Arab World Inbreeding
Statistical research on cousin marriage in Arabic countries shows rates up to:
34% of all marriages in Algiers
46% in Bahrain
33% in Egypt
80% in Nubia (southern area in Egypt)
60% in Iraq
64% in Jordan
64% in Kuwait
42% in Lebanon
48% in Libya
47% in Mauritania
54% in Qatar
67% in Saudi Arabia
63% in Sudan
40% in Syria
39% in Tunisia
54% in the United Arabic Emirates
45% in Yemen
Source: Reproductive Health Journal, Issue 6, ‘Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs’, 2009,
https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1742-4755-6-17
“Saudi Arabia is a living genetics laboratory,” Dr. Stephen R. Schroeder, executive director of the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, told the Times. “Here you can study 10 families to study genetic disorders, where you would need 10,000 families to study genetic disorders in the United States.”
