Challenges and opportunities: The population of the Middle East and North Africa

Population Bulletin. 2007 June

The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) continue to fascinate and concern the rest of the world. With two-thirds of the world’s known petroleum reserves, the region’s economic and political importance far outweighs its population size. It has the world’s second-fastest growing population, after sub-Saharan Africa.

Its demographic trends-especially the rapidly growing youth population-are complicating the region’s capacity to adapt to social change, economic strains, and sometimes wrenching political transformations.

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Population MENA Region by PRB