Middle East: Geography and Culture

Name: ______Period: ____

Middle East: Geography and Culture

SS7G8a Explain the differences between an ethnic group and a religious group.

CRCT Book pg. 88-94

Ethnic Group:

Definition –

Example -

Religious Groups:

Definition –

Example –

Think About what you read…

What 3 religious groups started in the Middle East and remain the prominent groups in the area today?

Are either ethnic or religious groups restricted by political borders?

Do members of a certain religion all belong to the same ethnic group?

SS7G8b Explain the diversity of religions within the Arabs, Persians and Kurds.

What is the most populous ethnic group in the Middle East?

Ethnic Groups:

Arabs

·  Main religion: ______and call themselves ______

·  Muslims are further divided between ______and ______

·  Many Arabs are ______

·  Whether they are Christian or Muslim, most Arabs speak the ______language.

Persians

·  Live in ______. Prior to WWII this country was known as ______.

·  Their predominant language is ______which uses the ______alphabet but is a different language.

·  They practice ______and belong to the ______group of Muslims.

·  Of Muslims in the world, ______% are Shia and ______% are Sunni.

Kurds

·  Where do they mostly live? ______

______

·  They see themselves as ______

·  What language do they speak? ______

·  What has caused conflict for the Kurds? ______

·  What religion do most Kurds practice? ______

SS7G8c Compare and Contrast the prominent religions in Southwest Asia (Middle East): Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam have what in common? ______

Israel is Mostly ______the rest of the Middle East is mostly ______

Judaism

·  Monotheistic meaning ______

·  Founding figure is ______Traces origins back to ______

·  What is the Torah? ______

Christianity

·  Is a religious movement that grew out of ______Founding figure is ______

·  His followers, called disciples wrote about his life and teachings in ______They are also known as ______

Islam

·  Began in ______Founding figure is ______Call God ______

·  Followers became known as ______or ______

·  The Quran is ______

·  Is Islam monotheistic? Explain ______

·  What are the five pillars? ______

All three religions - are Mono______- this means they believe ______

Religions in order of origin: 1. ______2. ______3. ______

SS7G8d Explain the reason for the division between Sunni and Shia Muslims

- The division between Sunni and Shia Muslims was created upon ______death. - They disagreed over ______.

Shia Muslims believed:

Sunni Muslims believed:

- Do these divisions in the Muslim community still exist today? ______

- Is there a big difference between what these two groups believe? ______

- Which group is a majority? ______What percentage of the Muslim population do they

represent? ______

- In which countries are Shia Muslims a majority? ______

READ AND ANNOTATE THEN ANSWER QUESTIONS

THE ARABS

People who speak Arabic as their primary language are known as Arabs. Traditionally, the Arabs lived on the Arabian Peninsula, but the language and culture of the Arabs spread throughout the Middle East with the expansion of Islam. Arabic is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Today more than 250 million Arabs live throughout the world. Arabs constitute the substantial majority of people in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.

A century after the death of Mohammad in ad632, belief in Islam spread as far as Spain in the west to northern India in the east. Arab merchants and traders extended their influence to as far away as Southeast Asia. Today the nation with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia, a group of islands in Southeast Asia far from the Arab world.

The Arabs were interested in learning and in other cultures. Western Europe was in a period often called the “Dark Ages” from about ad500 to ad1000 because the civilizations of Greece and Rome had been extinguished. During that time, Arabs made great advances in mathematics, medicine, and physical science. Algebra and Chemistry are both Arabic words. Many Western Europeans once used Roman numerals until they discovered the more efficient Arabic numbers we use today.

WRITE A ONE PARAGRAPH RESPONSE:

Who are the Arabs? ______

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KURDS

Seventeen million Kurds are pastoral Muslims with a distinct language and culture. Kurdistan, the land of the Kurds, is a mountainous region that is divided among many countries. The Kurds make up about 18% of the population of Turkey, 23% of Iraq, 10% of Iran, 8% of Syria, and smaller portions of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Lebanon. The Kurds expected to become an independent nation after World War I, but Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk managed to reassert control over much of the region.

The Turks and other host nations have encouraged the Kurds to give up their cultural identity and assimilate into the local populations. The Turkish government has referred to the Kurds as "mountains Turks" though their language and culture have nothing in common with Turkish. Until recently, the Turks have banned the Kurdish language in schools.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Kurds because he said they were disloyal to him in his war against Iran. The United Nations forced Saddam to make the Kurdish region of Iraq a semi-autonomous region after the Gulf War in 1991.

Life would be easier for many Kurds if they rejected their traditions and assimilated into the cultures of their host nations, but it is important to the Kurds that they keep their heritage.

WRITE A ONE PARAGRAPH RESPONSE:

Who are the Kurds? ______

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