which preserved the language for generations until the discovery of oil. They communicated in Persian between each other, and did not frequently mingle with Arabic speakers who resided in other districts of Kuwait City until after the industrialisation of Kuwait City which scattered people who lived in the districts of Kuwait City to the suburbs. The linguistic enclave was not present any longer therefore the Ajam had to learn Kuwaiti Arabic to survive in the new environment. The majority of Shia Kuwaiti citizens are of Iranian ancestry. Some Kuwaitis of Iranian origin are Sunni Muslims such as the Al-Kandari and Al-Awadhi families of Larestani Persian ancestry. In Bahrain Persian migration into Bahrain goes back to the days of the Sassanid and Achaemenid Persian empire, though in modern times there has been a constant migration for hundreds of years. There has always been a migration of Persian-speaking Shi'a into Bahrain. In 1910, the Persian community funded and opened a private school, Al-Ittihad school, that taught Persian, besides other subjects. In the Manama Souq, many Persians were clustered in the neighborhood of Mushbir. However they resettled in other areas with the development of new towns and expansion of villages during the reign of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Today, a significant number is based in Muharraq's Shia enclaves and Bahrain Island's modernized Shia towns. In Iraq In the 1970s, Saddam Hussein exiled between 350,000 to 650,000 Shia Iraqis of Iranian ancestry (Ajam). Iraqi Persians follow Shia Islam and some of them are even Sayyids. Persians have a long history in Iraq and were actually there before the Arab conquest. In Lebanon Arab-Persian mixes are actually common among Lebanese Shias, many Iranians in Lebanon and Lebanese people in Iran ended up intermarrying and settling. Many notable Shia Muslims from Lebanon are mixed with Persian. In Syria In Syria, a small community of Arab-Persians exists in the Alawite/Nusayri-majority areas, mostly in Latakia and Tartus, with the rest being in Damascus. See also Arab-Berber History of Arabs in Afghanistan Jābir ibn Hayyān Abu Nuwas References Persian people Arab diaspora in Asia Iranian diaspora in Asia Arab groups Arab diaspora Iranian diaspora Arabs in Iraq Ethnic groups in Iran Ethnic groups in Iraq Ethnic groups in Bahrain Ethnic groups in Kuwait Ethnic groups in the Middle East