Middle East and Central Asia: Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan

Vocabulary flashcards covering the physical, political, historical, and ethnic geography of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Ankara

The city selected by Ataturk to replace Istanbul as Turkey's capital.

Cyprus

A Mediterranean island located $50\,\text{miles}$ off the southern coast of Turkey, divided into the 21st century by a clash of Turkish and Greek cultures.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

The current president of Turkey known for his controversial policies.

16th-Century Conversion to Shiism

The religious transition in the late 16th century when the Persian Empire shifted from the Sunni sect of Islam to the Shia sect, shaping the modern Islamic world's breakdown into roughly $86\%$ Sunni and $14\%$ Shia instead of an estimated $98\%$ Sunni.

Farsi

An Indo-European language that uses the Arabic alphabet and is spoken by the majority ($60\%$ to $65\%$) of Iranians; extends into Afghanistan where it is known as Dari.

Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut

Two large salt deserts located in the middle and southern areas of Iran that severely restrict human habitation.

Elburz Mountains

The highest mountain range in Iran, situated directly north of Tehran, featuring a peak reaching over $18,500\,\text{feet}$ above sea level.

Zagros Mountains

A prominent mountain range in Iran that covers a far larger footprint than the Elburz range.

Azeris

A Turkic-speaking ethnic group representing $16\%$ of Iran's population, concentrated primarily in northwestern Iran along the border with Azerbaijan.

Ethnic Minorities of Iran

Non-Persian groups residing in Iran's border regions, including Kurds ($10\%$) and Azeris ($16\%$) in the northwest, Arabs ($2\%$) along southern Iraq and the Strait of Hormuz, and Baluchis ($2\%$) in the southeast.

Baluchis (Balochs)

An ancient, primarily Sunni Iranian ethnic group with a strong tribal structure and traditions inhabiting Baluchistan, an area partitioned between Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan; they comprise about $2\%$ of Iran's population.

Buffer State

The original political status of Afghanistan, created as a neutral zone separating the British and Russian Empires.

Hindu Kush

A western extension of the Himalaya Mountains that forms the rugged, earthquake-prone interior of Afghanistan.

Physical Zones of Afghanistan

The three distinct geographic regions of Afghanistan: 1) the moist, fertile north; 2) the rugged, earthquake-prone interior in the heart of the Hindu Kush; and 3) the dry south (forested to the east and drier to the west).

Mujahideen

United tribal 'Freedom Fighters' who led the armed resistance against the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, backed in part by funds and weapons from the United States during the protracted 10-year conflict known as 'Russia's Vietnam.'

Taliban

An extremist movement composed predominantly of Sunni Pashtun and Islamic fundamentalists from Pakistan and eastern/southern Afghanistan who seized power in 1996 and took control of the country again in 2021.

Burqa

A full-body garment covering both body and face that women in Afghanistan were mandated to wear in public under Taliban rule.

Northern Alliance

The Afghan resistance group that partnered with the United States after September 11, 2001, to topple the Taliban regime.

Pashto and Dari

The two most prominent languages spoken in Afghanistan, with Dari being a local form of Farsi.

Pashtuns and Tajiks

The two largest ethnic groups comprising the population of Afghanistan.