Palestinian Territories

Palestine (esp. West Bank & Gaza Strip)

Type of government: Parliamentary democracy

Current head of state: Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas  

Total population:

Gaza Strip: 1,657,155

West Bank: 2,568,555

% of population living in poverty: %

Gaza strip: % 70

West Bank: % 46

GDP: $12.79 billion

Capital: Jerusalem

Gaza Strip: Gaza

West Bank: Ramallah

Largest city:

Gaza Strip: Gaza

West Bank: Ramallah  

Coasts:

West Bank: none

Gaza Strip: 40 km

Major bodies of water:

West Bank: Dead Sea

Gaza Strip: Mediterranean Sea

Major rivers:

West Bank: Jordan River

Gaza Strip: none

Bordering countries:

Gaza Strip: Israel and Egypt

West Bank: Jordan and Israel  

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: temperate, mild winters, dry and warm to hot summers

Geographical features:

West bank: Hilly mountains everywhere  

Gaza Strip: Flat  

Gaza Strip (Yellow)

West Bank

Selected Current Event In Palestinian Territories:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority must choose whether it is interested in peace with Israel or reconciliation with Hamas. In a statement released shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement signed an initial reconciliation deal with the rival movement, reiterated his recent remarks that peace with both Israel and Hamas was impossible. "The Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both. Hamas aspires to destroy Israel and fires rockets at our cities ... at our children," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"I hope the Palestinian Authority will make the right choice and choose peace with Israel," said Netanyahu. "The choice is in the hands of the Palestinian Authority. The deal between Fatah (the mainstream Palestinian movement until a 2006 election victory by Hamas) and Hamas, which took many officials by surprise, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings. The two groups shared a unity government until June 2007, when Hamas staged a bloody coup and took over the Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials choose peace with Hamas but Palestinian officials acknowledge that they must solve their differences with Hamas before they can go to the United Nations.

-- www.haaretz.com/news/

Slave students

 At Sewells Point Elementary school in virginia a fourth grade teacher taught a class on the civil war because it is the 150th  anniversary of the civil war. She had all the colored students in her class be slaves and all the white students be slave masters. She then held an auction for the slaves students and the Slave master students "bought them". The principal of the school had to apologize to the students parents.

Lebanon

Lebanon

Type of government: Republic

Current head of state: President Michel Suleiman, and Prime Minister Najib Mikati

Total population: 4,1431,01

% of population living in poverty: % 28

GDP: $ 58.65

Capital: Beirut

Largest city: Beirut

Coasts: 225 km

Major bodies of water: Mediterranean Sea, and Lake Damascus.

Major rivers: the Litani River, the Al Qasmiyah River,and the Nahr Barada River

Bordering countries: Israel, and Syria

Majority religion: Islam

Climate: mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows

Geographical features: The Biqa valley, and the Great rift system

 Beirut

Selected current event in Lebanon:

 “Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati on Wednesday called for overcoming Lebanese disputes through the use of dialogue.

“We are in need of a rapprochement between the Lebanese in order to achieve comprehensive reconciliation,” Mikati said on the anniversary of the Lebanese Civil War’s outbreak in 1975.
 
The PM-designate was quoted by the National News Agency as saying that the majority of the Lebanese people reject using “the logic of war and internal divisions.” “Ending war does not only happen through ceasefire but through learning the lessons of the past.” The Lebanese Civil War lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 130,000 to 250,000 civilian fatalities.” –nowlebanon.com

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Type of government: Monarchy

Current head of state: King Abdallah bin abd al-Aziz Al Saud

Total population: 26,131,703

% of population living in poverty: %5

GDP: $622.5 billion

Capital: Riyadh

Largest city: Mecca

Coasts: 2640

Major bodies of water: The Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Persian gulf, and Arabian gulf  

Major rivers: none

Bordering countries: Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, United Arab Emirates

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: Harsh dry deserts with temperature extremes

