How many native speakers of Arabic are there?

It's difficult to give an exact number for the number of native Arabic speakers, as different sources use different methodologies and criteria for defining "native speaker." However, here's a breakdown of some estimates:

* Ethnologue: Reports 372 million native speakers of Arabic as of 2023.

* UNESCO: Estimates 394 million speakers of Arabic in 2021.

* Other sources: Numbers can vary, with some estimates ranging from 250 million to 422 million.

Important Considerations:

* Dialects: Arabic has many dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible.

* Second language learners: Many people learn Arabic as a second language, so the number of native speakers may be lower than the total number of Arabic speakers.

* Political boundaries: Arabic is spoken in many countries, and political borders can affect how speakers are counted.

Therefore, while the specific number is debatable, it's safe to say that hundreds of millions of people around the world consider Arabic their native language.