South-west Asia
South-west Asia:
- includes most of the "Middle East" except for Egypt and Central Asia
- also includes Turkey & the Caucasus which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan
& Georgia which are sandwiched between the Russian Federation, Turkey
and Iran and between the Black Sea in the west and the Caspian Sea in the
east.
Turkey:
- capital: Ankara
- area: 780,580 sq.km
- pop: 65.7m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: Turkish lira
- language: Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic
- religion: Sunni Muslim 98%, Christian & Jewish 2%
- geography:
- bordered to north by Bulgaria & the Black Sea, the south by Iraq,
Syria & the Mediterranean Sea, the east by Iran, the west by Aegean
Sea & Greece
- two east-west mountain ranges enclose the Central Anatolian Plateau ,
but join in a vast mountainous region in the far east
-
Armenia:
- capital: Yerevan
- area: 29,800 sq.km
- pop: 3.3m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: dram
- language: Armenian/Russian
- religion: Armenian Orthodox 94%
- geography:
- bordered to the north by Georgia, the south by Iran, the east by
Azerbaijan & the west by Turkey.
- mountainous with several peaks above 3000m
Azerbaijan:
- capital: Baku
- area: 86,600 sq.km
- pop: 7.8m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: manat
- language: Azeri, Russian, Armenian
- religion: Shi'ite muslim 70%, Sunni muslim 30%
- geography:
Georgia:
- capital: Tbilisi
- area: 69,700 sq.km
- pop: 5m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: Iari
- language: Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Azeri
- religion: Georgian Orthodox 65%, Russian Orthodox 10%, Muslim 11%,
Armenian Apostolic 8%
- geography:
Iran:
- capital: Tehran
- area: 1,648,000 sq.km
- pop: 65.6m (2000)
- govt: Islamic republic
- currency: Iranian rial
- language: Farsi (Persian), Kurdish, Turk, Arabic languages
- religion: Shi'ite muslim 95%
- geography:
Iraq:
- capital: Baghdad
- area: 437,072 sq.km
- pop: 22.7m (2000)
- govt:
- currency: Iraqi dinar
- language: Arabic, Kurdish, Assynian, Armenian
- religion: Shi'ite muslim 60%, Sunni muslim 35%, Christian 5%
- geography:
Syria:
- capital: Damascus
- area: 185,180 sq.km
- pop: 16.3m (2000)
- govt: republic under military
- currency: Syrian pound
- language: Arabic 90%
- religion: Sunni muslim 75%, other muslim 16%, Christian 10%
- geography:
Israel:
- capital: Jerusalem
- area: 20,770 sq.km
- pop: 5.8m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: new Israel shekel
- language: Hebrew, Arabic, English
- religion: Jewish 83%, Muslim (mostly Sunni) 13%, Christian 4%
- geography:
Saudi Arabia:
- capital: Riyadh
- area: 1,960,582 sq.km
- pop: 22m (2000)
- govt: monarchy
- currency: Saudi riyal
- language: Arabic
- religion: Muslim 99%
- geography:
Jordan:
- capital: Amman
- area: 89,213 sq.km
- pop: 5m (2000)
- govt: constitutional monarchy
- currency: Jordan dinar
- language: Arabic, English
- religion: Sunni muslim 80%, Christian 8%
- geography:
Lebanon:
- capital: Beirut
- area: 10,400 sq.km
- pop: 3.6m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: Lebanese pound
- language: Arabic, French, English, Armenian
- religion: Muslim 75%, Christian 25%
- geography:
United Arab Emirates:
- capital: Abu Dhabi
- area: 82,880 sq.km
- pop: 2.4m (2000)
- govt: federation of 7 autonomous emirates
- currency: Emirian dirham
- language: Arabic, English, Hindu, Urdu, Farsi
- religion: Sunni muslim 80%, Shi'ite muslim 16%, Christian, Hindu
- geography:
Kuwait:
- capital: Kuwait
- area: 17,820 sq.km
- pop: 2m (2000)
- govt: constitutional monarchy
- currency: Kuwait dinar
- language:Arabic, English
- religion: Sunni muslim 45%, Shi'ite muslim 40%, Christian, Hindu, Parsi
- geography:
Qatar:
- capital: Doha
- area: 11,437 sq.km
- pop: 0.7m (2000)
- govt: absolute monarchy (emirate)
- currency: Qatari riyal
- language:Arabic, English
- religion: Muslim 95%
- geography:
Oman:
- capital: Muscat
- area: 212,457 sq.km
- pop: 2.5m (2000)
- govt: sultanate - absolute monarchy
- currency: Omani rial
- language: Arabic, English, Beluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects
- religion: Ibadhi muslim 75%, Sunni, Shi'ite, some Hindu
- geography:
Yemen:
- capital: San'a
- area: 527,970 sq.km
- pop: 17.5m (2000)
- govt: republic
- currency: Yemen rial
- language: Arabic
- religion: Shi'ite 60%, Sunni 40%
- geography:
Bahrain:
- capital: Manama
- area: 620 sq.km
- pop: 0.6m (2000)
- govt: absolute monarchy
- currency: Bahraini dinar
- language: Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, English
- religion: Shi'ite 70%, Sunni 30%
- geography: