Lots of languages and species are going extinct, but because others keep getting found or described, the official counts of languages and species are still increasing.

Omar Ibn Said was 37 years old when he was taken from his West African home and transported to Charleston, South Carolina, as a slave in the 1800s. Now, his one-of-a-kind autobiographical manuscript has been translated from its original...

The global refugee crisis is a mental health catastrophe, leaving millions in need of psychological support to overcome the traumas of dislocation and conflict. To undo the damage, child psychiatrist and TED Fellow Essam Daod has been...

Beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans conquered the Iberian peninsula. This period gave rise to several regional languages in the area that's now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. One of these would become...

In the 7th century CE, the prophet Muhammad united the people of the Arabian Peninsula through the formation of Islam. Over the next 30 years, caliphs conquered vast areas beyond Arabia, including their mighty neighbors the Persians and...

Art historian Bahia Shehab has long been fascinated with the Arabic script for 'no.' When revolution swept through Egypt in 2011, she began spraying the image in the streets saying no to dictators, no to military rule and no to violence.

An animated interpretation of Safia Elhillo's poem "To Make Use of Water"

Why is 'x' the symbol for an unknown? In this short and funny talk, Terry Moore gives the surprising answer.

Patricia Ryan is a longtime English teacher who asks a provocative question: Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? In other words: What if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL? It's a...

How do you teach an entire country how to vote when no one has done it before? It's a huge challenge facing fledgling democracies around the world -- and one of the biggest problems turns out to be a lack of shared language. After all,...

After a visit to a European library in search of Arabic and Middle Eastern texts turned up only titles about fear, terrorism and destruction, Ghada Wali resolved to represent her culture in a fun, accessible way. The result: a colorful,...

Lesley Hazleton sat down one day to read the Koran. And what she found -- as a non-Muslim, a self-identified "tourist" in the Islamic holy book -- wasn't what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the...

The religion of Islam significantly influenced knowledge-making in the greater Mediterranean and western Asian world. Islamicate scholars—meaning people influenced by Islamic civilization, regardless of their religious views—gave us...

People all around the world tend to represent time via space, but there’s no consensus on which way time goes.

What does this gorgeous street art say? It's Arabic poetry, inspired by bold graffiti and placed where a message of hope and peace can do the most good. In this quietly passionate talk, artist and TED Fellow eL Seed describes his...

On the edge of the vast Sahara desert, citizens snuck out of the city of Timbuktu and took to the wilderness. They buried chests in the desert sand, hid them in caves, and sealed them in secret rooms. Inside these chests was a treasure...

John Green teaches you about the so-called Dark Ages, which it turns out weren't as uniformly dark as you may have been led to believe. While Europe was indeed having some issues, many other parts of the world were thriving and...

John Green teaches you about the so-called Dark Ages, which it turns out weren't as uniformly dark as you may have been led to believe. While Europe was indeed having some issues, many other parts of the world were thriving and...

The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. It’s helpful to understand that the Arabic language is a Semitic language with more than thirty variations spoken throughout the Middle East. These variations can be grouped into three...

The official language of Indonesia, Indonesian, is spoken throughout the archipelago and is the language of instruction. The Indonesian word for language is Bahasa, and in-country, the language is commonly referred to as Bahasa...

Preschool Prep - Alphabet and Languages from A-Z V1-0002

This video highlights the significance of the Arabic language, showcasing its widespread use across 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. It emphasizes the unique...

Howcast - In Islam, a set of dietary regulations determines what you can eat. Here’s how to serve up a meal according to the basic rules.

Enjoyed throughout the Middle East, Arabic coffee is deliciously rich, and easy to make at home.

This all-natural hair remover, called halaweh in Arabic, has been used in Middle Eastern homes for centuries.