[15][16], The Arabian Peninsula is located in the continent of Asia and is bounded by (clockwise) the Persian Gulf on the northeast, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on the east, the Arabian Sea on the southeast, the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea on the south, and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on the southwest and the Red Sea, which is located on the southwest and west. Last Updated: May 9, 2019. There are also many people of Persian descent in some of the Persian Gulf countries. Salt, iron implements, pottery, and possibly copper ornaments passed from hand to hand and were traded widely. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. During this time early humans also developed those social, cognitive, and linguistic traits that distinguish Homo sapiens. Similarly, UNESCO lists Palestine as one of the Arab states and the State of Palestine is a member of the Arab League. Saudi Arabia is bordered by 8 nations: Jordan in the Northwest, Iraq in the North and Northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates in the east, Oman in the Southeast and Yemen in the South. By the 1960s, the Arab states of North Africa were all free from European rule. Archaeologists are divided over whether all these cultural and economic attributes arrived with a single group of new immigrants speaking a new language or resulted from a more piecemeal development of different skills and the adoption of new techniques by indigenous hunter-gatherers, as has already been suggested in the case of herding among the Khoekhoe. Greater stratification and more complex social organization were also probably accelerated by the growth of trading with the outside world and by competition for access to it. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. In exchange for the promise of independence, Arab forces in the Arabian Peninsula helped the French and British conquer the Fertile Crescent. In Namibia the coastal margin includes the extremely dry Namib desert, which, in the south, merges eastward into the great sandy expanse of the Kalahari. Continuing his conquests, Abdulaziz subdued Al-Hasa, Jabal Shammar, Hejaz between 1913 and 1926 founded the modern state of Saudi Arabia. There can be little doubt that for hundreds of thousands of years Southern Africa, like eastern Africa, was in the forefront of human development and technological innovation. [13], The railway was started in 1900 at the behest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II and was built largely by the Turks, with German advice and support. Four main types of vegetation are found: savanna woodlands (known as miombo forest) in the north, a series of dry woodlands to the south of these, arid and semiarid grassland, scrubland, and bushland in the Namib and Kalahari deserts and their environs, and Mediterranean vegetation along the southern coast. Saudi Arabia functions as an absolute monarchy. Saudi Arabia - A Country Profile - Nations Online Project The Arab conquest of Northern Africa began two years later. Shifting geographic and political boundaries and changing historiographical perspectives render this impossible. Muslim pilgrims gathered on the rocky hill Mount Arafat outside Mecca for a day of prayer on the second day of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The narrow coastal plain and isolated oases, amounting to less than 1% of the land area, are used to cultivate grains, coffee and tropical fruits. Saudi Arabia (officially, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is divided into 13 administrative provinces or emirates. While exact dating of cave paintings is problematic, paintings at the Apollo 11 Cave in southern Namibia appear to be some 26,000 to 28,000 years old. In 2014, the estimated population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936 (including expatriates). By the 8th century Arab traders had begun to visit more southerly harbours, and between the 11th and 15th centuries they founded some three dozen new towns. HF0, or Hacker Fellowship Zero, is a start-up accelerator that provides 12-week residencies for batches of fellows from 10 different start-ups. Large quantities of stone were brought to build walls on these hilltop sites, which suggests considerable labour. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Most of the states of the peninsula share common political systems. For other uses, see, AR-Arabian Plate, velocities with respect to Africa in millimeters per year, Coconut palms line corniches of Al-Hafa, Oman, The Arab Revolt and the foundation of Saudi Arabia, see Review of Reviews and World's Work: An International Magazine, Albert Shaw ed., The Review of Reviews Corporation, 1919, page 408]. The seventh century saw the rise of Islam as the peninsula's dominant religion. [17], The Peninsula's constituent countries are (clockwise from north to south) Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the east, Oman on the southeast, Yemen on the south, and Saudi Arabia at the center. The above map represents the Middle East nation of Saudi Arabia. The Houthi movement, dissatisfied with the outcomes of the national dialogue, launched an offensive and stormed the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014. In some areas the expansion inevitably led to conflict as the newcomers came up against settled communities; in others the indigenous inhabitants were gradually absorbed, while elsewhere sparsely inhabited, colder, and more arid mountain lands were colonized. [79], Ain Zubaydah was built to water the pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia by order of Zubaidah bint Ja'far. For details on the State of South Arabia, see, South Arabia in the early modern and colonial eras, South Arabia outside the Republic of Yemen, harvp error: no target: CITEREFBurrowes2010 (, Sally Ann Baynard, "Historical Setting" in, Origin Of Islam In Its Christian Environment Bell, Richard p.g 34, "William the Rebel: Musandam: The isolated land of the Shihuh", Official Website of the Al-Quaiti Royal Family of Hadhramaut, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_Arabia&oldid=1162644946, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox settlement with no coordinates, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, This page was last edited on 30 June 2023, at 10:37. In the 11th century, Turkic peoples from Central Asia began migrating into the Middle