World Geography- Chapter 22

Mecca

the holiest city of Islam, located in Saudi Arabia, where people make pilgrimages to fulfill Islamic religious duty.

Islam

a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, and the biggest cultural and religious influence in North Africa.

Muhammad

the founder and a prophet of Islam, who lived part of his life in the city of Mecca.

Mosque

an Islamic place of worship, where Muslims pray facing toward the holy city of Mecca.

Theocratic

a form of government in which religious leaders control the government, relying on religious law and consultation with religious scholars.

OPEC

a group established in 1960 by some oil-producing nations to coordinate policies on selling petroleum products.

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.

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 to God.

Zionism

A movement that began in the 19th Century to reestablished a Jewish state in the Jewish homeland.

Palestine Liberation Organization

A nationalist group formed in the 1960's to regain Israel for Palestinian Arabs.

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.

Mesopatamia

A region in Southwest Asai 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.

Sunni

one of the two main branches of Islam, comprising about 83% of all Muslims, including those in Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Shi'ite

one of the two main branches of Islam including most Iranians and some populations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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.