The Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Question 1

What is an alternative way of describing The Middle East and North Africa
(MENA)

Answer 1

South West Asia

Question 2

What is the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Answer 2

• Set up in WWII (1944)
• Charged with fostering global
economic growth, promoting stability
• Provides policy advice for developing
countries.
• Voting is not even
– The U.S. has ~16.5% of the “votes”
(2022)
– Major decisions at IMF require an 85%
supermajority; this means the US has
effective veto power

Question 3

What is expansion diffusion

Answer 3

– propagation waves originate in a strong and durable source area
– spread outward pulsations
– impact an ever larger region and population

Question 4

What is relocation diffusion

Answer 4

Movement from a source to distant, unconnected region
– migrants (or information technology) carry an innovation, idea, or
virus
– Diffuses further from source location
– Many diseases spread this way

Question 5

What are Sunni’s

Answer 5

first successor father of Muhammad’s wife
(not blood relative)

Question 6

What are the Shi’ites

Answer 6

proclaimed that Ali, cousin of Muhammad, caliph
(successor)

Question 7

What empire caused a strong Muslim influence in the Bulkans

Answer 7

The Ottoman Empire

Question 8

What is the Sharia Law?

Answer 8

• Moral code and religious law of Islam
• Use of the guidelines in the Quran and the example
of Muhammad to regulate behavior
• Increase in demand to integrate Sharia into official
judicial systems

Question 9

What separates Northern Africa from the rest of Africa?

Answer 9

The Sahara Desert

Question 10

What is the Maghreb?

Answer 10

• Area under the influence of the
Atlas Mountains.
– Formerly just applied to coast (esp
Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia),
now generally refers to these
countries on the coast.
– Algeria, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Tunisia, W Sahara,
• Maghreb means “west” referring
to the extent of the Arab
conquest.
• Historical location of the Berber

Question 11

Spain was conquered in the 700s by people from what group?

Answer 11

The Maghreb

Question 12

Orographic lifting produces
rainfall along the western edge of
What Mountains?

Answer 12

Atlas Mountains

Question 13

What is Orographic lifting?

Answer 13

• Driving winds push air up the
windward side of a mountain.
– Air expands and cools and it rises.
– Moisture precipitates out.
• On the lee side, the air has less
water content. It ends up drier
and hotter as a result.
• The same pattern produces the
desert in the western United
States .

Question 14

Where is the Timbuktu

Answer 14

In northern Mali along the Niger River

Question 15

True or false, Mali is Landlocked?

Answer 15

True

Question 16

What percentage of land is considered to be Arable in Mali?

Answer 16

3.8% Arable Land

Question 17

What is the median age of Mali?

Answer 17

16 Years

Question 18

What percent of Mali is urbanized?

Answer 18

46% urbanization

Question 19

What country colonized large parts of
West, Central and Northwest Africa?

Answer 19

France

Question 20

What are the Tuaregs?

Answer 20

Subgroup of Berbers
• Ethic subgroup in North Africa (must know this)

Tuaregs are Berbers that inhabit
the desert interior of North
Africa.

Question 21

What are the Berbers?

Answer 21

Berbers are an ethnic minority in
most of the Maghreb

Question 22

Who are the Tuaregs?

Answer 22

Tuaregs are Berbers that inhabit
the desert interior of North
Africa.

Question 23

True or false; Libya’s population is quite small relative to
its landmass – only about 6 million people.

Answer 23

True

Question 24

True or false; Egypt is transcontinental?

Answer 24

True

Question 25

What country is amount one of the largest in the MENA region, with about 110 million?

Answer 25

Egypt

Question 26

What river is the longest in the world?

Answer 26

The Nile River

Question 27

The two main branches the ________ and ______ Niles meet in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan

Answer 27

White and Blue

Question 28

What percent of Egypts 110 million people live within 20 km of the Nile

Answer 28

95%

Question 29

What Dam (1960-1970) regulates water flow and provides electricity

Answer 29

Aswan Dam

Question 30

What canal connects the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea?

Answer 30

Suez Canal

Question 31

What is the largest peninsula in the world?

Answer 31

Arabian Peninsula

Question 32

What 5 countries make up the Levant?

Answer 32

Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

Question 33

What Jewish state created in 1948 by United Nations mandate.

Answer 33

Israel

Question 34

Multiple choice; what is the capital of Turkey? A-Istanbul B-Andora C-Ankara D-Budan

Answer 34

C-Ankara

Question 35

Describe the general location and description of the Strait of Hormuz?

Answer 35

The Strait of Hormuz is a choke point between the Persian Gulf and the open sea – UAE / Oman – Iran

Question 36

What country is considered to be the heir to the Persian empire?

Answer 36

Iran

Question 37

What is the largest state/country ruled by Shia Islam?

Answer 37

Iran

Question 38

Where did the Arab Spring begin

Answer 38

Starts in Tunisia in response to government corruption and high unemployment

Question 39

What is Ba’athism?

Answer 39

Ba’athism is an Arab nationalist ideology concerned with developing a socialist, pan-Arab state

Question 40

Where is Current Palestinian authority in?

Answer 40

West Bank and Gaza

Question 41

What does “West” refer to in the term “West Bank”?

Answer 41

West of the Jordon to Jerusalem

Question 42

True or false Founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood?

Answer 42

True

Question 43

What does The Global War on Terrorism mean?

Answer 43

Refers to how NATO rushed to attack terrorism in Iran after an attack on the U.S. (An attack on one, is an attack on all)