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GeoJournal As you read this chapter, use your journal to note the ethnic diversity of North Africa, Chapter Overview Visit the Glencoe World Southwest Asia, and Central Asia. Record Geography Web site at geography.glencoe.com both similarities and differences among the and click on Chapter Overviews—Chapter 18 peoples who inhabit this region. to preview information about the cultural geography of the region. Guide to Reading Population Patterns Consider What You Know As you know, the region of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia is made up of a variety of physi- A Geographic View cal features and climates. Many dif- ferent peoples live in the region. How does the diversity of ethnic Refuge of Peoples groups affect life in North Africa, Arefuge since the last period of Southwest Asia, and Central Asia? Eurasian glaciation, the Caucasus region has been a gateway for Reading Strategy travel, trade, and conquest. Categorizing Complete a web dia- [Despite the numerous power gram similar to the one below by naming the major ethnic groups of struggles] the Caucasus has North Africa, Southwest Asia, and remained a [stronghold] of peo- Central Asia. ples whose identities are tied to the 50-some languages they Ethnic Groups speak. The persistence of the enduring identities of ethnic groups has been aided by the rugged terrain and by societies Read to Find Out whose loyalties are to clan Family in the Caucasus • How have movement and inter- and family as much as to action of people in the region nation or region. led to ethnic diversity? —Mike Edwards, “The Fractured Caucasus,” • How do the region’s seas, rivers, National Geographic, February 1996 and oases influence where people live? • What effect does the growing migration into the cities have Like North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central on the region? Asia as a whole, the Caucasus area has long been home to many Terms to Know peoples. Some of these peoples vanished long ago—defeated in wars, wiped out by famines, or absorbed by more powerful groups. • ethnic diversity Others have survived for hundreds of years and flourish today • infrastructure because of contact with travelers, merchants, and conquerors from Places to Locate distant places. The result is a tapestry as rich and varied as the • Turkey • Kazakhstan region’s much-sought-after carpets. • Afghanistan • Tajikistan • Armenia • Uzbekistan Many Peoples • Georgia • Tehran The region of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia has served as the crossroads for Asia, Africa, and Europe. As a result, the region has remarkable ethnic diversity, or differences among groups based on their languages, customs, and beliefs. El Faiyum oasis, Egypt Chapter 18 439 Bedouins in Tunisia Bedouins, or nomadic Arabs, live in the desert areas of Arabs North Africa and Southwest Asia. Place Which countries are part of the Maghreb? Most people of the region—about 275 million—are Arabs. Most Arabs are Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam, but a small percentage follow homeland. Over the centuries, wars, persecution, Christianity or other religions. Both Islamic culture and trade led many Jews—as the descendants of and Arabic, the language of the Arabs, have had a the Israelites are called—to settle in other coun- significant impact in this region. tries. Their religious identity, however, kept alive Before the spread of Islam in the A.D. 600s, Arabic- their link to the ancestral homeland. Finally, in speaking peoples inhabited the Arabian Peninsula 1948, Israel was founded as a Jewish state. Today and a few areas to its north. Many Arabic-speaking half of Israel’s Jews were born in Israel, and half people today, however, descend from ancient groups have emigrated from elsewhere. such as the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Saharan Berbers, The Arabs of the region, however, did not want and peoples speaking Semitic languages. Currently, a Jewish state in territory that had been their Arabs live in 16 countries, including Libya, Tunisia, homeland for centuries. Tensions between Arabs Algeria, and Morocco—the countries known as the and Jews resulted in four wars that brought Maghreb—“the West” in Arabic. severe hardship to all the people of the area, including the Palestinians—Arabs living in the Israelis territory in which Israel was established. During About 6.4 million people of the region are this period of conflict, many Palestinians were Israelis living in Israel. Of these, 82 percent are displaced from their homes and lived in refugee Jewish. The remaining 18 percent are mostly Arabs settlements in neighboring Arab countries. who are Muslim or Christian. Today agreements between Israeli and Palestinian Jews living in Israel and elsewhere trace their leaders have led to greater Palestinian self-rule. religious heritage to the Israelites, who in ancient Nevertheless, peace is still elusive. Issues such as the times settled Canaan, the land shared today by ownership of the Old City of Jerusalem, the return Israel and Lebanon. The Israelites believed that of Palestinian refugees, and ownership of water and God had given them this area as a permanent other natural resources remain unresolved. 