Text: Geography Hot Speaker
Edited by a geographic hothorn
Preamble:
When you think of Arab countries, who comes to mind first? Is it an oil tycoon like Saudi Arabia and Qatar who "has a piece of cloth on his head, and I am the richest in the world", or a fighting maniac like Iraq and Syria?
No matter which one it is, it is only limited to the Middle East, in fact, there are many Arab countries in North Africa, such as Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, etc., although people there also believe in Allah, but do not wear turbans, nor do they wear large robes, but suits and leather shoes, which look almost no different from Westerners.
They both belong to the Islamic world, why are there so big differences? What are the Arab countries in the world, and what is the population area of each one? In this issue, we will talk about the mysterious Arabia.
First of all, to determine whether they are Arab countries, it is necessary to see whether their main ethnic group is Arab, whether they believe in Islam, have the same cultural customs and living Xi habits, and use the Arabic language uniformly.
According to this standard, there are currently 22 Arab countries in the world, forming an Arab world with a population of more than 450 million and a territory of 14.2 million square kilometers. Among them, North Africa accounts for more than 7 percent, while West Asia accounts for only about 28 percent. Why is there such a distribution? It starts with their history.
The history of Arabia began in the 7th century B.C., when the Prophet Muhammad founded Islam and unified the entire Arabian Peninsula, where his family ran for generations, gradually building an Arab empire that spanned three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. When they became stronger, they even drove out the Roman Empire, which was particularly warlike, and occupied the Palestinian region. Until the 17th century, after the rise of capitalism, the Western powers colonized the Arabian Peninsula, and with the division of power among countries, the Arab Empire was also disintegrated into many small states, and after World War II, it actively fought for national liberation and national independence. After they declared their respective states, the Arabs who settled on them were scattered all over the country, forming the current situation in West Asia and North Africa.
So who are the people in West Asia?
In order of total population, there are 12 countries, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Next, let's combine the map and take stock one by one.
The first is Iraq, with a territory of 438,300 square kilometers and a population of more than 43 million, of which about 78% are Arabs, but it is the Shiites, not the Sunnis of the Islamic tradition, who are in power. Iraq is an ancient country with a very long history, and it is also the birthplace of the civilization of the two river basins. On the map, Iraq is located on the southwestern edge of Asia, bordering Iran to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Turkey and Syria to the northwest.
Of course, Iraq itself is also very fond of making trouble, from the Middle East War, the Gulf War to the Iran-Iraq War, they are the main force in it. In addition to religious beliefs and cultural conflicts, the reason why they have been fighting for years is because of oil. Iraq has excellent geographical conditions, rich oil and gas reserves, proven oil reserves of up to 143.1 billion barrels, ranking among the highest in the world, and natural gas reserves of up to 3.17 trillion cubic meters.
Whether it is a strategic location or resource reserves, Iraq is a battleground for soldiers, plus their military technology has also developed well, not only advanced equipment, but also very strong troops, Saddam Hussein even sat on a million elite troops, can be regarded as a military power.
Let's talk about Saudi Arabia, the full name is "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", and there is Arabia in people's names. Saudi Arabia covers an area of 2.25 million square kilometers, with a total population of more than 32 million, and its geographical location is located in the west of the Persian Gulf and the east of the Red Sea.
Why is this happening? Because Saudi Arabia is still a monarchy, power is concentrated in the hands of the royal family, and the royal family is certainly not willing to go to war in person, but if the power and weapons are decentralized, they are afraid of being overthrown by the warlords, so in order to maintain the rule of the royal power, the royal family simply does not develop the military industry, but instead uses "money capacity" to carry out diplomacy through energy and economic cooperation.
Saudi Arabia is an oil-rich "oil kingdom", accounting for 17% of the world's total reserves, and is a very important energy exporter in the world. In addition, they also have more than 30 kinds of metal deposits such as gold, copper, iron, tin, and aluminum, as well as abundant desalinated seawater resources, no matter what leaks out of their hands, it is enough for them to eat and drink for three or four generations.
In West Asia, the Arab countries that are very similar to Saudi Arabia are Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, all of which border Saudi Arabia and belong to the Gulf countries, and are rich in oil resources. Among them, Kuwait covers an area of 17,800 square kilometers and has a population of less than 4.5 million, Qatar has an area of 11,500 square kilometers and a population of less than 3 million, and Bahrain is even smaller, with a total area of only 779.95 square kilometers and a population of 1.5 million, which is not as big as one of our counties. None of these countries like to initiate wars on their own initiative, but pay more attention to the development of soft power, and they also adopt a policy of peace in diplomacy that actively shows favor and combines the right and the left and the right.
After talking about those who don't make trouble, let's talk about those who love to make trouble, such as Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine.
