Editing Arabization (section)

===The Sahel===
{{main|Baggara}}
[[Image:Baggara belt.png|thumb|right|300px|Baggara belt]]

In [[Middle Ages|medieval times]], the [[Baggara Arabs]], a grouping of Arab ethnic groups who speak [[Shuwa Arabic]] (which is one of the regional [[varieties of Arabic]] in Africa), migrated into Africa, mainly between [[Lake Chad]] and southern [[Kordofan]].

Currently, they live in a belt which stretches across [[Sudan]], [[Chad]], [[Niger]], [[Nigeria]], [[Cameroon]], [[Central African Republic]] and [[South Sudan]] and they number over six million people. Like other Arabic speaking tribes in the [[Sahara]] and the [[Sahel]], Baggara tribes have origin ancestry from the [[Juhaynah]] Arab tribes who migrated directly from the [[Arabian peninsula]] or from other parts of [[north Africa]]. {{sfn|deWaal|Flint|2006|pp=9}}

Arabic is an official language of Chad and Sudan as well as a [[national language]] in Niger, [[Mali]], [[Senegal]], and South Sudan. In addition, Arabic dialects are spoken of minorities in [[Nigeria]], [[Cameroon]], and [[Central African Republic]].