IRAQ & THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

DEMOGRAPHICS

Area has just over 94 million people

Iraq, Saudi Arabia & Yemen all have over 20 million people

Life Expectancy: 70 (78 in Kuwait…63 in Yemen) Richer countries

Kuwait ($52,000) UAE ($28,000) Saudi Arabia($23,000)

Poorer countries Iraq($5,000) and Yemen($2,210)

Yemen is the only country on the peninsula that doesn’t have vast oil reserves

FAMOUS PEOPLE

LEADERS

Saudi king: King Abdullah

Dubai Crown Prince: Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

“bin” means “son of”

“al” means “the”

“bin” and “al” are common in Arabic names

Except for Iraq and Yemen, countries are absolute monarchies

Iraqi President: Jalal Talibani

IRAQ

IRAQ

Saddam Hussein gained power in 1979 (was the VP; led a coup against the leader)

1980s: Iraq and Iran fought a bloody eight year war over land possession near the Persian Gulf

Saddam used WMDs against his own people (Kurds)…he suspected they were helping Iran

IRAQ

1990: Iraq invaded Kuwait to gain their oil

Early 1991: U.S.-led/U.N. supported coalition tried to protect Kuwait (Desert Shield) and eventually invaded Iraq (Desert Storm)

Fighting was quick---fewer than 300 American deaths

IRAQ

Iraq military was overwhelmed by coalition weaponry and tactics

IRAQ

End of war was based on cease-fire agreement that said Saddam would get rid of his WMDs and weapon programs

Most leaders felt he did not/was not going to do this

March, 2003---U.S. led coalition(but without full U.N. support) invaded Iraq

IRAQ

Goals were to find weapons, find Saddam and try and create a peaceful, and hopefully, democratic Iraq

Dec. 13, 2003---Saddam was captured; executed on Dec. 30, 2006

Over 4,200 deaths since war began in 2003

IRAQ

Iraqi ethnic makeup is unique for the region

1/3 Shiite

2/3 Sunni

No other country in the region has less than an 88% majority in terms of religious preference

IRAQ

This ethnic & religious diversity creates a situation where Iraq is a country that has people that want vastly different things

This diversity also makes it hard to impossible for U.S. forces to control

Some want a partition of Iraq---but given the diversity, the logistics of that would be tough as well

SAUDI ARABIA – HOME OF ISLAM

SAUDI ARABIA

World’s leading oil exporter: has 25% of the world’s oil…most is on the Persian Gulf coast

Islam is the state religion---almost all are Sunni

Nation uses “sharia” law---sharia involves a very extreme type of punishment system

Includes beheadings, amputations, stonings, lashings, floggings, etc.

SAUDI ARABIA

Punishments are carried out in public in a place called Deera Square in the capital of Riyadh: area is nicknamed “Chop-Chop Square”

Sharia also involves a high degree of gender discrimination

Women can’t drive, only make up 5% of the workforce (lowest in world), women cannot testify in court if a man was present during the crime

DEERA SQUARE

SAUDI ARABIA

Other gender discriminations

Women are commonly covered in a black cloak…women can be punished for not being covered

Separate living rooms for men/women, separate doors

SAUDI ARABIA

Country is home to Mecca---the destination for the Muslim Hajj

Non-Muslims cannot enter Mecca 16 of the 19 hijackers of 9/11

airplanes were Saudis---they dislike the Saudi government for their relationship with U.S.---they feel Saudi Arabia shouldn’t export oil to America; also felt US troops based there during the Iraq war was an insult to the home of Islam.

MECCA

MEDINA

RIYADH

SAUDI ARABIA – OIL FIELDS

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Country also has high amounts of oil

However, the UAE has prepared itself for life without oil

They have taken their oil profits and created places that will make money long after oil is gone…most famous place is the city of Dubai

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

In Dubai, you will find:

World’s fanciest hotel: Burj al Arab

Palm Islands

“The World” islands

The world’s tallest building: the Burj al Khalifa

Malls, indoor ski resorts, water parks, etc.

DUBAI

Has become THE destination over the last

10 years

It is said that Dubai has 15-20% of ALL

the world’s skyscraper construction

cranes.

DUBAI - IN 1990

DUBAI – SAME STREET….IN 2003

DUBAI

DUBAI

DUBAI

BURJ AL ARAB HOTEL

BURJ AL ARAB HOTEL

BURJ AL ARAB HOTEL

DUBAI INDOOR SKI RESORT

DUBAI INDOOR SKI RESORT

DUBAI INDOOR SKI RESORT

BURJ AL KHALIFA

BURJ AL KHALIFA

BURJ AL KHALIFA

BURJ AL KHALIFA

BURJ AL KHALIFA

PALM ISLANDS

PALM ISLANDS

PALM ISLANDS

THE WORLD ISLANDS

THE WORLD ISLANDS

THE WORLD ISLANDS

And some future projects that are scheduled for Dubai (be sure you look at the underwater hotel—the Hydropolis)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_development_projects_in_Dubai

OTHER COUNTRIES IN ARABIAN PENINSULA

KUWAIT Contains 10% of the world’s oil Richest country in the Middle East Was devastated after Iraqi invasion in

1990 QATAR Home of U.S. military headquarters

during first stages of war in Iraq World’s #1 Per Capita GDP $179, 000

KUWAIT

OTHER COUNTRIES IN ARABIAN PENINSULA

BAHRAIN Has heavy foreign work force(has more

foreign workers than non-foreign workers)

YEMEN Has very, very little oil Poorest country in Middle East Issues with fundamentalism and terrorist

organizations; “Arab Spring” revolutionary movement

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/middle-east-

protests/

YEMEN