1.
Arabian Peninsula
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The Arabian Peninsula, simplified Arabia is a peninsula of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian plate. From a geological perspective, it is considered a subcontinent of Asia and it is the largest peninsula in the world, at 3,237,500 km2. The Arabian Peninsula consists of the countries Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Middle East and the Arab world due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Before the modern era, it was divided into four regions, Hejaz, Najd, Southern Arabia. Hejaz and Najd make up most of Saudi Arabia, Southern Arabia consists of Yemen and some parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Eastern Arabia consists of the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert, but in the southwest there are mountain ranges, harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from the northwestern Arabian Peninsula into Jordan and southern Syria. The peninsulas constituent countries are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the island nation of Bahrain lies off the east coast of the peninsula. Six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council, however, this is a disputed term. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the part of the peninsula. The majority of the population of the live in Saudi Arabia. The peninsula contains the worlds largest reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, though historically lightly populated, political Arabia is noted for a high population growth rate - as the result of both very strong inflows of migrant labor as well as sustained high birth rates. The population tends to be young and heavily skewed gender ratio dominated by males. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry, the four smallest states, which have their entire coastlines on the Persian Gulf, exhibit the worlds most extreme population growth, roughly tripling every 20 years. In 2014, the population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936. Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Arabia Haplogroup J is the most abundant component in the Arabian peninsula and its two main subclades, show opposite latitudinal gradients in the Middle East
2.
Tangier
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Tangier is a major city in northwestern Morocco. It is located on the Maghreb coast at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. It is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah prefecture of Morocco, the history of Tangier is very rich, due to the historical presence of many civilisations and cultures starting from before the 5th century BC. Between the period of being a strategic Berber town and then a Phoenician trading centre to the era around the 1950s. In 1923, it was considered as having international status by foreign colonial powers, the city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernisation. Projects include new tourism projects along the bay, a business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal. Tangiers economy is set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port. The citys name is said to come from Tingis, the daughter of Atlas, however, it more likely derives from the Semitic word tigisis, meaning harbour. Tangier is also referred to as Boughaz or nicknamed as the bride of the north by the Moroccans, Tangier was founded in the early 5th century BC by Carthaginian colonists, who were probably the first ones to settle around the coast. The Greeks ascribed the citys establishment to the giant Antaios, whose tomb and skeleton are pointed out in the vicinity, the cave of Hercules, a few miles from the city, is a major tourist attraction. It is believed that Hercules slept there before attempting one of his twelve labours, the commercial town of Tingi came under Roman rule during the 2nd century BC. It was initially autonomous, and then, under Augustus, became a colony and it was the scene of the martyrdoms of Saint Marcellus of Tangier. Tingis was the main Roman city of Mauretania Tingitana in the 4th century and enjoyed huge development, in the 5th century, Vandals conquered and occupied Tingi and from here swept across the Maghreb. A century later, Tangier fell to the Byzantine Empire, before coming under the control of the Umayyad Caliphate in 702, due to its Christian past, it is still a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. When the Portuguese, driven in part by religious fervour, started their colonial expansion by taking Ceuta in 1415. They failed to capture the city in 1437 but finally occupied it in 1471, a partial plan of the original kasbah was found in 2009–12, in a Portuguese document now preserved in the Military Archives of Sweden in Stockholm. The Portuguese rule lasted until 1662, when it was given to Englands King Charles II as part of the dowry from the Portuguese Infanta Catherine of Braganza, the English gave the city a garrison and a charter which made it equal to English towns. The English planned to improve the harbour by building a mole, with an improved harbour the town would have played the same role that Gibraltar later played in British naval strategy
3.
