ABSTRACT

The Middle East and North Africa This region extends from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Arabian Sea and the Tropic of Cancer in the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It is mostly desert country, with the climatic conditions associated with this kind of terrain, and is traditionally the home of the nomad, forced into a life of wandering in search for vegetation. It is also, of course, with the notable exception of Israel, the land of the Arab. Indeed, the whole region is often referred to as the Arab world. The total population of the region is in excess of 270 million and is thinly dispersed over an area of more than 11 million square kilometres.