Middle Eastern Countries

First on our stop is Turkey whose population is about 71.34 million people. The capital of Turkey is Astana, but Istanbul is Turkeys largest city with a population of about 9.29 million people! The climate of Turkey is temperate, with hot and dry summers with mild and wet winters; harsher in the interior. The average temperature in January for Turkey is 29.7F, and the average temperature in July is 73.4F. Turkey receives an average of 17.8 of rain annually. 80% of the country is Turkish and 20% of the country is Kurdish. 100% of the country is Muslim, with about .20% of that population being other.

Our next stop in this article is Syria, whose total population is about 17.87 million people. The capital of Syria is Damascus, but Halab is the largest city with a population of about 1.89 million people. Syria is mostly desert, with hot, dry, and sunny summers. June to August is Syrias mild and rainy winter. December to February, along the coast, is cold weather, with snow or sleet periodically hitting Damascus. Arabic is the official language spoken in Syria. The average temperature in January is 43.9F, and the average temperature in July is 80.1F. Syria receives an average of 7.4 of rain annually. 90% of Syria are Arabs, while 10% of the population is Kurds, Armenians, or other. 74% of the country is Sunni Muslim, 12% is Alawite Muslim, 10% Christian, 3% Druze, and 1% of Syria is Jewish.

Next up is Jordan, who has a population of about 5.43 million people. Jordans largest city and capital is Amman, whose population is about 1.25 million people. The climate of Jordan is mostly an arid desert, with a rainy season in the west (November to April). The average temperature in January is 46.2F, and the average temperature in July is 77.2F. Jordan receives an average of 10.7 of rain annually. Arabic is the official language, but English is widely understood in the upper and middle classes. 98% of the country are Arabs, 1% Circassian, and 1% Armenian. 92% of Jordan is Sunni Muslim, 6% of the country are Christians, and 2% are other.

Our next country we are visiting is Iraq, whose total population is about 25.54 million people. The largest city and capital of Iraq is Baghdad, whose population is about that of 5.77 million people. Arabic and Kurdish are major languages. The climate of Iraq is mostly a desert, with mild to cool winters, and hot, dry summers. But there are colder conditions in the mountain regions. The average temperature in January is 48.9F, and the average temperature in July is 94.3F! Iraq receives an average of about 6.1 of rainfall annually. 77% of the country are Arabs, 20% are Kurds, and 3% are people from surrounding countries. 97% of the Iraqi people are Muslims, while only 3% are Christian or other.

Our next country is Kuwait, which has a population of about 1.98 million people. The capital of Kuwait is Kuwait City, but the largest city in Kuwait is As-Salimiyah whose population is about 144,800 people. The official language in Kuwait is Arabic, but English is widely spoken. The climate of Kuwait is a dry desert, with intensely hot summers and short, cool winters. The average temperature in January is 64.2F, and the average temperature in July is a whopping 113.2F. That is a difference of 49F. Kuwait receives an annual of 5 of rain though, even with this immense heat. 45% of the country is Kuwaiti, 35% of the Kuwait is other Arabs, 9% of Kuwait are South, and about 4% Iranian. 85% of Kuwait is Muslim, while the other 15% are Christians, Hindus, Parsi, an others.

Our next country is Iran, whose population is 65.53 million people. The largest city and capital in Iran is Tehran, which has a population of about 7.72 million people. The climate is mostly arid and semi-arid, and subtropical along the Caspian Sea. The average temperature in January is 37.9F, and the average temperature in July is 85.1F. Iran receives an average of 9.5 of rain annually. Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Turkmen 2%, Lur 2%, Balock 2%, and other 1% are the ethnic divisions of Iran. 89% of Iran are Shia Muslims, 10% Sunni Muslims, and 1% are Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian and Bahai.

Next up on our list of Middle Eastern countries is Saudi Arabia, which has a population of about 22.15 million people. The capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh, which has a population of about 3.62. The climate of Saudi Arabia is a harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperatures. Arabic is the main language. The average temperature in January is 57.7F, and the average temperature in July is 94.3F. Saudi Arabia receives an average of 4.4 of rain a year. 90% of the county is Arab, and 10% of the country is Afro-Asian. 100% of the country are Muslims.