Samarkand
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Samarkand, alternatively Samarqand or Samarcand, is a city in modern-day Uzbekistan and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, at times Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of Central Asia, by the time of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. The city was taken by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, the city was ruled by a succession of Iranian, Persian, and Turkic peoples until the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered Samarkand in 1220. Today, Samarkand is the capital of Samarqand Region, and Uzbekistans second largest city, the city is noted for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur and is the site of his mausoleum, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the citys most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city, the city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts, embroidery, gold embroidery, silk weaving, engraving on copper, ceramics, carving, and painting on wood. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures, the name probably originates in the Sogdian words asmara, stone, rock and kand, fort, town. Along with Bukhara, Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia, archeological excavations held within the city limits as well as suburban areas unearthed evidence of human activity as early as 40,000 years old, in the late Paleolithic era. A group of Mesolithic era archeological sites were discovered at Sazagon-1, Zamichatosh, the Syob and Dargom canals, supplying the city and its suburbs with water, appeared around the 7th to 5th centuries BC. There is no evidence when Samarkand was founded. Researchers of the Institute of Archeology of Samarkand argue for the existence of the city between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Samarkand has been one of the main centres of Sogdian civilization from its early days. By the time of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia it had become the capital of the Sogdian satrapy, Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BC. The city was known as Maracanda by the Greeks, written sources offer small clues as to the subsequent system of government. They tell of an Orepius who became ruler not from ancestors, while Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexanders initial conquest, the city recovered rapidly and under the new Hellenic influence flourished. There were also major new construction techniques, oblong bricks were replaced with square ones and superior methods of masonry, Alexanders conquests introduced into Central Asia classical Greek culture, at least for a time the Greek models were followed closely by the local artisans. After the Kushan era the city declined, it did not really revive until the 5th century, Samarkand was conquered by the Sassanians around 260 AD. Under Sassanian rule, the became an essential site for Manichaeism. After the Hephtalites conquered Samarkand, they controlled it until the Göktürks, in an alliance with the Sassanid Persians, the Turks ruled over Samarkand until they were defeated by the Sassanids during the Göktürk–Persian Wars
4.
Mocha, Yemen
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Mocha or Mokha is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until Aden and Hodeida eclipsed it in the 19th century, Mocha was the port for Yemens capital Sanaa. Mocha is famous for being the major marketplace for coffee from the 15th century until the early 18th century, even after other sources of coffee were found, Mocha beans continued to be prized for their distinctive flavor—and remain so even today. The coffee itself did not grow in Mocha, but was transported from places inland to the port in Mocha, where it was shipped abroad. Lobo adds that its importance as a port was also due to the Ottoman law that all ships entering the Red Sea to put in at Mocha. Mocha reached its zenith in the 17th century, owing to its trade in coffee, the city boasted of a stone wall that enclosed a citadel, as well as a labyrinth of thatched huts that surrounded the wall from without. Of these, some four-hundred were Jewish households who occupied in trade and he also found a number of European ships in the harbor, three French, four English, two Dutch, and one Portuguese. In the 18th century, a plague decimated half of the citys population, English, Dutch, French and Danish East India companies maintained factories at Mocha, which remained a major emporium and coffee exporting port until the early 19th century. William Moffat, her captain, took the opportunity to prepare a chart of the mouth of the Red Sea, in December 1820, HMS Topaze and ships and troops belonging to the British East India Company attacked the North and South Forts, destroying them. The action was in pursuit of British demands on the government of the city, a decade and a half later, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt would also attack the city and destroy its fortified wall closest to the sea, as well as its citadel. Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited Mocha in the 1830s and he noted that Turkish rebels possessed Mocha. The Turks took it over after they left Egypt while being disgruntled with the rule of Muhammad Ali of Egypt and these rebels, consisting of confederates throughout Arabia, had banded together under one leader named Turkie ben al Mas. When the British took control over Aden, the port in Mocha fell into disuse and it exceeds all my expectations, with regard to the destruction. It looks like a city destroyed by earthquakes, etc. ”Mocha was among the population centers in southern Yemen taken over by the Houthis during their military offensive in March 2015. The city is currently contested by pro-Hadi forces trying to seize the city form Houthis with conflict ongoing, at present, Mocha is no longer utilized as a major trade route and the current local economy is largely based upon fishing and small amounts of tourism. The village of Mocha was officially relocated 3 kilometres west along the Red Sea shore to accommodate the building, köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert. Tadjoura, Djibouti Mocha coffee bean Caffè mocha Published in the 19th century William Milburn, Mocha, Oriental Commerce, London, Black, OCLC6856418 Jedidiah Morse, Richard C. Morse, Mocha, A New Universal Gazetteer, New Haven, S. Converse Josiah Conder, Mocha, Dictionary of Geography, London, Published in the 20th century Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Mokha
5.