Geographical features: Ad-Dhana Desert, Arabian Desert, An Nafud desert, and the Rub’al Khali desert

Flag of Saudi Arabia

Selected current event in Saudi Arabia:

“Over a hundred people have gathered outside the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Civil Services as anti-regime protests gain momentum in the Middle East powerhouse. The literacy campaign teachers held a rally in front of the Ministry of Civil Services in the Saudi capital on Tuesday, calling for full time employment.
Security forces asked the protesters to leave the place as soon as possible after they were given promises that their demands will be fulfilled.
Similar gatherings have been also held in several other cities in Saudi Arabia such as Taif and Tabouk.” –Tehran Times 

Syria

 Syria

Type of government: Republic under Authoritarian Regime

Current head of state: President Bashar al-Assad

Total population: 22,517,750

% of population living in poverty: % 11.9

GDP: $59.63 billion

Capital: Damascus

Largest city: Damascus

Coasts: 193 km

Major bodies of water: Lake al-Assad

Major rivers: Euphrates and Tigris Rivers

Bordering countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, and Iraq

Largest religion: Christian

Climate: Hot, dry, sunny summers, and mild cold winters. Sometimes snow and sleet in Damascus.

 Temple Ruins at Palmyra

Selected current event in Syria:

“Syrian security forces opened fire to disperse thousands of protesters Friday, killing at least 10 people, witnesses said, as anger at the autocratic rule of Bashar al-Assad erupted again after weekly Friday prayers at mosques. Syrian security forces opened fire to disperse thousands of protesters Friday, killing at least 10 people, witnesses said, as anger at the autocratic rule of Bashar al-Assad erupted again after weekly Friday prayers at mosques.”
--msn.com

Jordan

Jordan

Type of government: Constitutional Monarchy

Current head of state: King Abdullah II

Total population: 6,508,271

% of population living in poverty: % 14.2

GDP: $27.13 billion

Capital: Amman

Largest city: Amman

Coasts: 26 km

Major bodies of water: The Dead Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and The Gulf of Aqaba

Major rivers: The Jordan River, and the Yarmuk River

Bordering countries: Syria, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and West bank

Majority religion: Islam

Climate: mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November to April)

Geographical features: Dead Sea, Jordan River

Jordan Desert

Selected current event in Jordan:

There are protests happening in Jordan. One person was killed and 150 were injured. 57 were policeman, the Public Security Department announced on Friday. The protest of Jordan had been happening for two months when the first death happened.

Israel

Israel

Type of government:  Parliamentary Democracy

Current head of state:  President Shimon Peres

Total population:  7,473,052

% of population living in poverty: % 23.6

GDP: $201.3 billion

Capital: Jerusalem  

Largest city: Jerusalem

Coasts: 273 km

Major bodies of water: The Mediterranean sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Dead Sea

Major rivers: Jordan, Qishon, Yarqon, and the Yarmuk river  

Bordering countries: Syria, Jordan, West bank, Egypt and the Gaza Strip

Majority religion: Judaism

Climate:  temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas

Geographical features: Mt. Carmel, Mt. Hermon, Mt. Meron, and Mt. Gilboa

Flag of Israel

Selected current event in Israel: 

After the regime change of Egypt, Egypt’s new foreign minister Nabil al-Arabi said Egypt will demand that Israel pay the difference between the lower prices it received and market value on the natural gas it purchased under deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The new Oil minister said that Egypt had to renegotiate oil treaties. Arabi also threatened to review and amend security arrangements agreed to in the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty, but he stressed that the two countries would have to agree on any changes.  

Oman

Type of government: Monarchy

Current head of state: King Fahd

Total population: 31,968,361

% of population living in poverty: 18%

GDP: $76.53 billion

Capital: Muscat

Largest city: Muscat

Coasts: 2092 km

Major bodies of water: Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea

Major rivers: none

Bordering countries: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and U.A.E.

