<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Arabic numerals, also called Hindu--Arabic numerals, are the ten digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, based on the Hindu--Arabic numeral system, the most common system for the symbolic representation of numbers in the world today . In this numeral system, a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a single number, using the position of the digit in the sequence to interpret its value . They are descended from the Hindu - Arabic numeral system developed by ancient Indian mathematicians around 500 CE . </P> <P> The system was adopted by Arabic mathematicians in Baghdad and passed on to the Arabs farther west . There is some evidence to suggest that the numerals in their current form developed from Arabic letters in the Maghreb, the western region of the Arab world . The current form of the numerals developed in North Africa, distinct in form from the Indian and Eastern Arabic numerals . It was in the North African city of Bejaia that the Italian scholar Fibonacci first encountered the numerals; his work was crucial in making them known throughout Europe . The use of Arabic numerals spread around the world through European trade, books and colonialism . </P>

Where did the shape of numbers come from