Sana'a
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Sanaa is the largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governorate, but forms the administrative district of Amanat Al-Asemah. Under the Yemeni constitution, Sanaa is the capital of the country, Aden was declared as the temporary capital by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in March 2015. Sanaa is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, at an elevation of 2,300 metres, it is also one of the highest capital cities in the world. Sanaa has a population of approximately 1,937,500, in the conflict that raged in 2015, bombs hit UNESCO sites. Located here is the Great Mosque of Sanaa, the largest in the city, Sanaa is one of the oldest populated places in the world. According to popular legend, it was founded by Shem, the son of Noah and it was known as Azal in ancient times, which has been connected to Uzal, a son of Qahtan, a great-grandson of Shem, in the biblical accounts of Genesis. The Arab historian al-Hamdani wrote that Sanaa was walled by the Sabeans under their ruler Shar Awtar, because of its location, Sanaa has served as an urban center for the surrounding tribes of the region and as a nucleus of regional trade in southern Arabia. It was positioned at the crossroad of two ancient trade routes linking Marib in the east to the Red Sea in the west. When King Yousef Athar, the last of the Himyarite kings, was in power, from the dawn of Islam until the founding of independent sub-states in many parts of the Yemen Islamic Caliphate, Sanaa persisted as the governing seat. The Caliphs deputy ran the affairs of one of Yemens three Makhalifs, Mikhlaf Sanaa, Mikhlaf al-Janad and Mikhlaf Hadhramawt, the city of Sanaa regularly regained an important status and all Yemenite States competed to control it. Imam al-Shafii, the 8th-century Islamic jurist and founder of the Shafii school of jurisprudence and he praised the city, writing La budda min Ṣanʻāʼ, or Sanaa must be seen. Later in the 10th-century, the Persian geographer Ibn Rustah wrote of Sanaa It is the city of Yemen—there not being found, a city greater, more populous or more prosperous, of nobler origin or more delicious food than it. In 1062 Sanaa was taken over by the Sulayhid dynasty led by Ali al-Sulayhi and his wife and he made the city capital of his relatively small kingdom, which also included the Haraz Mountains. The Sulayhids were aligned with the Ismaili Muslim-leaning Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt, al-Sulayhi ruled for about 20 years but he was assassinated by his principal local rivals, the Zabid-based Najahids. Following his death, al-Sulayhis daughter, Arwa al-Sulayhi, inherited the throne and she withdrew from Sanaa, transferring the Sulayhid capital to Jibla, where she ruled much of Yemen from 1067 to 1138. As a result of the Sulayhid departure, the Hamdanid dynasty took control of Sanaa, in 1173 Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, sent his brother Turan-Shah on an expedition to conquer Yemen. The Ayyubids gained control of Sanaa in 1175 and united the various Yemeni tribal states, except for the northern mountains controlled by the Zaydi imams, the Ayyubids switched the countrys official religious allegiance to the Sunni Muslim Abbasids
6.
