NASWACA Countries

Question 1

This nation has vast deserts and highland valleys that have rainfall which is good for crops and the people there live around the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf coast and the government helps prepare Makkah (Mecca) and Medinah (Medina)

Answer 1

Saudi Arabia

Question 2

This nation has existed since 1932 when a single family established a monarchy that united the country’s many clans, which are groups of families related by blood or marriage

Answer 2

Saudi Arabia

Question 3

These nations have built very prosperous economies from oil profits, but each country is also planning for when oil runs out

Answer 3

The Persian Gulf countries (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates)

Question 4

In these nations women have the right to vote and recently some of these countries have moved away from monarchies and towards democracies

Answer 4

The Persian Gulf countries (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates)

Question 5

This nation has used its wealth to build its tourist industry and to build ports for oil tankers

Answer 5

Oman

Question 6

This nation is important to the world oil markets because of its strategic location next to the Straight of Hormuz, which tankers must go through in order to pass from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea

Answer 6

Oman

Question 7

This nation has very little oil and most of the people there are sheep or cattle herders who live in the high, fertile interior where the capital is located

Answer 7

Yemen

Question 8

This nation contains a major port that is located south of the capital city, and it is called Aden and is very important for ships traveling between the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea

Answer 8

Yemen

Question 9

This nation’s population includes the Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds and farmers here grow wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, and cotton and factories process foods and make textiles, chemicals, and building materials, but the country’s main export is oil

Answer 9

Iraq

Question 10

This nation gained its independence in 1932 and the last king was overthrown in a revolt in 1958 and for the rest of the 1900s it was ruled by dictators such as Saddam Hussein, who ruled from 1979 to 2003 and in 2003, American and British forces invaded and overthrew him because they feared that this nation owned biological weapons

Answer 10

Iraq

Question 11

In 1979, this nation’s religious leaders overthrew the monarchy and made it an Islamic republic and since 1995, the United States and other western leaders have accused this nation of attempting to develop nuclear weapons, but this nation said that they just want nuclear energy to produce electric power

Answer 11

Iran

Question 12

About 90% of this nation’s population is Shia Muslim and about three quarters of the people here are Persians or Azeri, not Arab like many other nations in this region

Answer 12

Iran

Question 13

This nation’s major ethnic groups are the Pashtuns and the Tajiks and most people there here livestock or grow crops such as wheat, fruit, and nuts and the export products include wool and handwoven carpets and this nation’s capital is covered by the Hindu Kush range and it is in a valley

Answer 13

Afghanistan

Question 14

The United States responded to the September attacks in 2001 by invading this nation and overthrowing its terrorist-supporting government and it began to build a democracy with American help and in 2006, this nation had elections for a new president and parliament, but the new government couldn’t control the entire country so the Taliban and local leaders maintained control over small areas

Answer 14

Afghanistan

Question 15

This nation is developing and a third of the people here work in agriculture and or are peasant farmers called fellahin who use the simple tools of their ancestors and the main energy resources here are oil and phosphates, which are used in fertilizer and are main exports and this nation makes food, textiles, and consumer goods and the industries here drew people to cities, but there aren’t enough houses, schools, and hospitals, which has led to poverty, pollution, and traffic

Answer 15

Egypt

Question 16

From 300 b.c. to 300 a.d. this nation was dominated politically by Italy and Greece and in 641 a.d., Arabs from Southwest Asia took control and in the 1800s, it built the Suez Canal with Europeans and now it is under British control and in 1952, army officers overthrew the British-supported king and the nation became fully independent and now it’s a republic with one party controlling the government

Answer 16

Egypt

Question 17

This nation is a Muslim and Arab speaking country that is oil-rich and improving ties with the outside world and it is a big desert with aquifers beneath the land with very pure water that is carried to cities and almost all of the people here have an Arab or Berber ethnic background and this nation has recently gotten wealth from oil to build schools, hospitals, and improve infrastructure

Answer 17

Libya

Question 18

This nation became independent in 1951 and Muarmmar al-Qaddafi set up a dictatorship and from the 1970s to the 1990s, he supported terrorism and sought to acquire nuclear weapons but the United States and the UN forced him to change his policy, or plan of action, by punishing the country he led through trade barriers called trade sanctions

Answer 18

Libya

Question 19

This nation is the smallest country in North Africa and the people there are a mix of Arab and Berber ancestry and Practice Islam

Answer 19

Tunisia

Question 20

This nation gained its independence from France in 1956 and today it has on of the lowest poverty rates in Africa as well as many rights for women which are not found in other Arab nations

