Arabic numerals are the ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The term often implies a decimal number written using these digits.

The numerals were developed in the Maghreb in North Africa. It was in the Algerian city of Bejaia that the Italian scholar Fibonacci (c. 1170 – c. 1240–50) first encountered the numerals; his work was crucial in making them known throughout Europe. European trade, books, and colonialism helped popularize the adoption of Arabic numerals around the world. The numerals have found worldwide use significantly beyond the contemporary spread of the Latin alphabet, intruding into the writing systems in regions where other numerals had been in use, such as Chinese and Japanese writing.

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