metadata
license: cc-by-nc-sa-4.0
task_categories:
- multiple-choice
- text-generation
language:
- ar
tags:
- cultural
- commonsense
- commonsense cultural knowledge
pretty_name: ArabCulture
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
dataset_info:
- config_name: Algeria
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 138521
num_examples: 271
download_size: 54282
dataset_size: 138521
- config_name: Egypt
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 133067
num_examples: 265
download_size: 48436
dataset_size: 133067
- config_name: Jordan
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 151700
num_examples: 290
download_size: 53190
dataset_size: 151700
- config_name: KSA
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 131864
num_examples: 261
download_size: 49944
dataset_size: 131864
- config_name: Lebanon
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 122498
num_examples: 255
download_size: 49462
dataset_size: 122498
- config_name: Libya
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 141730
num_examples: 239
download_size: 57006
dataset_size: 141730
- config_name: Morocco
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 132122
num_examples: 276
download_size: 51299
dataset_size: 132122
- config_name: Palestine
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 137975
num_examples: 273
download_size: 49556
dataset_size: 137975
- config_name: Sudan
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 145257
num_examples: 256
download_size: 53385
dataset_size: 145257
- config_name: Syria
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 120795
num_examples: 279
download_size: 44754
dataset_size: 120795
- config_name: Tunisia
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 121372
num_examples: 261
download_size: 44710
dataset_size: 121372
- config_name: UAE
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 152835
num_examples: 283
download_size: 56690
dataset_size: 152835
- config_name: Yemen
features:
- name: worker_id
dtype: string
- name: sample_id
dtype: string
- name: sub_topic
dtype: string
- name: first_statement
dtype: string
- name: options
struct:
- name: arabic_keys
sequence: string
- name: english_keys
sequence: string
- name: text
sequence: string
- name: answer_key
struct:
- name: arabic_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: english_answer_key
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_this_country
dtype: string
- name: relevant_to_other_countries
dtype: string
- name: should_discard
dtype: string
- name: country
dtype: string
- name: region
dtype: string
splits:
- name: test
num_bytes: 132363
num_examples: 273
download_size: 45738
dataset_size: 132363
configs:
- config_name: Algeria
data_files:
- split: test
path: Algeria/test-*
- config_name: Egypt
data_files:
- split: test
path: Egypt/test-*
- config_name: Jordan
data_files:
- split: test
path: Jordan/test-*
- config_name: KSA
data_files:
- split: test
path: KSA/test-*
- config_name: Lebanon
data_files:
- split: test
path: Lebanon/test-*
- config_name: Libya
data_files:
- split: test
path: Libya/test-*
- config_name: Morocco
data_files:
- split: test
path: Morocco/test-*
- config_name: Palestine
data_files:
- split: test
path: Palestine/test-*
- config_name: Sudan
data_files:
- split: test
path: Sudan/test-*
- config_name: Syria
data_files:
- split: test
path: Syria/test-*
- config_name: Tunisia
data_files:
- split: test
path: Tunisia/test-*
- config_name: UAE
data_files:
- split: test
path: UAE/test-*
- config_name: Yemen
data_files:
- split: test
path: Yemen/test-*
ArabCulture 🇦🇪🇵🇸🇪🇬🇸🇦🇾🇪🇯🇴🇱🇧🇸🇾🇸🇩🇲🇦🇩🇿🇹🇳🇱🇾
Abdelrahman Sadallah and Junior Cedric Tonga and Khalid Almubarak and Saeed Almheiri and Farah Atif and Cahtrine Qwaider and Karima Kadaoui and Sara Shatnawi and Yaser Alesh and Fajri Koto
MBZUAI, SDAIA, Al-Balqa Applied University, Khalifa University
ArabCulture is a culturally grounded commonsense reasoning dataset in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), covering 13 Arab countries across the Gulf, Levant, North Africa, and the Nile Valley. The dataset contains 3,482 multiple-choice instances that test cultural commonsense reasoning in real-world daily life situations.
Dataset Summary
Despite the rise of Arabic LLMs, evaluation on culturally relevant reasoning has been limited. ArabCulture fills this gap with questions authored and validated by native speakers, reflecting social norms, traditions, and everyday knowledge in Arabic societies. Each instance presents a short scenario followed by three plausible sentence completions, only one of which is culturally accurate.
- Language: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
- Countries Covered: 13 (KSA, UAE, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya)
- Domains: 12 (e.g., food, holidays, parenting)
- Subtopics: 54
- Instances: 3,482
- Task Type: Multiple Choice (MCQ) and Sentence Completion
- Cultural Context: Region and country-specific
Supported Tasks and Leaderboards
- Commonsense Reasoning
- Cultural Knowledge Assessment
- Zero-shot Evaluation of LLMs
This dataset can be used to benchmark how well Arabic or multilingual models reason within culturally specific contexts.
Citation
@misc{sadallah2025arabculture,
title={Commonsense Reasoning in Arab Culture},
author={Abdelrahman Sadallah and Junior Cedric Tonga and Khalid Almubarak and Saeed Almheiri and Farah Atif and Cahtrine Qwaider and Karima Kadaoui and Sara Shatnawi and Yaser Alesh and Fajri Koto},
year={2025},
eprint={2502.12788},
archivePrefix={arXiv},
primaryClass={cs.CL}
}
License
The ArabCulture dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Contact
For questions or contributions, contact:
Abdelrahman Sadallah ([email protected])
Fajri Koto ([email protected])