There are several ethnic groups in the Middle East. The main four are the Arabs, Turks, Persians, and Kurds.
Arabs mostly live in western Asia and north Africa. They speak the Arabic language. Also, even though the Arab identity is defined independently from any religious identity, most Arabs are Muslim.
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Turks are an ethnic group that mostly live in Turkey. They speak the Turkish language and were at the height of their power during the reign of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. (1500-1900)
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Persians live in Iran and speak the modern Persian language. The main Persian Empire was the Archaemenid Empire that lasted from about 600 B.C to about 300 B.C, and was founded by Cyrus the Great.
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Kurds live in a region known as Kurdistan, which includes parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. They speak the Kurdish language. Although there is no Kurdish country, there are many nationalist movements in Kurdish populated countries to create one.
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