yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy CH A P T ER 7 T he S o c i a l St ruc t ur e A rab societ y is structured into social classes, and individuals inherit the social class of their family. The governments of Libya and the former South Yemen have tried experimenting with classless societies, but this has not affected basic attitudes. It made little difference in Libya. South Yemen became the first countr y in the Arabian Peninsula to grant women the right to vote, but social classes remain even there. 1 1 So ci a l Cl a sses In most Arab countries, there are three social classes. The upper class includes royalt y (in some countries), large and influential families, and some wealthy people, depending on their family background. The middle class is composed of professionals, government employees, militar y offi- cers, and moderately prosperous merchants and landowners. Peasant farmers and the urban and village poor make up the lower class. Bedouins, of whom about 10 percent are nomadic, do not really fit into any of these classes; they are mostly independent of societ y and are admired for their preser vation of Arab traditions. Bedouins live in Libya, Eg y pt (Sinai), Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula. The relative degree of privilege among the classes and the differences in their attitude and way of life var y from countr y to countr y. Some countries are wealthy and underpopulated, with a large privileged class; 59