World Geography Ch. 4

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Hasidism

A form of Judaism that arose in eastern Europe in the eighteenth century and that emphasizes mysticism, a personal relationship with God, and a close-knit community

Fertile Crescent

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

jihad

A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal

Qital

A literal war fought to defend the faith,faithful,or weak

Zionism

A movement founded in the 1890s to promote the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Pan-Arabism

A movement that calls for unification among the peoples and countries of the Arab World against the Ottomans and eventually Europeans

jihadist

A muslim who carries out a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty.

hajj

A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims

Hezbollah

A radical Shiʿite Muslim organization in Lebanon engaged in guerrilla warfare against Israel

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

A regional organization that deals with common problems in a unified manner; consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—countries with large oil reserves, small populations, and a location along the Persian Gulf.

Gaza Strip

A territory along the Mediterranean Sea just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula; part of the land set aside for Palestinians, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.

The Arab League

After World War II, Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen formed the organization to promote Pan-Arabism

Sunna

An Islamic model for living, based on the life and teachings of Muhammad

secularism

An indifference to religion and a belief that religion should be excluded from civic affairs and public education.

Petroleum

An oily, dark-colored, flammable liquid found in the earth, consisting mainly of a mixture of various hydrocarbons.

weapons of mass destruction

Biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons that can cause a massive number of deaths in a single use which was claimed that Iraq had developed

Janjaweed

Black Arabic-speaking militia responsible for most of the Darfur genocide

Shari'a

Body of Islamic law that includes interpretation of the Quran and applies Islamic principles to everyday life

Balfour Declaration

British document that promised land in Palestine as homeland for Jews in exchange for Jews help in WWI

Guest workers have been brought in from all over the world to work in all aspects of oil production due to small local populations, lack of skill, lack of interest, and cultural resistance to the oil economy. The most consistent force pushing migrants and refugees out of the area has been due to civil unrest and the lack of economic opportunity.

Describe the geographical distribution of refugees and guest workers within the Middle East. What are some current push and pull factors that motivate people to leave one part of the region and enter another?

informal economy

Economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government; and is not included in that government's Gross National Product

Mecca

Holy city of Islam where followers are expected to pray to 5 times each day

Countries use the Nile and Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as sources of fresh water while also using oases and performing water mining and desalination. Water has become a source of conflict in Anatolia, Turkey where the country harnesses hydroelectric power of river systems at the expense of downstream regional neighbor Syria

How do countries in the Middle East and North Africa manage their water resources? List an example where water become a source of conflict.

The overwhelming belief in the region is that women must be subordinate to men. This is exemplified as men exercise control over women by restricting female access in public space and secluding them within private space. The practice of veiling women varies across the region from all-encompassing body garments (burqa) to a simple headscarf

How do regional views about gender affect the use of public and private space? Are rules concerning the veiling of women uniform throughout the region? If not, how do they vary?

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Organization formed in 1960 by oil-producing states in the Middle East and North Africa to promote their collective interest in generating revenue from oil

afforestation

Planting seeds or trees to make a forest on land that has not been a forest recently, or which has never been a forest.

world religions

Religions that claim to be universally significant to all people

petrodollars

Revenue from oil sales, which the Middle East was very reliant on

Islamism

Revival of Muslim traditions through the reassertion of Islamic values into Muslim politics and the resentment of European and American societies.

Cities in the region have been growing dramatically each year since political independence and the development of the oil economy, workers have flocked to urban centers. Few very wealthy oil producing cities with little population are dealing with urbanization relatively fine; however, most cities are experiencing the erection of shantytowns and difficult social problems that often accompany this kind of urban change

The Middle East and North Africa is becoming highly urbanized. What factors are driving urban growth in this region? How are cities with considerable oil wealth handling their rapid urbanization?

nationalization

The action of bringing land, property and industries under the control of the government instead of private institutes

Qur'an

The holy book of Islam

Orthodox Judaism

The most traditional branch of Judaism based on the strict adherence to the texts of the Old Testament

Shi'a

The second largest sect within Islam. It originated in the early centuries of Islam perhaps over a political dispute over who would be the next Caliph. This group believed that Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali should be the Caliph and that successive political leadership must be divine and derive from descendants of Muhammad

gravity system

Water supply system that relies entirely on the force of gravity to create pressure and cause water to flow through the system. The water supply, which is often an elevated tank, is at a higher level than the system.

The Middle East is extremely violent because of the different ethnicities that live near each other as well as the absolute hatred among different religious beliefs within close proximity. The internet has helped some resistance movements like ISIS spread their jihadist message to the world to possibly gain sympathizers

What are some factors that limit the possibility of a broader peace in the region? How have recent technological changes, such as the Internet, facilitated dialogue and resistance in the region?

guest workers

Workers who migrate to the more developed countries of Northern and Western Europe, usually from Southern of Eastern Europe or from North Africa, in search of higher-paying jobs.

rain shadow

a condition created when winds blow in primarily one direction over mountains or other elevated terrain: the altitude change causes clouds to drop their precipitation on the near side of the mountain, leaving the land on the far side, where winds descend, with little rain or snow

Semitic

a family of languages with largely middle eastern orgin; Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew

Hamas

a militant Islamic fundamentalist political movement controlling the Gaza Strip that opposes peace with Israel and uses terrorism as a weapon

Union for the Mediterranean

a multilateral partnership of 43 countries from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 28 member states of the European Union and 15 Mediterranean partner countries from North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Europe with a focus on security cooperation, immigration, the environment, transport and education

internally displaced persons

a person who has been forced to move within his or her country of origin because of persecution, armed conflict, or natural disasters

apostasy

a total desertion of or departure from one's religion

dry farming

a way of farming dry land in which seeds are planted deep in ground where there is some moisture

intifada

an uprising by Palestinian Arabs (in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank) against Israel in the late 1980s and again in 2000

hydraulic civilizations

any culture having an agricultural system that is dependent upon large-scale government-managed waterworks

fossil fuels

deposits of hydrocarbon that have developed over thousands of years from the remains of plants and animals and have been converted to potential energy sources under extreme pressure below Earth's surface

aridity

dominant climactic characteristic of the Middle East and North Africa which is extremely dry and hot

wet farming

farming that uses water from lakes and other sources because the farmers cant just rely on rainfall

mandates

governments entrusted to victorious European World War I nations over the colonies of the defeated powers

chador

long, black robe worn by Iranian women which still shows the face

carbon market

mechanism in which an emission allowance for co2 is a traded commodity with a set price from supply and demand

Nationalist movements

movements that seek independence for the people of common language, religion, or history living in a country controlled by another power

desalinization

the removal of salt from ocean water to make it drinkable

oases

underground water pockets that percolate up to the surface and represent the main source of water in deserts

First Arab-Israeli War

war where Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq invaded Israel; Arab armies defeated by Israelis and cease-fire agreement negotiated, but no permanent peace treaties signed