Throughout this dashboard, we have included data defined as both Arab and MENA, due to the Census Bureau and other federal agencies categorizing people with “origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa” under the “White” category on the U.S. census. The lack of an official definition for MENA stems from the area’s complex and diverse geography, cultural and ethnic heterogeneity, and historical context. The MENA region includes numerous ethnic and religious groups, each with distinct identities. Historical borders, often drawn by colonial powers, add to the complexity. Additionally, political considerations, varying national interests, and different definitions used by international and regional organizations further complicate a consensus thus far on a unified definition. Because there is no official or agreed upon definition of who is included under MENA, organizations have historically defined the category with differing nationalities, geographic regions, countries, transnational communities etc. As an organization, ACCESS has chosen to define MENA as:
MENA is an abbreviation for Middle Eastern or North African. The MENA designation includes the diversity of people living in a distinct geographic region of the globe, the nationalities of which can include all member countries of the Arab League (Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) as well as countries like Armenia, Iran, Sudan, Somalia. Accordingly, the MENA region is not comprised of just one faith, cultural, or linguistic tradition, but of diverse ethnic transnational communities like Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Kurds, Berber/ Amazigh. 1