Taiz
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Taiz is a city in the Yemeni Highlands, near the famous Mocha port on the Red Sea, lying at an elevation of about 1,400 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate, with a population of over 600,000 in 2005, it is the third largest city in Yemen after the capital Sanaa and the southern port of Aden. When Yemen was at peace, it was considered to be the capital of Yemen. During the 2011 Yemeni Revolution, a battle in Taiz between supporters and opponents of Ali Abdullah Saleh led to a rebel victory, as part of the 2015 Yemeni Civil War, the city endured a military confrontation between Houthis and the forces loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The city was effectively under siege and the United Nations warned of an extreme, in 130 CE the Jewish quarter was established in the city. Taiz was ruled by Turan-Shah, the brother of Saladin. Turan-Shah built the citadel on the hill overlooking the old city, the second Rasulid King, Almaddhafar, established Taiz as the second capital of the Rasulid Dynasty after Zabid. Ibn Battutah visited Taiz in the century and described it as one of the largest and most beautiful cities of Yemen. Taiz remained a city until 1948 when Imam Ahmed made it the second capital of Yemen. The Taiz shooting took place on March 25 and 261994, a Yemenite killed eleven women and seven men, among them his wife and his mother, before he was arrested by police. When he was led away he managed to wrest the gun from an officer and kill another four people. A total of 23 people were killed, including the suspect During the 2011 Yemeni uprising fighting in Taiz resulted in anti-government forces seizing control of the city. On 22 March 2015, the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh took the city in the aftermath of their coup détat in Sanaa, in August 2015 Yemeni MP Muhammad Muqbil Al-Himyari reported Houthi attacks on civilians in Taiz and appealed for help on Suhail TV. 1175, Taiz is made capital of Yemen as it was incorporated into dominions of the Ayyubid dynasty by Turan-Shah,1500, The capital is moved to Sanaa by the ruler of the Taharid dynasty. 1516, Taiz comes under Ottoman control,1918, The Ottomans lose Taiz to the new independent Yemen. 1948, Taiz becomes the capital of Yemen, as it is made the residence of the imam. 1962, State administrations move back to Sanaa, 1960s, The first purified water system in Yemen is opened in Taiz. Taiz has a Humid subtropical climate, the average daily temperature high during August is 33 °C
7.
Gendarmerie General Command
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The Gendarmerie is essentially a governmental armed security and law enforcement force of military nature. It also operates the Askeri İnzibat provost service, policing the armed forces, the Commander of the Gendarmerie reports to the Minister of the Interior. The Gendarmerie has its roots in the Ottoman Empire military law enforcement organization Subaşı, a similar, earlier force was called Şurta during the medieval Seljuq Empire. Therefore, taking the June 14 of June 14,1869, on which Asâkir-i Zaptiye Nizâmnâmesi was adopted, after 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War, Ottoman prime minister Mehmed Said Pasha decided to bring some officers from Britain and France to establish a modern law enforcement organization. After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the Gendarmerie achieved great successes, in 1909, the Gendarmerie was affiliated with the Ministry of War, and its name was changed to the Gendarmerie General Command. The Gendarmerie organization achieved its current legal status after Law No.1706 entered into force on June 10,1930, in 1939, the Gendarmerie organization was restructured, having three groups, Fixed Gendarmerie Units, Mobile Gendarmerie Units, and Gendarmerie Training Units and Schools. In 1957, Gendarmerie Border Units were transformed into brigades, in 1961, Gendarmerie Regional Commands were established. In 1968, the first Gendarmerie Aviation Unit was established in Diyarbakır under the name of Light Helicopter Company Command, in 1974, Gendarmerie Commando Units and Gendarmerie Aviation Units took part in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Law No.2692 which entered force in 1982 assigned the duty of protecting the coasts. Law No.2803 on the Organization, Duties and Responsibilities of the Gendarmerie entered into force in 1983, Crime Scene Examination Teams, Explosive Material Disposal Units, Fingerprints and Palm Prints Branches and Crime Scene Examination Units were also established. Since 1984, Gendarmerie units have been the most important element of the conflict against Kurdish separatists, list of General Commanders of the Gendarmerie of Turkey Constabulary Gendarmerie Military equipment of Turkey General Command of Gendarmerie Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı
8.
