The cosmopolitan elite of Europe and the Arab and Ottoman world felt equally comfortable on both shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
The people who crossed the Mediterranean to live in another country included individual members of the upper classes who chose to move abroad – either temporarily or permanently – in order to follow their scholarly interests, to pursue their careers, for business, for education or for a wide range of other objectives. Meanwhile, 19th-century governments of the Ottoman Empire and of Arab countries sent serving or prospective government officials to study and broaden their skills overseas. On the whole, this flow of privileged individuals to and fro led to the creation of a Mediterranean elite that moved confidently between European and Arab and Ottoman cultures and traditions.