Answer 20

Tunisia

Question 21

This nation is the largest country in North Africa and it the people there have Berber and Arab heritage and practice Islam and the capital is a modern, major Mediterranean port known for casbahs, which are older sections with narrow streets and bazaars and in spite of industrial growth and oil and natural gas deposits, widespread poverty led to many people moving to find work in Europe

Answer 21

Algeria

Question 22

In 1954, this nation’s Arabs fought the French, who had ruled since 1830 and was a French colony from 1830 to 1962, but this led to a civil war and in 1962 it won its independence and since then, it is a republic with a strong president and legislature and in the early 1990s, another civil war erupted between Muslim political factions, but it ended in 1999 and since then, the government has been trying to bring order to the country

Answer 22

Algeria

Question 23

This nation’s people mostly have Arab or Berber heritage and it was a Muslim kingdom for many years and is a leading producer of phosphates and this nation is a constitution monarchy where a king or queen is the head of state and has great influence, but elected officials run the government

Answer 23

Morocco

Question 24

In 1956, this nation became independent, but in the early 1990s, Europeans gained control over this nation and it seized the Western Sahara in 1975, but since then groups of Western Saharans have fought for independence and now the UN has tried to promote an election to decide Western Sahara’s future, but nothing has been settled

Answer 24

Morocco

Question 25

This nation’s mild Mediterranean climate allows farmers to grow food for local use, as well as tobacco and cotton for export and it produces textiles, steel, and cars and most people here live in cities or towns and are Muslims and the official language is Turkish and the women here have more freedom than in other nations

Answer 25

Turkey

Question 26

This nation became a republic in 1923 and Muslim political groups have gained support since the 1990s and many people here prefer a secular, non-religious society and this nation hasn’t allowed the Kurdish minority groups to break away and form their own country, but they have promised to respect the rights of the Kurds and other groups similar to them

Answer 26

Turkey

Question 27

Dams on the Euphrates River provide water for irrigation and electric power for this nation whose capital is one of the oldest cities and was founded as a trading center 4,000 years ago

Answer 27

Syria

Question 28

This nation became independent in 1946 and since the 1960s, a very strict regime, or government, has controlled the country

Answer 28

Syria

Question 29

Most of this nation’s people live in or near the capital, which is a major port and most of the people work in banking, insurance, or tourism and most speak Arabic, but the culture blends Arab, Turkish, and French influence and the country produces citrus fruit, vegetables, grains, olives, and grapes

Answer 29

Lebanon

Question 30

This nation has been independent since 1943, after being ruled by the French and the Ottoman Empire and religious conflict has been a problem here for years and in 2006, a clash between a Muslim group called Hezbollah and Israel occurred and now you can’t travel from this nation to Israel or the other way around

Answer 30

Lebanon

Question 31

This nation’s people are mostly Arab Muslims who live in urban areas such as the capital and work in service and manufacturing industries and the farmers here rely on irrigation to grow wheat, fruits, and vegetables and women here have more freedom than in other countries based on jobs, clothes, and lifestyle and this nation is home to tent-dwelling Bedouin, or nomads who traditionally raise livestock

Answer 31

Jordan

Question 32

This nation gained its independence as a constitutional monarchy in 1946 and it has no oil resources, so people there have tried to get high tech jobs and in 1947, the UN gave Jews here control of land where their Israelite ancestors had lived about 3,000 years ago

Answer 32

Jordan

Question 33

About 76% of this nation’s people are Jews and the rest are Palestinian Arabs and include Muslims and Christians and this nation has developed an industrial economy and produces high-tech equipment, clothes, chemicals, and machinery and advanced agriculture system allow citrus fruit, vegetables, and cotton to be grown and some people here live in a kibbutz, where farmers share all of the work and property or in a moshav, where people share the work, but each person can also own some private property

Answer 33

Israel

Question 34

This nation was proclaimed an independent, Jewish republic in 1948 and Palestinian Arabs lived in the region and believed that this nation was founded on their land and this conflict has taken place ever since and has claimed thousands of lives

Answer 34

Israel

Question 35

In 1993, Israel agreed to give this area’s people who were living in the West Bank or Gaza Strip self-rule in return for the government recognizing the Israeli right to exist and some people from this area continue to carry out bombing attacks on Israel, which has caused Israeli forces to enter the area and hunt down attackers

Answer 35

Palestinian Territories

Question 36

In this area in 2006, an Islamic group called Hamas won legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and and called for Israel to be replaced by an Islamic Palestinian state and it continued to support armed attacks on Israeli territory and this area is in a big conflict with Israel