Yemen is the next country we visit. Yemen has a population of about 16.65 million people. Yemens capital is Sanaia, but the largest city is Sanaa, with a population of about 1.65 million people. Arabic is the official language. The climate of Yemen is mostly desert, and hot and humid along the coast. The average temperature in January is 57F. The average temperature in July is 71F. Yemen receives an annual of 20 of rain a year. Their ethnic divisions and religion information were not available.

Oman is the next country we visit in the Middle Eastern area. Oman has a population of 2.97 million people in all. Omans capital is Muscat, and Omans largest city is as-Sib, with a population of about 228,000. The official language of Oman is Arabic. The climate of Oman is a dry desert; hot and humid along the coast; hot and dry interior; and a strong southwest monsoon (May to September) in the far south. The average temperature in January is 70.5F and the average temperature in July is 93.7F. Oman receives an average annual of 3.98 of rain per year. The ethnic division information was not currently available. 75% of the country is Muslim though, and 25% is Hindu, Christian, or other.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a total population of 2.37 million people. Its largest city is Dubai, which has a population of 872,700 people. The capital of UAE is actually Abu Dhabi though. The climate of UAE is desert like, and cooler in the eastern mountains. The average temperature in January is 65.3F, and the average temperature in July is 94.3F. UAE receives an average of 2.4 of rain per year. 50% of UAEs ethnicity is South Asian, 23% is other Arab and Iranian, 19% is Emiri, and 8% is other expatriates. 96% of the country is Muslim.

Next is Qatar whose population in all is 610,500 people. The capital of Qatar is Doha, but the largest city is adDawhah, with a population of 308,800 people. Arabic is the official language, but English is commonly used has a second language. The climate of Qatar is a desert; hot and dry; and humid and sultry in the summer. The average temperature in January is 62.8F, and the average temperature in July is 94.3F. Qatar receives an average of 3.2 of rain annually a year. 40% of country is Arabic, 18% of the population is Pakistani, 18% Indian, 14% other, and 10% Iranian. 95% of the country is Muslim, while the other 5% is other.

Our next stop is an island country of Bahrain, whose total population is 703,500 people. The largest city in population and is the capital is Manama, whose population is about 148,000 people. The climate of Bahrain is arid with mild pleasant winters, BUT very, hot humid summers. The average temperature in January is 66F, and the average in July is 97F. Bahrain receives an annual amount of 5.2 of rain a year. 63% of the country is Bahraini, 19% other Asian, 10% other Arab, and 8% Iranian. 75% of Bahrain is Shia Muslim, while the other 25% is Sunni Muslim.

First on our stop on this new page is Cyprus, whose total population is 920,600 people. The capital of Cyprus is Nicosia. The largest city in Cyprus is Lefkosia, though, with a population of 194,600 people. The climate of Cyprus is temperate, Mediterranean with dry summers and cool, wet winters. The average temperature in January is 49.6F. The average temperature in July is 82.6F. Cyprus receives an average of 14.1 of rain per year. 78% of the country is Greek, 18% Turkish, and 4% other. 78% of Cyprus is religiously Greek Orthodox, 18% of the population of Cyprus is Muslim, and 4% other.

Next we move onto Lebanon, whose total population is about 4.32 million people. The capital, Beirut, is also the largest city with a population of 1.88 million people. Arabic and French are the official languages. The climate of Lebanon is Mediterranean; with mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snow. The average temperature in January is 55.4F, and the average temperature in July is 77.4F. Lebanon receives an average of 872.9 of rain per year. (I know this is wrong, but it is what is off the website, Country Watch ). 95% of the country is Arabs, 4% of the country is Armenian, and 1% Jewish and others. 69% of the country is Muslim, 30% of the country is Christian, and 1% Jewish.

Our last country in this issue is Israel, which has a population of 6.41 million people. The largest cities/capitals of Israel are Tel Aviv (361,700) and Jerusalem (682,700). The climate of Israel is temperate, and also hot and dry in the southern and eastern desert areas. The average temperature in January is 46.6F and the average temperature in July is 74.3F. Israel receives an average of 25.9 of rain per year. Hebrew is the official language, and Arab is the official language for that small minority. 80% of the country is Various Jewish-Based Ethnicities and 20% of the population is Non-Jewish. 80% of Israel believes in Judaism, 15% in Islam (mostly Sunni), 3% are Christians, and 2% are other.