Bedouin,
derived from the Arabic “badawi”,
a generic name for a desert-dweller, is
a term generally applied to Arab nomadic
groups, who are found throughout most
of the desert belt extending from the
Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western
Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the eastern
coast of the Arabian desert. It is occasionally
used to refer to non-Arab groups as well,
notably the Beja of the African coast
of the Red Sea. Starting in the 1950s
and 1960s, many Bedouin started to leave
the traditional, nomadic life to work
and live in the cities of the Middle East,
especially as grazing ranges have shrunk
and population levels have grown. In Syria,
for example, the Bedouin way of life effectively
ended during a severe drought from 1958
to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to
give up herding for standard jobs. Similarly,
government policies in Egypt, oil production
in Libya and the Gulf, and a desire for
improved standards of living have had
the effect that most Bedouin are now settled
citizens of various nations, rather than
nomadic herders and farmers.
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