Answer 36

Palestinian Territories

Question 37

This nation is mostly covered by dry, treeless plains and farming is limited, so livestock has become an important industry and the nation is rich in minerals, such as copper and petroleum and the people here are mostly ethnic Kazakhs and Russians

Answer 37

Kazakhstan

Question 38

This nation became independent in 1991 after the Soviet Union collapsed, but it didn’t adopt democracy and although this nation’s leaders keep a tight control on citizens and deny rights to political opponents, there is a free market economy and government run industries have been sold to individual buyers and foreign business people are investing in industries in the country, which boosts the economy

Answer 38

Kazakhstan

Question 39

Most of this nation’s people are ethnic Uzbeks who live in fertile valleys and oases and this nation relies on agriculture, with an emphasis on cotton, which is the country’s main export and cash crop, which is a farm product grown for sale as an export

Answer 39

Uzbekistan

Question 40

This nation’s leaders are trying to vary the economy by drawing on newly discovered deposits of oil, gas, and gold and this country’s capital is central Asia’s largest city and industrial center and about 2,000 years ago, this country’s capital was an oases along with Bukhara and Samarqand and was part of the Silk Road which was a busy trade route that linked China to Europe

Answer 40

Uzbekistan

Question 41

Most of this nation is covered by a huge desert called the Kara-Kum and it has a largely ethnic Turkmen population and most of the people here live in oases, where they grow cotton or raise livestock and this nation contains an abundant amount of petroleum and natural gas, and the government hopes to increase oil and natural gas output, or the amount produced

Answer 41

Turkmenistan

Question 42

This nation’s capital is the largest city in this country and the nation’s powerful president runs the country from this city and keeps strict control over education, religion, and printed materials

Answer 42

Turkmenistan

Question 43

This nation is largely mountainous but farmers grow cotton, vegetables, and fruit in valleys and plains and this country has valuable mercury and gold deposits, but has little industry and the major ethnic groups here are Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, and Russians

Answer 43

Kyrgyzstan

Question 44

This nation’s government has sought foreign investments to help small businesses grow and in 2005, the government was overthrown and this country’s new leaders have resisted democratic reforms

Answer 44

Kyrgyzstan

Question 45

This nation has fertile mountain valleys where farmers grow cotton, grapes, grains, and vegetables and factory workers in urban areas produce aluminum, vegetable oils, and textiles and the people here are mostly ethnic Tajiks or ethnic Uzbeks and the largest city and industrial center in this country is the capital

Answer 45

Tajikistan

Question 46

This nation had a civil war between the government and Muslim political groups in the 1990s, and many people here died and the economy was damaged and since the fighting ended in 1997, recovery has been slow and political tensions have remained high

Answer 46

Tajikistan

Question 47

This nation is the northernmost Caucasus republic and the mountains here provide mineral resources such as copper, coal, manganese, and oil and swift rivers provide hydroelectric power for this nation’s industries and this area has resorts and warm beaches on the Black Sea, which makes the country popular for people seeking well-being and most people here are ethnic Georgians who are proud of their unique language, culture, and Christian heritage

Answer 47

Georgia

Question 48

This nation became independent after the Soviet Union fell in 1991 and since then, conflict has taken place between this nation’s people and other ethnic groups in this country who want independence and this nation’s capital is near the Caucasus Mountains and it is in an area where tectonic plates collide and have formed warm mineral springs heated by the earth

Answer 48

Georgia

Question 49

This nation is landlocked and sits on top of many cracks in the earth called faults, which are caused by colliding tectonic plates and has resulted in this country experiencing frequent, serious earthquakes and the people here share a unique language and ancient culture and the capital is one of the world’s oldest cities

Answer 49

Armenia

Question 50

During World War I, the Ottoman Turks killed hundreds of thousands of this nation’s people in a terrible genocide, or the deliberate killing of an ethnic group and in 1991, it became an independent republic, but shortly afterward, this country sent an army to protect people who were part of this nation’s ethnic group and were living in an enclave, or a small territory surrounded by a larger territory, surrounded by Azerbaijan, but the fighting over this land hurt the economies of both countries and today the dispute remains unsettled

Answer 50

Armenia

Question 51

This nation has a developing economy and it is on the eastern edge of the Caucasus Region and most of the people here are Azeris and practice Shia Islam and the largest city in this country is a port on the Caspian Sea

Answer 51

Azerbaijan

Question 52

This nation’s farmers use irrigation to grow grains, cotton, and wine grapes and oil and natural gas deposits under the Caspian Sea promise a bright future for this nation

Answer 52

Azerbaijan