The ethnic groups in the Middle East in the 'transcontinental' region commonly known with its geopolitical term; the Middle East which includes Western Asia and areas close to West Asia such as Egypt and Cyprus. The region has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors (especially the enormous oil wealth in the region and conflicts) have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The largest socioethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Kurds, Persians, Turks and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups which have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of members. Other indigenous, religious, or long-standing minority ethnic groups include: Arameans, Assyrians, Armenians, Bahrani , Baloch, Coptic Christians, Cappadocian Greeks, Cypriots, Druze, Gilaks, Greeks, Jews, Kawliya, Laz, Lurs, Mandaeans, Maronites, Mazanderanis, Mhallami, Nawar, Pontic Greeks, Rûm Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Shabaks, Talysh, Tats, Kurds and Zazas. Diaspora ethnic groups living in the region include: Albanians, Bengalis, Britons, Bosniaks, Chinese, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Jews, Filipinos, French people, Georgians, Indians, Jews, Indonesians, Kawliya, Italians, Malays, Malayali, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Romani, Sikhs, Sindhis, Somalis, Sri Lankans, Turkmens, and Sub-Saharan Africans. Demographics Middle East Arabs Alawites Algerians Bahranis Bahrainis Egyptians (noting that many Coptic Christians openly reject Arab identity, even though Arabized) Emiratis Hadhrami Iraqis (including the Marsh Arabs but excluding ethnic minorities like the Armenians, Assyrians, Circassians, Kawliya, Kurds, Mandaeans, Shabaks, Turkmen, and Yazidis) Jordanians (excluding ethnic minorities like the Armenians, Circassians, and Kurds) Kuwaitis Lebanese (excluding some Christians, especially Maronites, who instead claim a Phoenician identity, and ethnic minorities like the Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds) Libyans Mehri Moroccans Omanis Palestinians Qataris Saudis Solluba Syrians (excluding ethnic minorities like the Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Circassians, Kurds, Nawar–Roma, Turkmen, and Yazidis) Tunisians Yemenis Sub-Saharan Africans Nubians Afro-Iraqis Afro-Jordanians Sudanese in Israel Jews Israeli Jews Ashkenazi Jews Ethiopian Jews Mizrahi Jews Sephardi Jews Samaritans Syriac-speaking peoples Arameans Arameans in Israel Arameans in Syria Assyrians Assyrians in Armenia Assyrians in Georgia Assyrians in Iran Assyrians in Iraq Assyrians in Israel Assyrians in Jordan Assyrians in Lebanon Assyrians in Syria Assyrians in Turkey Mandaeans Mhallami Indo-European peoples Albanians Albanians in Egypt Albanians in Syria Armenians Armenians in the Middle East Armenians in Egypt Armenians in Iran Armenians in Iraq Armenians in