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: the climate of Oman is extremely hot and dry most of the year

Geographical features: central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south gets flat in south-west 

 

Private security guards in Oman blocked the main airport in the Gulf Arab state on Wednesday in a demonstration to demand higher pay, witnesses said. Between 400 and 500 security guards, who are employed by private companies, protested on the Muscat airport road. "Our objective of this protest is for our wages to be raised." 

Morocco

Total population: 31,968,361

% of population living in poverty: 19%

GDP: $153.8 billion

Capital: Rabat

Largest city: Casablanca 

Coasts: 1835 km

Major bodies of water: Tyrrhenian Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean

Major rivers: Oumer River, Sebou, Bou Regreg, Tensift, Draa, Sous, Ziz and Gheris.

Bordering countries: Western Sahara, and Algeria

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: Generally the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts have a mild climate with hot summers with wet and rainy short winters. The weather becomes more extreme in the interior with very hot summers and cold winters.

Geographical features: northern coast and interior are mountainous with large areas of bordering plateaus, intermontane valleys, and rich coastal plains central morocco is filled with hilly mountain ranges 

  On February 20, thousands of Moroccans rallied in the capital, Rabat, to demand that King Mohammed give up some of his powers, chanting slogans like: "Down with autocracy" and "The people want to change the constitution”. They were heading towards parliament and police had not tried to halt them, although Moroccan Finance Minister Salaheddine Mezouar said people should not join the march. A separate protest was also under way in Casablanca and one was planned for Marrakesh. 

Tunisia

 Total population: 10,432,500

% of population living in poverty: 22%

GDP: $100.3 billion

Capital: Tunis

Largest city: Tunis

Coasts: 1148 km

Major bodies of water: Mediterranean Sea Tyrrhenian Sea 

Major rivers: Medjerda River

Bordering countries: Algeria, and Libya

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south

Geographical features: mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara some mountains in south

Two U.S. Air Force cargo planes flew blankets, water and other relief supplies to Tunisia on Friday as part of an international effort to help refugees who fled from the fighting in Libya. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that in addition to the C-130 cargo planes headed to Djerba, Tunisia, the U.S. Agency for International Development chartered two civilian aircraft to help repatriate foreign workers who have fled Libya amid an armed insurrection against the government of Moammar Gadhafi. "We know that there is a lot of confusion on the ground that is often difficult for us to sort through to get to what the actual facts are," Clinton said. "But the United States remains deeply concerned about the welfare of the Libyan people.

Sudan

Total population: 41,087,825

% of population living in poverty: 40%

GDP: $92.83 billion

Capital: Khartoum

Largest city: Omdurman

Coasts: 853 km

Major bodies of water: Red sea

Major rivers: Akobo River, Angereb River, Atbarah River, Bahr el Ghazal River, Baro River, Dinder River, Jur River, Kidepo River

Mareb River, Nile, Blue Nile, White Nile, Pibor River, Pongo River, Sobat River, Tekezé River

Bordering countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Central African Republic, Libya, and Chad 

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: Although Sudan lies within the tropics, the climate ranges from arid in the north to tropical wet-and-dry in the far southwest (date varies with my sources, but Southern Sudan is its own country)

Geographical features: tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season varies by region (April to November)

Tens of thousands of people have fled clashes in the oil-rich Abyei region on the border between north and south Sudan, leaving the town almost empty, Medecins Sans Frontieres said Friday. Fighting broke out on Tuesday between fighters from the Misseriya tribe, which supports the government in Khartoum in the north, and the Ngok Dinka people who back the south, which has voted to secede. At least 70 people were killed and two villages razed in two days of clashes north of Abyei, a spokesman for the army in the south said last week.

Algeria

Algeria

Type of government: Republic

Current head of state: Abdelaziz Bouteflika

Total population: 34,895,470

% of population living in poverty: 22.6%

GDP: $159 billion

Capital: Algiers

Largest city: Algiers

Coasts: 998 km

Major bodies of water: Tyrrhenian Sea  

Major rivers: The Chelif, Djedi, Medjerda, and Seybouse rivers

Bordering countries: Tunisia, Mali, Libya, Morocco, and Mauritania

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: Northern Algeria is in the temperate zone and enjoys a mild, Mediterranean climate. In the Tell, temperatures in summer average between 21 and 24 °C (70 and 75 °F) and in winter drop to 10 to 12 °C (50 to 54 °F). Winters are not cold, but the humidity is high and houses are seldom adequately heated.

