Contrasting Cultures

Ethnic Groups

The Middle East is home to different ethnic and religious groups.

An ethnic group is a group identified on the basis of religion, race, or national origin. A religious group has a distinct identity based on the common religious beliefs and practices.

While this mix of ethnic and religious groups can provide layers of richness to a nation’s culture, it can also lead to tensions among the various groups.

Key Term

Culture: is the set of beliefs, values, and practices that a group of people has in common.

Examples: Language, religion, clothing, food

South West Asia (the Middle East) Ethnic Groups

4 Major Groups: Arabs, Persians, Turks, and Kurds

The Majority of people in the Middle East are Arabs, and ethnic group who speak Arabic as a native language and identify themselves as Arabs.

Conflict Ethnic Groups

Kurds are an ethnic group who live mostly in the mountains of several countries.

Turkey has suppressed the Kurds and their traditions.

The Kurds have a strong nationalist movement and for years they have been fighting for their own homeland.

Conflict (con’t)

Turkey built dams along the Euphrates River to use the water for hydroelectric power and farming.

This reduced the amount of water reaching Iraq, causing an unequal distribution of water.

Conflict (con’t)

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire (a Turkish empire) collapsed and fell into the hands of European nations.

The European nations divided or partitioned the Ottoman Empire into territories and combined ethnic and religious groups that did not get along.

Conflict (con’t)

Turkey’s new leader, Kemal Attaturk, made two major changes or reforms to Turkey after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.1. Move from a command economy to a mixed economy

2. Move from a theocracy to secular government.

Trade Barriers

There are three types of trade barriers: tariffs, quotas, and embargoes.

A tariff is a tax on imported goods.A quota is a restriction on the amount

of a goods that can be imported.An embargo is when a government forbids or does not allow trade with another country.

Economics

Specialization encourages trade among countries because no country produces everything it needs.

The country selling the product makes a profit, and the countries buying the product gets what it needs and wants.

Example: Saudi Arabia sells petroleum, countries buy petroleum for its needs and wants (ex. transportation)

Economics (con’t)

There is usually a high correlation or connection between the standard of Living and the literacy rate.

Saudia Arabia has a higher literacy rate than Afghanistan. Saudia Arabia Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is higher because of the large amounts of petroleum it exports; which allows them to spend more money on education.

Economics (con’t)

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed by five oil-rich countries.

OPEC ‘s purpose is to coordinate and control petroleum prices.

OPEC has a great deal of control over the price your parents pay for gasoline every day.

Economics (con’t)

Currency is the type of money a country uses.

International trade requires a system for exchanging currencies between nations.

Money from one country must be converted into the currency of that country to pay for goods (needs and wants) in that country.

Economics (con’t)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the total market value of goods and services produced by a country’s economy during a specific period of time.

Capital

Three Factors influence economic growth:1. Human Capital – when a company

educates and trains its people. People in turn provide the labor.

2. Capital – When a country invest in transportation systems and power plants. (factories or machinery).

3. Natural Resources – Things that come from the land like minerals or trees.