History

Situated on one of the ancient trading routes between India and Mesopotamia, Kuwait has been under the rule of the Arab and Ottoman Turk Empires.  In the 19th century, it became an independent sheikhdom under the British, before finally gaining independence as a nation in 1961.  The population currently stands at 2.59 million,1. of which over a quarter are foreigners.

History

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as it is known today, was founded in 1946, when it joined the United Nations as an independent country. Prior to that, it was under British rule as the Emirate of Transjordan. The country is part of the Levant, or the Fertile Crescent, and the site of early civilizations, such as the Babylonians and Canaanites. It takes its name from the River Jordan to the West, a significant landmark in the Bible.

History

Iraq is situated in historically significant Mesopotamia, where the first known human civilization, the Sumerians, lived and farmed the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Under the control of the Ottoman Turks until 1920, Iraq was assigned to the British after World War I under the name Mandate of Mesopotamia. It gained independence in 1932 under the revived Hashemite monarchy, which was overthrown in a military coup in 1958 by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. 1. The party remained in power until 2003, with General Saddam Hussein as President from 1979 onwards.

History

Known internationally as Persia until 1935, modern day Iran has an average population of 66 million. One of the first areas to be occupied by Islamic armies in the 6th and 7th centuries, Iran maintains much of its religious history in its present-day culture, in the form of architecture, art and literature, which continue to draw inspiration from aspects of traditional Shiite Islam. The official language is Persian, which is considered by many in the area to be the language of intellectuals.