Among them, the Palestinians have to make trouble, they have been pressed by Israel for too long, and they have lost more than 90% of their territory, and in order to win the real sense of statehood and get a legitimate seat in the United Nations, they have to defend their interests by force. At present, the main areas controlled by Palestine are concentrated in Gaza and the West Bank, with a total area of 2,500 square kilometers and a population of about 13.5 million, of which nearly 8 million are refugees and diaspora.
Syria is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Turkey to the north and Israel to the south. They have a territory of 185,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 19 million, more than 80% of whom are Arabs. The reason why Syria has been in war for many years is that it is affected by the proxy wars of the United States, Russia, Britain and other major powers, and the local government forces and foreign-supported opposition armed forces often break out into conflicts, and religious and ethnic contradictions also occur from time to time, resulting in constant wars.
Lebanon shares a border with Syria and covers an area of only 10,452 square kilometers and has a population of just over 6 million, almost all of whom are Arabs. The situation in Lebanon is not stable because of the serious internal strife, the frequent fighting between Allah and government forces, and the external "feud" with Israel.
As for Jordan, they love to make trouble because they have the aura of "saints". Jordan is a hereditary constitutional monarchy, and the financial and military power is in the hands of the royal family, and the Hashemite family, where the royal family is located, happens to be a direct descendant of Muhammad. In other words, from the point of view of blood, Jordan is qualified to be the boss of the entire Islamic world, and it is no wonder that Jordan has always had ambitions. They are located in the most conflicting region of the Middle East, covering an area of 89,000 square kilometers and a population of nearly 11.3 million, many of whom are host refugees from Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese.
Finally, let's talk about the three West Asian countries of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Among them, Yemen is relatively large, with an area of 528,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 32 million. Yemen is very special, it's 2023, and it's still mainly based on tribes, with a total of more than 190 tribes in the territory, most of which are located in the mountains, so although they are one of the cradles of ancient civilization in the Arab world, it is difficult to develop, and the economy is very backward, with a total GDP of only 21.06 billion US dollars.
Next to Yemen is Oman, with an area of 309,500 square kilometers and a population of only 5.08 million, while the UAE is even smaller, with an area of only 83,600 square kilometers and a population of more than 10 million, of which more than 80% are foreigners, but all of them believe in Islam and belong to the Sunni community.
After talking about West Asia, let's talk about the Arab countries in North Africa.
In descending order of population, there are 10 countries, including Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, Somalia, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Djibouti and Comoros.
Among them, Egypt is the big brother of Arabia in the traditional sense, their area is very large, up to 1 million square kilometers, and the population has exceeded 100 million, most of which are the Oriental Ham ethnic group, all of whom are Xi to speak Arabic official language. Egypt is one of the four ancient civilizations in the world, and until 1971, it was a feudal country, and then it was changed to a republic. They have a relatively complete industrial and agricultural system, the economy is the third largest in Africa, and power is mainly in the hands of the military.
Algeria is located in the southern Mediterranean Sea, with a very large area of 2.38 million square kilometers, ranking tenth in the world, and it is also the largest country in the whole of Africa, and even in the entire Arab world, but the population is much smaller than Egypt, only about 45 million. They have the fourth-largest economy in Africa, with a total GDP of $187.1 billion, most of which comes from oil and gas exports.
Sudan is located on the Red Sea coast, and they are bordered by the Sahara Desert to the west. Sudan is the third largest country in Africa, with a territory of 1.882 million square kilometers and a population of 46.68 million, of which 70% are Arabs. Colonized by both Britain and the Soviet Union until its independence in 1969, it is still one of the least developed countries in the world according to the United Nations, with a total GDP of around $46 billion, and its main economic pillars are oil exports and traditional agriculture.
Among the many Arab countries in North Africa, the Comoros has the smallest population, with less than 900,000. Their area is also not large, only 2236 square kilometers. Due to long-term Western colonial aggression, it was not until 1975 that it declared independence, and the real complete independence was in 2001, so their economic development is very slow, and they are one of the most backward countries announced by the United Nations, with a total GDP of less than 1.3 billion US dollars, most of which comes from traditional agriculture.
Taking stock of this, many people have questions: why are Iran and Turkey, which are often seen in the news, not Arab countries?
Although Iran's state religion is Islam, the political situation is also ruled by Shia Muslims, and the Xi of life and cultural beliefs are similar to those of neighboring Arab countries, the main ethnic group in Iran is the Persian ethnic group. More than 53% of Iran's 85.02 million population are Persians, so it does not meet the criteria of Arab countries.
Similarly, Turkey has a total population of 85.27 million, of which more than 80% are ethnic Turks, the remaining 15% are Kurds, and Arabs make up a small proportion. Although they also believe in Islam, they are not considered Arab countries.
To sum up, the configuration of Arab countries is not bad on the surface, but there are rich and poor, strong and weak inside, and if they can be twisted together, they can exert strong regional influence.