1. The Middle East

4. Basic Facts  6.2% of Earth’s land  Highest Point – Mount Damavand, Iran18,406 feet  Lowest Point – Dead Sea -1,388 feet  Largest Country – Saudi Arabia 756,985 sq. miles  Smallest Country – Bahrain 257 sq. miles

6. Basic Facts  Major Languages – Arabic, English, Turkish, Persian  Major Religions – Islam, Judaism, Christianity  Cradle of Civilization  Birthplace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

8. Deserts  Arabian Desert – one of the largest deserts in the world  consist of differing types of deserts  900,000 sq. miles

9. Turkey

11. Mountains  Hindu Kush - Form natural border between Afghanistan and Pakistan - Highest Point - Tirich Mir 25,282 ft.  Taurus - possibly where Noah’s Ark landed  Zagros - Extends from Afghanistan to China and Pakistan - Highest point - Pik Samani 24,590 ft.

14. Rivers  Euphrates - Flows from Armenia to Iraq for 2,235 miles - Longest river in Middle East - Fertile Crescent - The Cradle of Civilization  Tigris – Flows from Turkey to Iraq for 1,180 miles - Fertile Crescent - The Cradle of Civilization

17. Most Populated Countries  17 Iran 75,078,000  18 Turkey 72,561,312  39 Iraq 31,467,000  42 Afghanistan 29,117,000  46 Saudi Arabia 26,246,000  96 Israel 7,602,400

20. Most Populated Cities  21. Istanbul, Turkey (13,576,000)  42. Tehran, Iran (7,419,000)  87. Ankara, Turkey (4,172,000)

23. Timeline  5000 BC Wheel and plow invented  3000 BC Bronze Age begins  3100 BC Cuneiform writing invented  1867 BC Babylon founded  1700 BC Windmills invented for irrigation purposes  1600-1360 BC Egypt dominates the region of Canaan and Syria  1250 BC Hebrews establish a kingdom in Palestine  1041 BC Jerusalem designated the capital of the Kingdom of Israel  1000 BC Iron Age begins  600 BC Cyrus the Great creates the Persian Empire  331 BC Alexander the Great overpowers Persia

25. Dome of the Rock

26. Timeline  50 AD Christianity emerges  634 AD Muslim Empire created  1200 Mongols invade the Middle East  1517-1918 Ottoman Empire  1948 Israel founded  2010 Arab Spring brings major protests, uprisings and revolutions to several Middle Eastern countries

29. Afghanistan

30. Egypt

31. Saudi Arabia

32. Iran

33. Iraq

34. Israel

35. Jordan

36. Lebanon

37. Syria

38. Turkey

39. United Arab Emirates