Siwa Oasis
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The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Western Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo. Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Ammon, historically, it is part of Ancient Libya. The Siwa oasis is in a depression that reaches below sea level. To the west the Jaghbub oasis lies in a similar depression, the oasis was called Ammonium in ancient times. Early Arab geographers termed it Santariyyah and its modern name Siwa, first attested in the 15th century, is of uncertain origin. Although the oasis is known to have settled since at least the 10th millennium BC, the earliest evidence of connection with ancient Egypt is the 26th Dynasty. During the Ptolemaid period of Egypt its ancient Egyptian name was sḫ. t-ỉm3w, Greek settlers at Cyrene made contact with the oasis around the same time, and the oracle temple of Amun, who, Herodotus was told, took the image here of a ram. Herodotus knew of a fountain of the Sun that ran coldest in the noontide heat, during his campaign to conquer the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great reached the oasis, supposedly by following birds across the desert. Evidence of Christianity at Siwa is uncertain, but in 708 the Siwans resisted an Islamic army, a local manuscript mentions only seven families totaling 40 men living at the oasis in 1203. In the 12th century Al-Idrisi mentions it as being inhabited mainly by Berbers, with an Arab minority, the Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi travelled to Siwa in the 15th century and described how the language spoken there is similar to the language of the Zenata. The first European to visit since Roman times was the English traveler William George Browne, the oasis was officially added to Egypt by Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1819. In the Spring of 1893, German explorer and photographer, Hermann Burchardt, took photographs of the architecture of the town of Siwa, consequently, Arab rule from distant Cairo was at first tenuous and marked by several revolts. Siwa was also the site of fighting during World War I. The British Armys Long Range Desert Group was based here, German soldiers went skinny dipping in the lake of the oracle, contrary to local customs which prohibit public nudity. In 1942 while the Italian 136th Infantry Division Giovani Fascisti occupied the oasis, the oasis makes a brief appearance as a base of the LRDG in the 1958 war film Ice Cold in Alex. The ancient fortress of Siwa, known as the Shali Ghadi, was built on rock and made of kershif. Only one building in the Shali complex has been repaired and is in use, gradually eroded by infrequent rains and slowly collapsing, the Shali remains a prominent feature, towering five stories above the modern town and lit at night by floodlights. It is most easily approached from its southwest side, south of the end of the road which curves around from the north side of the Shali
9.
Kuwait
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Kuwait /kuːˈweɪt/, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people,1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates, expatriates account for 70% of the population. Oil reserves were discovered in 1938, from 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability, in 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by coalition forces, at the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a political system. It has an income economy backed by the worlds sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world, according to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The Constitution was promulgated in 1962, making Kuwait the most democratic country in the region, Kuwait ranks highly in regional metrics of gender equality, as it has the regions highest Global Gender Gap ranking. During the Ubaid period, Kuwait was the site of interaction between the peoples of Mesopotamia and Neolithic Eastern Arabia, mainly centered in As-Subiya in northern Kuwait. The earliest evidence of habitation in Kuwait dates back 8000 B. C. where Mesolithic tools were found in Burgan. As-Subiya in northern Kuwait is the earliest evidence of urbanization in the whole Persian Gulf basin area, mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of Failaka in 2000 B. C. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur inhabited Failaka and ran a mercantile business, the island had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B. C. The Neolithic inhabitants of Kuwait were among the worlds earliest maritime traders, one of the worlds earliest reed-boats was discovered in northern Kuwait dating back to the Ubaid period. In 3rd century BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the bay of Kuwait under Alexander the Great, according to Strabo and Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka Ikaros because it resembled the Aegean island of that name in size and shape. Remains of Greek colonization include a large Hellenistic fort and Greek temples, in 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan, Akkaz was a Partho-Sassanian site, the Sassanid religions tower of silence was discovered in northern Akkaz
10.
Bahrain
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Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is a small Arab monarchy in the Persian Gulf. Bahrains population is 1,234,567, including 666,172 non-nationals and it is 780 km2 in size, making it the third smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation and it has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries, which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam, following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521, who in turn were expelled in 1602 by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty under the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family, in the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. Formerly a state, Bahrain was declared a Kingdom in 2002, in 2011, the country experienced protests inspired by the regional Arab Spring. Bahrain had the first post-oil economy in the Persian Gulf, since the late 20th century, Bahrain has invested in the banking and tourism sectors. Many large financial institutions have a presence in Manama, the countrys capital, Bahrain has a high Human Development Index and was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy. In Arabic, Bahrayn is the form of bahr, so al-Bahrayn means the two seas, although which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. The term appears five times in the Quran, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as Awal— but rather to all of Eastern Arabia. Today, Bahrains two seas are generally taken to be the bay east and west of the island. In addition to wells, there are areas of the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the water as noted by visitors since antiquity. An alternate theory with regard to Bahrains toponymy is offered by the al-Ahsa region, another supposition by al-Jawahari suggests that the more formal name Bahri would have been misunderstood and so was opted against. Until the late Middle Ages, Bahrain referred to the region of Eastern Arabia that included Southern Iraq, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, the region stretched from Basra in Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayns Bahrayn Province, the exact date at which the term Bahrain began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as Bahrain for a millennium, the island and kingdom were also commonly spelled Bahrein into the 1950s. Bahrain was home to the Dilmun civilization, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia, Bahrain was later ruled by the Assyrians and Babylonians. From the 6th to 3rd century BC, Bahrain was part of the Persian Empire ruled by the Achaemenian dynasty, by about 250 BC, Parthia brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman
11.
