Afro-Asiatic Language Family

Includes Arabic and Hebrew, and a number of languages spoken in Northern Africa & Southwestern Asia. Afro-Asiatic languages used to write Judeo-Christian Bible, & Islamic Quran.
Arabic major language- official in 2 dozen countries of North Africa & Southwest Asia, from Morocco to Arabian Peninsula. 200million native Arabic speakers. Standard Arabic developed because of influence from Quaran, newspapers and radio. United Nations added Arabic as 6th national language in the General Assembly- 1973, and in the Security Council- 1982.