Geographical features: Clearing of land for agricultural use and cutting of timber over the centuries have severely reduced the once bountiful forest wealth. Hilly in south and flat in central and north hilly in extreme north

Algeria has been through two months of strikes, sit-ins and attempted protest marches. The government just lifted a state of emergency after 19 years. It’s anyone’s guess whether measures like those mean Algeria goes the way of Egypt or Libya. At 2.1 million barrels per day, Algeria’s oil production is slightly greater than that of Libya’s, at 1.8 million. Oil could jump another $15 and oil producers in safer regions of the world will stand to benefit.

Libya

Libya


Type of government: Jamahiriya (a state of the masses) in theory, governed by the populace through local councils; in practice, an authoritarian state

Current head of state: Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI

Total population: 6,461,454

% of population living in poverty:  NA%

GDP: $77.91 billion 

Capital: Tripoli

Largest city: Tripoli

Coastline: 1,770 km

Major bodies of water: Mediterranean Sea

Major rivers: none

Bordering countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, Niger, and Sudan

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior

Geographical features: mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, and depressions some mountains in central

Libya, an oil-rich nation in North Africa, has been under the firm control of Col. Muammar El-Qaddafi since he seized power in 1969. But in February 2011, the unrest sweeping through much of the Arab world started in many Libyan cities. The trajectory of the Libyan revolt has been radically different from those that toppled Arab autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt. Though it began with a relatively organized core of antigovernment opponents in Benghazi, its spread to the capital of Tripoli was swift and spontaneous, outracing any efforts to coordinate the protests, and Colonel Qaddafi has lashed out with a level of violence unseen in either of the other uprisings.

Bahrain

Bahrain

Type of government: Kingdom

Current head of state: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah

Total population: 791,473

% of population living in poverty: NA%

GDP: $21.73 billion

Capital: Manama

Largest city: Manama

Major bodies of water: The Gulf of Bahrain

Coasts: 161 km

Major rivers: None

Bordering countries: None

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers

Geographical features: mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment

 Thousands of anti-government protesters are on the streets in Bahrain, where some have cheered the government's release of more than 300 prisoners.

Some demonstrators joined those who have camped out for several days in Manama's Pearl Square, the symbolic center of opposition protests. Meanwhile, Bahraini authorities have released 308 prisoners, including 25 Shi'ite activists who had been on trial since October accused of plotting against the Gulf state's minority Sunni rulers. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa had pardoned the prisoners on Tuesday, in a gesture toward opposition activists.

Iran

Iran

Type of government: Islamic republic

Current head of state: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Total population: 72,903,921

% of population living in poverty:18%

GDP: $331.01

Capital: Tehran

Largest city: Tehran

Major bodies of water: The Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and The Gulf of Oman

Coasts: Anzali lagoon, and the Amol beach

Major rivers: The Karun River

Bordering countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Turkmenistan

Largest religion: Islam

Climate: Iran has a variable climate. In the northwest, winters are cold with heavy snowfall and subfreezing temperatures during December and January. Spring and fall are relatively mild, while summers are dry and hot. In the south, winters are mild and the summers are very hot, having average daily temperatures in July exceeding 38° C.

Geographical features: Iran is located in southwest Asia and borders the Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Caspian Sea. Its mountains have helped to shape both the political and the economic history of the country for several centuries.

Iran's news had announced that seven protesters were killed when a massive rally against the re-election of Mahmoud Amhadinejad turned violent. A spokesman for the European Commission urged Iranian authorities to allow peaceful protests in the country where civil unrest appears to have reached levels unseen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.