What is the process by which salt is removed from saltwater?
Desalination.
100
Which country is the poorest in this region, with the lowest literacy rate, life expectancy, and per capita GDP in the Middle East? Which one is the richest?
Yemen; United Arab Emirates
100
What two major rivers flow through Iraq and into the Persian Gulf?
The Tigris and Euphrates.
100
Iran is not the largest country in the Persian Gulf region, but it does lead in which statistical category?
Population.
100
What is the most holy city of Islam? What famous shrine is located there?
Mecca; the Kaaba.
200
Why is Saudi Arabia the most influential country in the Persian Gulf region?
It has the largest oil reserves.
200
Oman is one of the hottest countries in the world. What form of government does it have?
Sultanate
200
What is the capital of Iraq?
Baghdad.
200
What religion did Zarathustra found in ancient Persia?
Zoroastrianism.
200
What leading Muslim terrorist group grew to prominence following the first Gulf War?
al-Qaeda
300
What bodies of water lie west, east, and south of the Arabian peninsula?
The Red Sea (west), the Persian Gulf (east), the Arabian Sea (south)
300
What are the single-sail boats that Yemeni fisherman use in the Arabian Sea called?
Dhows
300
What ethnic minority lives in the northern highlands near the Turkish border?
The Kurds.
300
What is the capital of Iran?
Tehran.
300
What is the Muslim holy book?
The Koran (or Qur'an).
400
What are the nomads of the Arabian Desert called?
Bedouins
400
What narrow stretch of water guards the entry and exit of everything and everyone in the Persian Gulf?
Strait of Hormuz
400
What is OPEC an abbreviation of?
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
400
Iranians do not speak Arabic. What do they speak?
Farsi.
400
All Muslims studying the Qur'an must do so in what language?
Arabic.
500
What is another name for the Rub al Khali?
The Empty Quarter
500
Which country famous for coffee has the highest peaks and the only permanent river on the Arabian peninsula?
Yemen
500
What is the Arab word for "God"?
Allah.
500
During what season did Persian kings move to the palace in Susa?
Winter.
500
During what month do Muslims fast during daylight hours (but not after dark)?