The Arabian Peninsula Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen

Largest sand desert Largest land mass without one body of fresh water Largest known petroleum reserves

Oil Transforms the Region Fishing and Trading along the coasts Small towns in oases Herded camels, goats, sheep Houses made of sun dried bricks Enormous wealth Hospitals, schools, roads, airports, Desalination plants InfrastructureUrbanization Engineers, computer programers, CEOs Economic diversification

Saudi Arabia - Riyadh Developed in one generation Tries to balance growth and change with traditional Muslim culture Family is important No public places of entertainment Women cannot associate with men outside their family Women work in female only occupations

Oman – (Muscat) Life is still traditional for most people Herders and farmers Farmers in Oman use the falaj system to water crops Oman is using oil revenues to build infrastructure

Yemen – Sana’a Poorest country on the peninsula Little oil, large population North and South Yemen united in spring parliamentary elections Women could vote

Bahrain – Manama United Arab Emirates – Abu Dhabi Qatar – Doha Kuwait - Kuwait

OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Meet regularly to decide how much to oil to produce Goal is to increase profits and decrease the power of western oil companies

What happened to the price of oil in 1979 and 1991? What could have caused this?