440 Unit 6 Turks Union dissolved in 1991. The Armenians have Over the past 8,000 years, many peoples have had their own language and literature for more occupied Anatolia, the Asian part of what is today than 15 centuries, and in the A.D. 300s most the country of Turkey. Each group added its own accepted Christianity. customs and beliefs to the cultural blend. Turkic In ancient times the Armenians ruled a large, peoples migrated to the peninsula in the A.D. 1000s powerful kingdom. For much of their later history, from Central Asia. One Turkic group, known as the however, the Armenians were ruled by others— Ottoman Turks, later built the Ottoman Empire, Arabs, Persians, Turks, and Russians. In 1915 which ruled much of the eastern Mediterranean about 1 million Armenians in Turkey were massa- world for more than 600 years. When a group of cred, were deported, or died of illness at the hands Turkish citizens was asked to define who a Turk is of the Ottoman Turks. Many survivors fled to today, one of them responded this way: Southwest Asia, Europe, and the United States. The republic of Georgia also became independent ‘I don’t believe anybody is Turkish, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Like the whatever that means,’ he said. Then, Armenians, most Georgians became Christian in “ swinging his arms to take in the lunch the A.D. 300s. Today they have their own Orthodox crowd, he exclaimed, ‘Look at us! A mix Christian Church. The Georgian language, with its of Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Iranians, unique alphabet, is related to other Caucasian languages, which suggests that the Georgians Armenians, Kurds.’ probably originated in the Caucasus region. Thomas B. Allen, “Turkey Struggles for Balance,” Turkic Peoples National” Geographic, May 1994 Most Turkic peoples outside of Turkey, includ- ing Uzbeks and Kazakhs, live in the republics of Most Turks practice Islam and speak the Turkish Central Asia. All of these peoples speak Turkic lan- language. They have a culture that blends Turkish, guages, and almost all are Muslims. Islamic, and Western elements. The Uzbeks form the largest Turkic group in Iranians and Afghans the Central Asian republics. Of the Central Asian Turkic peoples, only the Kazakhs are a minority About 66.6 million people live in Iran, once called in their own country, Kazakhstan. Under Russ- Persia. The word Iran means “land of the Aryans.” ian and, later, Soviet rule, Kazakhstan was set- Many Iranians believe they are descendants of tled by large numbers of Russians, Ukrainians, the Aryans (AR•ee•uhnz), Indo-Europeans who migrated into the region from southern Russia and Germans. Since the end of the Soviet era, the proportion of Kazakhs has increased for two rea- about 1000 B.C. Iranians speak Farsi, and almost 90 sons: a high birthrate and the movement of many percent of them are Shiite (SHEE•EYET) Muslims. On the eastern border of Iran is Afghanistan. non-Kazakhs out of Kazakhstan. This mountainous country is home to many eth- The Tajiks (tah•JIHKS), a predominantly Muslim nic groups that reflect centuries of migrations non-Turkic group in the Central Asian republics, and invasions by different peoples. People in make up most of the population of Tajikistan. Afghanistan speak many languages, and most Tajiks also live in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and practice Islam. speak a language similar to Farsi. Caucasian Peoples More than 50 ethnic groups and nationalities live in the Caucasus area. Armenians and Georgians are among the largest ethnic groups. Student Web Activity Visit the Glencoe World Geography Armenians make up more than 90 percent Web site at geography.glencoe.com and click on Student Web Activities—Chapter 18 for an activity about visiting Egypt’s of the population of the republic of Armenia, cultural and historic sites. which became independent after the Soviet Chapter 18 441 Kurds Population and Resources The Kurds also speak a language related to Farsi, Geographic factors, especially the availability of and most Kurds are Muslims. They live in the bor- water, help determine where the region’s people der areas of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the have settled. Because water is scarce, people have for Caucasian republics, in an area that is sometimes centuries settled along seacoasts and rivers, near called Kurdistan. However, the Kurds have no oases, or in rain-fed highlands where drinking water country of their own. Their efforts to win self-rule is readily available. For example, many people live have been repeatedly crushed by their Turkish along the Nile River in Egypt or in the Tigris- and Arab rulers.

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