East. The country is home to Mecca, Islam's holiest city and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabia-peninsula-Asia, Social Sci LibreTexts - Pre-Islamic Arabia, Academia - Perspectives from the Arabian Peninsula, Arabian Peninsula - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Arabia - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), 'The Hajj is not Mecca': Why prayers at Mount Arafat are the spiritual peak of Islamic pilgrimage. Their evolution into the species Homo habilis and then into the species Homo erectuswhich displayed the larger brain, upright posture, teeth, and hands resembling those of modern humans and from whom Homo sapiens almost certainly evolvedis still fiercely debated. The Fertile Crescent countries of Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon gained independence in the latter half of the 1940s. The war began with a coup d'tat carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal, which dethroned the newly crowned Muhammad al-Badr and declared Yemen a republic under his presidency. With Muhammad's death in 632, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community. The motives of the artists remain obscure, but many paintings appear linked to the trance experiences of medicine men, in which the antelope (eland) was a key symbol. At 3,237,500km2 (1,250,000sqmi), the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.[3][4][5][6][7]. The seasonality is an important control on plant growth and a regulator of river flows. A crescent of sand and gravel deserts lies to the east. After the war, a so-called "Damascus Declaration" formalized an alliance for future joint Arab defensive actions between Egypt, Syria, and the GCC member states. At 9th- and 10th-century sites such as Schroda and Bambandyanalo in the Limpopo valley, the ivory and cattle trade seems to have been of major importance, but later sites such as Mapungubwe (a hilltop above Bambandyanalo), Manekweni (in southwestern Mozambique), and Great Zimbabwe, which date from the late 11th to the mid 15th century, owed their prosperity to the export of gold. "What Are the Countries That Make up the Arab States?" Homo erectus appears to have roamed the open savanna lands of eastern and Southern Africa, collecting fruits and berriesand perhaps rootsand either scavenging or hunting. Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and Morocco have kings as their rulers. [70], In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Sabaean Related Places: Yemen ancient Middle East Saba, biblical Sheba, kingdom in pre-Islamic southwestern Arabia, frequently mentioned in the Bible (notably in the story of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) and variously cited by ancient Assyrian, Greek, and Roman writers from about the 8th century bce to about the 5th century ce. As a civilization it had a profound impact upon the people of Egypt, southern Arabia, Europe and Asia, all of whom were . Other Neighbors Archaeologists argue about how easily groups made the transition from a way of life based on hunting and gathering to one centred on herding or agriculture, but an increasing number of excavations suggest that these boundaries were often permeable. Saudi Arabia (officially, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is divided into 13 administrative provinces or emirates. Apple Hikes iCloud+ Subscription Prices in Many Countries - MacRumors The Arab world is considered an area of the world that encompasses the region from the Atlantic Ocean near northern Africa east to the Arabian Sea. All of these countries, except Jordan and Iraq, make the Arabian Peninsula. Disputes, London: Royal Institute of International Affairs 1991. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . Within a few years after Mohammeds death, the Arabs had conquered the entire Fertile Crescent region. Wealthy homes were those with large numbers of women, and even before the advent of the Atlantic slave trade it had become customary for men to take slave wives who would work in exchange for protection. Who is telling what history for which Africa is a question that needs constantly to be addressed. Most of the Arab world would not see independence until after World War II, though Egypt became independent in 1922, followed by Iraq in 1932. Population Density Information and Statistics, The Difference Between 'Iranian' and 'Persian', Alphabetical List of All African Countries. The Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum invaded South Arabia first in the 3rd4th centuries, then later in the 6th under King Kaleb who subjugated the region, c. 520. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which came to rule much of the Arabian Peninsula, was also formed in 1932. Saudi Arabia is westof Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan. Some Arab states, particularly those in the Persian Gulf, are governed by some form of monarchy. These areas allow for large scale coconut plantations. Until the 1960s, population explosion and migration were the common explanations; subsequent explanations have stressed adaptation. Displays of support for Iraq by Jordan and Palestine resulted in strained relations between many of the Arab states. Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Western Asian Nation, occupying the central region of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. There are various types of political regimes in the Arab countries. In most of these farming communities land was relatively plentiful, while labour was not, and control over people was therefore of the essence. One such organization is the League of Arab States or Arab League, which was formed in 1945 to promote the independence of the Arab countries that were still mostly under colonial rule at the time. The peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Arab world and globally due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. These early farmers settled on arable soils along coastal dunes, rivers, and valley basins. Pop. petroleum production due to its geographical location. The eleven most populous cities on the Arabian Peninsula are: The rocks exposed vary systematically across Arabia, with the oldest rocks exposed in the Arabian-Nubian Shield near the Red Sea, overlain by earlier sediments that become younger towards the Persian Gulf. Explore Southern Africa's landscape, undulating plateaus, the Great Escarpment, and grasslands. It