Nations of the World!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC1qkLn6IRI&feature=related

Lebanon

• Beirut: formerly the Beirut: formerly the

““Paris of the Middle EastParis of the Middle East””• Reduced to rubble after Reduced to rubble after

Civil War throughout the 1980sCivil War throughout the 1980s• 70% Muslim, 30% Christian. Why?70% Muslim, 30% Christian. Why?• Large Shiite population tied closely to IranLarge Shiite population tied closely to Iran

- Hezbollah- Hezbollah

LebanonReligions

17 separate religious and

ethnic groups officially

recognized • Leadership positions

dependent on religious

majorities

Syria

• Shiite government allied with Iran, but Syria has a Sunni majority

• Lost the Golan Heights to Israel in 1967

• Syria is still officially at war with Israel over this – key Hezbollah leader assassinated by Israel February 2007.

• Current civil war an attempt to overthrow Shiite ruler of Sunni majority

Egypt

• The Nile!• True or False…Oil is the most

important resource in determining

where people live in the Middle East?

• Important in Arab world in population, international relations, mediation between Palestine and Israel, and

location • Suez Canal won in the Suez Crisis 1956• Muslim Brotherhood currently a threat to

secular government

Sudan• Formerly controlled by

Great Britain & Egypt • Civil War; major disparities between the North &

South– Millions of refugees – Drought, poverty, famine, violence

• Push to impose Islamic Law• South Sudan created in 2011

Iraq

• Ba’ath Party ruled from 1958 to 2003 (Saddam came to power in 1979)

• 2nd largest oil reserves in the world

• Infrastructure has been nearly ruined due Saddam’s neglect and U.S. invasion

• Large Kurdish minority in

northwest operates nearly

autonomously

Kurds • Largest non-Arab Muslim minority group• World’s largest ethnic group without a home• Own language & culture• Harsh treatment by others• Mostly Sunni Muslim• Allied with U.S.

Turkey

– Founder “Ataturk”– Old Ottoman empire post WWI– Largest economy and most westernized of

all Middle Eastern countries– Secular government and military, but a

strong fundamentalist movement in Turkey

Turkey

- Kurds: non-Arab, Sunni people that are a nation without a country (Kurdistan)

- Large Kurdish minority involved in guerrilla skirmishes with Turkish government

– Turkey is on both Asia & Europe – improving its treatment of Kurds in an effort to try to join the European Union.

Whirling Dirvishes

Sufi Islam

•Spiritual•‘Mystical’ component of Islam•Brotherhoods organized around a spiritual leader •Dance is an act of love and faith•Ottoman culture roots