1.
crude oil: petroleum that has not been processed.
2.
Dead Sea: a landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan
that is so salty that almost nothing can live in its waters; it is
1,349 feet below sea level, making it the lowest place on the
exposed crust of the earth.
3.
desalinization: the removal of salt from ocean water.
4.
Dome of the Rock: a shrine in Jerusalem, located on the
Temple Mount, which houses the spot where Muslims
believe Muhammad rose into heaven and where Jews
believe Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac to
God.
5.
drip irrigation: the practice of using small pipes that slowly
drip water just above ground to conserve water to use for
crops.
6.
Euphrates River: a river of Southwest Asia, which supported
several ancient civilizations and flows through parts of Turkey,
Syria, and Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf.
7.
fossil water: water pumped from underground aquifers.
8.
Gaza Strip: a territory along the Mediterranean Sea just
northeast of the Sinai Peninsula; part of the land set aside for
Palestinians, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.
9.
Golan Heights: a hilly plateau overlooking the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee; a strategic location that has been the site of conflict in Southwest Asia for decades
10.
guest workers: a largely unskilled laborer, often an immigrant
from South and East Asia, brought in to the oil-booming
countries to fill job openings that the region's native peoples
find culturally or economically unacceptable.
11.
human resources: the skills and talents of employed people.
12.
islam: a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of the
prophet Muhammad, and the biggest cultural and religious
influence in North Africa.
13.
Jordan River: a river that serves as a natural boundary
between Israel and Jordan, flowing from the mountains of
Lebanon with no outlet to the Mediterranean Sea.
14.
Kurds: an ethnic group in Southwestern Asia that has occupied
Kurdistan, located in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, for about a
thousand years, and who have been involved in clashes with
these three countries over land claims for most of the 20th
century.
15.
mecca: the holiest city of Islam, located in Saudi Arabia,
where people make pilgrimages to fulfill Islamic religious
duty.
16.
Mesopotamia: a region in Southwest Asia between the
Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, which was the location of
some of the earliest civilizations in the world; part of the
cultural hearth known as the Fertile Crescent.
17.
Mosque: an Islamic place of worship, where Muslims pray
facing toward the holy city of Mecca.
18.
Muhammad: the founder and a prophet of Islam, who lived
part of his life in the city of Mecca.
19.
oasis: a place where water from an aquifer has reached the
surface; it supports vegetation and wildlife.
20.
OPEC: the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a
group established in 1960 by some oil-producing nations to
coordinate policies on selling petroleum products.
21.
Palestine Liberation Organization: a group formedin the 1960s to regain the Arab land in Israel for PalestinianArabs.
22.
Palestinians: a displaced group of Arabs who lived or still
live in the area formerly called Palestine and now called
Israel.
23.
refinery: place where crude oil is converted into useful
products.
24.
Rub al-Khali: also known as the Empty Quarter; one of the
largest sandy deserts in the world, covering about 250,000
square miles; located on the Arabian Peninsula.
25.
salt flat: flat land made of chemical salts that remain after
winds evaporate the moisture in the soil.
26.
Shi'ite: one of the two main branches of Islam including
most Iranians and some populations of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
27.
stateless nation: a nation of people that does not have a
territory to legally occupy, like the Palestinians, Kurds, and
Basques.
28.
strategic commodity: a resource so important that nations
will go to war to ensure its steady supply.
29.
Sunni: one of the two main branches of Islam, comprising
about 83 percent of all Muslims, including those in Turkey,
Iraq, and Afghanistan.
30.
Taliban: a strict Muslim group in Afghanistan that has
imposed rigid rules on society, including prescribed clothing
styles for both men and women, restrictions on the appearance
of women in public places, and regulations on television,
music, and videos.
31.
theocratic: a form of government in which religious leaders
control the government, relying on religious law and consultation
with religious scholars.
32.
Tigris River: one of the most important rivers of Southwest
Asia; it supported several ancient river valley civilizations,
and flows through parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
33.
wadi: a riverbed that remains dry except during the rainy
seasons.
34.
West Bank: in Israel, a strip of land on the west side of the
Jordan River, originally controlled by Jordan, which is part of
the land set aside for Arab Palestinians.
35.
Western Wall: for Jews, the holiest site in Jerusalem; the
only remaining portion of the Second Temple, built in 538
B.C. and destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Romans.
36.
Zionism: a movement that began in the 19th century to create
and support a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
