1. Ch. 18 Sec I The Culture of the Middle East and North Africa.

2. Sec. 1 Population Patterns A.Many People 1. The Middle East has served as a crossroads connecting Africa, Asia, and Europe. Africa Asia Europe

3. 2. The Middle East has ethnic diversity (differences among groups based on language, customs, and beliefs) because of the interaction with many different people.

4. 3. Important Groups a.Arabs are the largest ethnic group in the region. Most Arabs are Muslims (a follower of Islam) and speak Arabic.

5. b. Israelis make up 6.1 million people and reside mostly in Israel. Israel was founded as a Jewish nation in 1948 resulting in war and conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Israel

6. c. The Turks are descendents of people who migrated to Turkey from Central Asia. Most Turks practice Islam, speak Turkish, and live Western (modern) lifestyles. Turkey

7. d. Iranians live in Iran and speak Farsi and are Shiite Muslims. Shiites are very strict and rule the government.

8. e. Afghanis live in Afghanistan and have multiple ethnic groups and languages. Most people are Muslims. It is one of the poorest nations in the world

9. f. Caucasian people live in the Caucasus mountain countries of Armenia and Georgia. Both have separate languages but practice Christianity. They recently became independent with the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

10. g. The Turkish people of thestans are actually ethnically related to the Turks of Turkey. These were the people who did not migrate. h. The Kurds and Palestinians are peoples without homelands. Kurds live in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria. Palestinians live in Israel and Jordan. Kurds Palestinians

11. 4. With little water and growing populations, the region is finding a hard time supplying food for their people. Cities such as Istanbul, Cairo, Tehran, and Baghdad cannot keep pace with housing and infrastructure needs.