1. Egypt
Turkey
Lebanon
Syria
Jordan
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2. This has been considered Egypt’s lifeline for thousands of years.

3. Nile River

4. Most of Egypt’s people live here.

5. Within 20 miles of the Nile River

6. This waterway allows ships to travel between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, without going all the way around Africa.

7. Suez Canal

8. This group of Muslims invaded Egypt in 641, taking over the country and still dominating it today.

9. Arabs from Southwest Asia

10. This man-made construction has allowed Egypt to control the Nile’s flooding and grow 2 or 3 crops a year, but at the cost of depriving farmers of silt and forcing them to use costly and dangerous chemical fertilizers

11. Aswan High Dam

12. This city is the only one in the world to rest on two continents.

13. Istanbul

14. This ethnic minority without a country makes up 20% of Turkey’s population.

15. The Kurds

16. This city, now known as Istanbul, was the capital of the Byzantine Empire for nearly 1,000 years.

17. Constantinople

18. This body of water marks the dividing line between Europe and Asia in Turkey.

19. Turkish Straits

20. This conflict caused the break-up of the Ottoman Empire.

21. World War I

22. This is why French is one of the official languages of Lebanon.

23. France occupied Lebanon until its independence in the 1940s.

24. This industry employs 60% of Lebanon’s people.

25. Service Industries

26. This nearly led to the destruction of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and is the reason why the city is still being rebuilt today.

27. Lebanon’s Civil War,

28. European tourists once called Beirut this name.

29. “Paris of the East”

30. Lebanon was especially famous for this, even in the Bible.

31. Cedar Trees

32. Since the 1960s, Syria’s political situation can be described in this way.

33. Dominated by the Ba’ath political party.

34. This city is the longest continuously inhabited city in the world.

35. Damascus

36. Syria’s main export is this product.

37. Oil.

38. Syria’s main economic activity is this.

39. Agriculture.

40. Syria has been a center of this economic activity for centuries.

41. Trade.

42. Along with lacking energy resources, Jordan also lacks this important resource.

43. Water

44. Jordan’s 5.5 million population includes over 1 million of this group.

45. Palestinian Refugees

46. Along with Great Britain, Jordan has this type of government.

47. Constitutional Monarchy

48. The River Jordan marks the boundary between Jordan and this country.

49. Israel

50. A constitutional monarchy operates like this.

51. The country is governed by elected officials, but the king or queen is technically the head of state.