroit even after the automobile industry decline of the 1970s.

The 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War resulted in a wave of immigration to Detroit."India leads all nations in sending people to Detroit" (Archive). Crain's Detroit Business. June 1, 2014. Updated June 6, 2014. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.

Many Iraqis immigrated to Metro Detroit after the Gulf War of 1991 and the Iraq War of 2003. The Iraqi community in Metro Detroit supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq."Metro Iraqis hail 'dream come true'." The Detroit News. December 15, 2003. Retrieved on November 9, 2013. ID: det17886465. "Metro Detroit's Iraqi community has strongly supported the war,[...]"

From 2001 to 2011 the number of members of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce increased from 300 to 1500.

In 2015 Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan announced his city was accepting 50 Syrian families from the Syrian Civil War and will support them for a three year period."Detroit to welcome Syrian refugees " (Archive). Click on Detroit. November 24, 2015. Retrieved on November 26, 2015.

Demographics of Arabs Since their immigration to the United States in the 1870s, the Arab population has been continuously increasing. This increase can be observed in data collected by The American Community Survey and U.S Census Bureau. To determine this amount, surveys are sent out asking each individual to identify his or her "ancestry or ethnic origin." This phrase is defined by the U.S Census Bureau as ethnic origin, descent, roots, heritage or place of person's or ancestor's birth. The U.S Census Bureau considers individuals who reported being one of the following ethnic origins as an Arab: Algerian, Bahraini, Egyptian, Emirati, Iraqi, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Libyan, Moroccan, Omani, Palestinian, Qatari, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Tunisian, and Yemeni.

With the aforementioned criteria, it was estimated that 850,000 people with Arab ancestry (0.35 percent of the total population) lived in the United States in 1990. In 2004, 1.2 million (0.42 percent of the total population) resided in the U.S. The 2006–2010 ACS 5-year estimates show that an estimated 1.5 million people (0.5 percent of the total population) with Arab ancestry were living in the United States, representing a 76.0 percent increase since 1990. Currently, the ten states with the largest Arab populations are California, Michigan, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, respectively. These populations are generally concentrated in metropolitan areas.

Arab American communities are generally tight-knit, as they value family, tradition, and economic achievement. Earlier immigrants worked as peddlers and in factories. More recent immigrants, however, have taken up roles in all parts of society, including public leadership positions. These increasingly professional roles have helped establish a majority of the populations in bustling cities. Consequently, their increasing role in high-level positions has helped raise the median income of Arab American households to $56,433 compared to the $51,914 for all households in the United States.

Economy of Arabs Many Lebanese own and operate stores, restaurants, shops, and other major businesses; they were historically known for this.

Religion of Arabs

The Islamic Center of America (Arabic: المركز الإسلامي في اميركا) is a mosque located in Dearborn, Michigan. Although the institution dates back to 1963, the Center's current mosque opened in 2005. It is the largest mosque in North America and the oldest Shia mosque in the United States. With its large Shia Arab population (consisting mostly of Lebanese), Dearborn is often called the "heart of Shiism" in the United States.