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...the Moors. The Crusades brought Turkish carpets to all of Europe, where they were primarily hung on walls or used on tables. Only with the opening of trade routes in the 17th century were significant numbers of Persian rugs introduced to Western Europe.

Some use the words carpet and rug interchangeably. Historically, however, some have distinguished between carpet and rug based on size (the former being larger) or use (carpets on floors, rugs on beds or on the hearth). For the sake of clarity, some textile scholars also differentiate between carpets and carpeting. In this usage, the latter are wall-to-wall and are often woven or tufted as "roll goods", most often in 12 foot widths but sometimes in up to 15 foot widths. In the real estate and home improvement industries a distinction is made between carpet (or carpeting) and rug. The former indicates a covering that is affixed to a floor and the latter a floor covering that is loose-laid, most often for decorative purposes.

The global carpet market for domestic and industrial end use is dominated by three manufacturing processes:

Woven: The carpet is produced on a loom similar to woven cloth and is a cut pile. Normally many coloured yarns are used and this process is capable of producing intricate patterns from pre-determined designs. These carpets are normally the most expensive.

Tufted: The carpet is produced on a tufting machine using a single-colored or sometimes non-colored yarn. If non-colored yarn is used the carpet will later be dyed or printed with a design. Tufted carpets can be either cut pile, loop pile or a combination of both. Tufting machines produce many more metres of carpet per hour than weaving does, and tufted carpets are usually low- to medium-priced. Modern tufting technology allows basic geometric patterns to be produced in addition to solid color.

Needlefelt: These carpets are more technologically advanced. Needlefelts are produced by electrostatic attraction of individual synthetic fibers forming an extremely durable carpet. These carpets are normally found in the contract market such as hotels etc. where there is a lot of traffic.

A flatweave carpet is created by interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads. Types of oriental flatwoven carpet include kilim, soumak, plain weave, and tapestry weave. Types of European flatwoven carpets include Venetian, Dutch, damask, list, haircloth, and ingrain (aka double cloth, two-ply, triple cloth, or three-ply).

A hooked rug is a simple type of rug handmade by pulling strips of cloth such as wool or cotton through the meshes of a sturdy fabric such as burlap. This type of rug is now generally made as a handicraft.

On a knotted pile carpet (formally, a supplementary weft cut-loop pile carpet), the structural weft threads alternate with a supplementary weft that rises at right angles to the surface of the weave. This supplementary weft is attached to the warp by one of three knot types (see below) to form the pile or nap of the carpet.