Qatar
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Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a sovereign country located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the island country of Bahrain, as well as sharing maritime borders with the United Arab Emirates. Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until gaining independence in 1971, Qatar has been ruled by the House of Thani since the early 19th century. Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani was the founder of the State of Qatar, Qatar is a hereditary monarchy and its head of state is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Whether it should be regarded as a constitutional or a monarchy is a matter of opinion. In 2003, the constitution was approved in a referendum. In early 2017, Qatars total population was 2.3 million,313,000 Qatari citizens and 2.6 million expatriates, Qatar is a high income economy and is a developed country, backed by the worlds third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves. The country has the highest per capita income in the world, Qatar is classified by the UN as a country of very high human development and is the most advanced Arab state for human development. Qatar is a significant power in the Arab world, supporting several rebel groups during the Arab Spring both financially and through its globally expanding media group, Al Jazeera Media Network. For its size, Qatar wields disproportionate influence in the world, Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Arab country to do so. A century later, Ptolemy produced the first known map to depict the peninsula, the map also referenced a town named Cadara to the east of the peninsula. The term Catara was exclusively used until the 18th century, after which Katara emerged as the most commonly recognised spelling, eventually, the modern derivative Qatar was adopted as the countrys name. In Standard Arabic, the name is pronounced, while in the local dialect it is, Human habitation of Qatar dates back to 50,000 years ago. Settlements and tools dating back to the Stone Age have been unearthed in the peninsula, Mesopotamian artefacts originating from the Ubaid period have been discovered in abandoned coastal settlements. Al Daasa, a settlement located on the western coast of Qatar, is the most important Ubaid site in the country and is believed to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment. Kassite Babylonian material dating back to the second millennium BC found in Al Khor Islands attests to trade relations between the inhabitants of Qatar and the Kassites in modern-day Bahrain, among the findings were 3,000,000 crushed snail shells and Kassite potsherds. It has been suggested that Qatar is the earliest known site of shellfish dye production, in 224 AD, the Sasanian Empire gained control over the territories surrounding the Persian Gulf
12.
Abu Dhabi
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Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, and also capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAEs seven emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014, Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabis rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large. Today the city is the center of political and industrial activities. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy, Abu Dhabi is the fourth most expensive city for expatriate employees in the region, and in 2014 was the 68th most expensive big city in the world. Abu Dhabi is full of evidence that points to civilizations, such as the Umm an-Nar Culture. Settlements were also found farther outside the city of Abu Dhabi. There is evidence of civilizations around the mountain of Hafeet and this location is very strategic because it is the UAE’s second tallest mountain, so it would have great visibility. It also contains a lot of moisture in its springs and lakes, origin of the name Abu Dhabi The origin of the name Abu Dhabi is uncertain. Meaning Father of the Gazelle, when translated from Arabic. According to Bilal al-Budoor, assistant under-secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, The area had a lot of dhibaa, an old story tells about a man who used to chase deer and was named the father of the animal. Abu Dhabis original name was Milh salt, possibly referring to the salty water of the Persian Gulf, some Bedouins called the city Umm Dhabi, while British records refer to the place as Abu Dhabi. According to some accounts, the name Abu Dhabi was first used more than 300 years ago. The first word of Abu Dhabi is pronounced Bu by inhabitants on the western coast. In the eastern part of the city, the pronunciation is Abu, origins of the Al Nahyan family The Bani Yas bedouin were originally centered on the Liwa Oasis. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections, in 1793, the Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the Persian Gulf due to the discovery of fresh water there. One family within this section was the Al Nahyan family and this family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today
