US Foreign Policy in the Arab World

Recent survey of Arab opinion shows alarming level of anger at U.S. Go >

Today's News...

May 2003
ver since the war on terror began we have been hearing a lot about Arabs. Who are they? Where do they come from?

Well, we decided to do the research and give you the facts. As you will see, Arabs are a very large group of people, spread out over a vast expanse, who share a common language and heritage.

Arab World
The Arab World extends over 5,300 miles from east to west and spans 6 time-zones. It is nearly 1 1/2 times the size of the United States.

The northernmost point is as high as San Francisco, CA and the southern-most point is at the same latitude as Lima, Peru.

The Arab World encompasses not only much of the Middle East, but also northern Africa.

Arab People
Arabs are spread out over very diverse landscapes and have many different looks, customs and beliefs. Just as a person from San Francisco would not have the same characteristics as someone from New Orleans although they may both speak the same language.

In many ways the region is analogous to the Spanish-speaking people of Latin America.

U.S. Credibility is Running Low
The reasons for the war were misleading: first it was to get Saddam, then it was WMD, then to liberate the Iraqi people (who never asked us to help). Where are the Weapons of Mass Destruction? Where is Osama Bin Laden?

The majority of Arabs live in northern Africa, which contains the world's largest desert. In Arabic "Sahara" means desert, hence its name.

Aside from the desert that many people associate with the region, it is interesting to note that every Arab country has a coastline which is where many of the people live and work.

There are 22 Arab countries* as illustrated on the map. Click on each of them for an in-depth country profile courtesy of the World Fact Book.

Palestine
* Palestine was a British mandate from WWI until 1948, when Israel was formed. The remaining Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are under Israeli control. They were invaded by Israel in 1967 and have been under a brutal military occupation since then. For more on the history of Palestine & Israel click the map below.

Each Arab country is
a member of the esteemed League of Arab States. The membership will probably increase by one if and when Western Sahara (south of Morocco) becomes an independent state and applies to be admitted into the League. It is important to point out that Turkey, Iran and Israel are not Arab countries.

Religion
The majority of Arabs are Muslims. However, the majority of Muslims are not Arab. There are over 1 Billion Muslims in the world, but only 300 million Arabs - you do the math. The reason that this misconception exists is because Muslims have to pray in the religion's original language which is Arabic.

Are you ready to test your knowledge? Take the quiz!

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