would have comprised Cilicia skenderun and Mersin, Iraq with Kuwait, Syria, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Jordan, and Palestine. Arabia, from the advent of Islam in the 7th century, maintained close ties with other parts of the Middle East through commercial, religious, social, military, and political interactions. Coeditor of, Professor of History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. The UAE shares a border with three countries: Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. Arabia | Definition, History, Countries, Map, & Facts | Britannica Originally confined to the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabs migrated into the Fertile Crescent and Northern Africa, following the Muslim conquests of those areas. Neom Coordinates: 28023N 35129E Neom (styled NEOM; Arabic: , romanized : Niym, Hejazi pronunciation: [njom]) is a planned smart city in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The major developments of the early 20th century were the Arab Revolt during World War I and the subsequent collapse and partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The plains usually have either a tropical or subtropical arid desert climate or arid steppe climate. Abu Bakr's immediate task was to avenge a recent defeat by Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) forces, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an episode known as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy". (French is not official but a language of commerce and spoken by the majority of the population), 22) United Arab EmiratesPopulation: 9,701,3115Official Language: Arabic, 23) YemenPopulation: 28,667,230Official Language: Arabic. The change in usage began to evolve prior to World War II and tended to be confirmed during that war, when the term Middle East was given to the British military command in Egypt. Area 2,314,764 square miles (5,995,215 square km). [76] After numerous attempts, Saleh accepted the Gulf Cooperation Council's mediation. Indeed, the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula were a vital ally of the West against the Ottoman Turks during the war. Nearly all speak Arabic, and differences in dialects, though substantial, do not bar mutual intelligibility. There are some two dozen large national parks and game reserves in the area as well as many smaller ones, most located in the open or partially wooded plains. Aksum was the name of a city and a kingdom which is essentially modern-day northern Ethiopia (Tigray province) and Eritrea. . By 1500 most of the farming communities had stabilized in roughly their present-day habitats, reaching their ecological frontier on the dry southern Highveld of South Africa and gradually clearing the coastal forests. Not all mountains in the peninsula are visibly within ranges. Saudi Arabian Y-Chromosome diversity and its relationship with nearby In the early centuries ce the northeastern African coast was well known to the traders of the Greco-Roman world. The following is a list of all these nations arranged in alphabetical order, including each country's population and language information. From about the turn of the 1st millennium ce, in some areas of what are now central Zambia, southeastern Zimbabwe, Malawi, and eastern South Africa, changes in ceramic style were paralleled by a change in the location and nature of settlements. Before They Were World Leaders: Middle East Edition, https://www.britannica.com/place/Middle-East, GlobalSecurity.org - Near East / Middle East, Public Broadcasting Service - Middle East, Middle East - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Middle East - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Still Cruising: Tom premieres new 'Mission Impossible' adventure in Abu Dhabi, UN calls on Middle East and European nations to raise money for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, Chinese premier meets with Palestinian president in effort to increase Middle East presence, Palestinian President Abbas begins China visit as Beijing seeks larger role in Mideast, Wheat prices jump following collapse of major dam in southern Ukraine. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry. [44] Acheulean tools found in Saffaqah, Riyadh Region reveal that hominins lived in the Arabian Peninsula around 188,000 years ago. Although at first the impact of food production was probably less momentous than is often assumed, agriculture combined with pastoralism and metallurgy could support far larger settled communities than previously had been possible and enabled a more complex social and political organization to develop. The Nabataeans controlled trade in spices and incense from . [5] Other sources claim that Yemen is related to yamn or yumn, meaning "felicity" or "blessed", as much of the country is fertile. For centuries, what now constitutes the Arab countries of the world were controlled by foreign rulers. By the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates]). see History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Stanford J. Shaw, Ezel Kural Shaw, Cambridge University Press, 1977, As cited by R, John and S. Hadawi's, Palestine Diary, pp. Social characteristics reinforce the geophysical factors that have created a somewhat similar environment throughout the peninsula: a homogeneity among the people is seen in a degree of similarity in language, religion, culture, and political experience. [71] The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces led to the 199091 Gulf War. This ethnographical territory [dubious - discuss] is sometimes referred to as Toskeria (Albanian: Toskria). However, the CIA World Factbook does not recognize it as an actual state and the population and language data are therefore from other sources. Desert-adapted wildlife is present throughout the region. It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South. There are still, however, large Christian communities in Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. Air Force 1 x Tiffany & Co. - Nike They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Omissions? For the indigenous people of Southern Africa the frontiers between different modes of subsistence presented new dangers and opportunities. Middle East, the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, encompassing at least the Arabian Peninsula and, by some definitions, Iran, North Africa, and sometimes beyond.