The Bedouin (from the Arabic badawi, pl. badawiyyun) are a part of the predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group. Specifically the term refers only to the 'camel-raising' tribes, but due to economic changes many are now settled or raising sheep. Also due to linguistic and cultural changes the term is now often applied in many ways either to Arabs in general or to desert dwellers or nomads. In Syria, the Bedouin live predominantly in the desert east and south of the country.