High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Syrians today are an overall indigenous Levantine people. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history. They are, in fact, largely a blend of the various Aramaic speaking groups indigenous to the region who were Arabized when Muslim Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula arrived and settled following the Arab expansion. During colonial years, the region had a fairly large minority of French settlers. Many of them stepped out after the recognition of Syrian independence, but their influence is still evident on fluency of French by the educated class in Syria. Syria`s population is 74% Sunni Muslim, and 16% other Muslim groups, including the Alawi, Shi`a, and Druze, and 10% Christian, with a very small Syrian Jewish community.