Skip to main content

Exploring the Middle East: A Quiz on Geography and History

Test your knowledge about the geography, history, and cultures of the Middle East with this engaging quiz.

#Middle East #Geography #History #Culture #Civilizations #Religion

1 Many countries located around the ________ have large quantities of crude oil.

2 ________, July 1, 2009, PPP GDP 2008

3 However, the usage of "Near East" was retained by a variety of academic disciplines, including archaeology and ancient history, where it describes an area identical to the term Middle East, which is not used by these disciplines (see ________).

4 The designation, Mashriq, also from the Arabic root for "east," also denotes a variously-defined region around the Levant, the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the ________, the western part).

5 The modern Middle East began after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the defeated ________, was partitioned into a number of separate nations.

6 [2] However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist ________ used the term in 1902[3] to 'designate the area between Arabia and India'.

7 The earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East, as well as the civilizations of the Levant, Persia, and ________.

8 Islam in its many forms is by far the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths, such as Judaism and ________, are also important.

9 It is a member or the Turkic languages, which have their origins in ________.

10 It is much influenced by ________ (through Islam) and Aramaic (the pre-Arabic lingua franca of the Middle East).

💡 Interesting Facts

  • the Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station in Iraq helps siphon water under the Euphrates River and is the largest of its type in the Middle East.
  • the 3rd Viscount Buckmaster, grandson of the Liberal Party Lord Chancellor 1st Viscount Buckmaster, served as diplomat in the Middle East until 1981.
  • the Egyptian National Railways can trace its origin to the first railway in Africa and the Middle East, which began operating in 1854.
  • the Roman theatre of Bosra (pictured), built in the 2nd century AD in Bosra, Syria, is the largest, most complete and best preserved of all the Roman theatres in the Middle East.
  • the book The Israel Lobby credited the Brookings Institution for having William B. Quandt (pictured) as its Middle East policy expert, citing his "well-deserved reputation for even-handedness".
  • the symbol of Fatima's hands, while widespread in Middle Eastern Islamic societies, is not officially condoned by Islam.
  • the enrollment rate of girls in schools in Yemen is the lowest out of all Middle Eastern countries.
  • the Bahá'í population in the United Arab Emirates is estimated to be the second-largest in the Middle East.
  • during the early 20th century, the depopulated Palestinian village Sarafand al-Amar was the site of the largest British Army base in the Middle East.
  • turkey bacon is used as a substitute for pork bacon at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe locations in the Middle East.
  • Munir Bashir, known for his mastery of the maqam scale system, was a famous musician in the Middle East during the 20th century.
  • cross stitches are part of the embroidery traditions of the Balkans, Middle East, Afghanistan, Colonial America and Victorian England.
  • chal is a traditional Turkic drink made from fermented camel's milk, which is popular in Central Asia, as well as in the Near East.
  • English diplomat John Barker introduced vaccination to the Middle East.
  • as son of a Lebanese Arab father who was raised by Jewish stepfathers after his father's death, Bradley M. Campbell quipped that his "aspiration is to become ambassador-at-large in the Middle East".
  • after serving in U.S. embassies in Egypt and Lebanon, Edward Sheehan wrote his debut novel Kingdom of Illusion about the playboy king of a fictional Middle Eastern country.
  • Mayo hurler Adrian Freeman played in England, Scotland, North America and the Middle East before his recent death in an Australia car crash.
    • Previous Quiz Next Quiz

    Related Quizzes

    Key Events and Figures of the 13th Century: A Quiz

    #13th century #history #Mongol Empire #Crusades #European culture #Franciscan order #Cambridge #Boyana Church

    Discovering the 14th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #14th Century #History #Renaissance #Ming Dynasty #Hundred Years' War #Petrarch #Military History

    Exploring the 16th Century: Events, Figures, and Discoveries

    #history #16th century #exploration #Renaissance #Conquistadores #art #politics #religion

    Exploring the 17th Century: Key Events and Figures

    #17th century #history #empires #Mughal Empire #Ottoman Empire #Persian Empire #Taiwan #Hudson's Bay Company #Kara Mustafa #French history

    Exploring the 18th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #18th century #history #quiz #education #literature #philosophy #politics

    Significant Events of 1904

    #1904 #history #events #quiz #education

    Significant Events and Figures of 1906

    #1906 #history #chess #astronomy #civil rights #swimming #biochemistry

    Significant Events and Figures of 1911

    #1911 #history #events #figures #Nobel Prize #aviation #fire incidents #education #composers