Arab Regions, by Robert Peck

The regions of the Arab World may be close together on the landscape but several of the countries could not be more different. Between the languages spoken, the literacy rate, the problems within the confines of the borders down to the meaning of their flags, there is a reason why these countries have fought for independence throughout the course of history. The majority of the countries in the Middle East have a past history filled with bloodshed and struggle for independence and most of these countries escaped the rule of a more powerful overseeing country in an attempt to leave their own mark on the world. The purpose of this entry is to layout basic facts about a few of the major countries of the Arab World.

The country of Jordan utilizes a political monarchy with a parliamentary system, but as of December of 2011, there has been much unrest in Jordan as there has been with the rest of the Middle East. However, in response to the demonstrations King Abdallah replaced his prime minister and formed two commissions in order to reform the political parties and the electoral process of Jordan. The religion in the country is officially recognized as Sunni Muslim with a small Christian minority presence as well. The literacy rate of Jordan is strikingly high compared to other countries where peoples over the age of 15 who can read and write are at about 90% of all those included with a 95% literacy rate in men and just an 84% rate in women. The flag of Jordan is made up of three stripes colored black, white and green with a 7 pointed white star in the middle. The three colors represent the first three caliphates of the history of Jordan, the original three that ruled over the land in the early stages of the country’s existence.

The land of Egypt has become perhaps the most notable country in the Arab World due to the unrest throughout 2011, and with the resignation of President Mubarak, the defense minister Muhammad Hussein Tantawi assumed control of the government as a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Much like the Jordanian flag, Egypt’s flag contains stripes of black and white but rather than representing the original Muslim caliphates, the black and white of Egypt’s flag represent oppression represented by black and a bright future with the white. Sitting on top of the black and white stripes is a red stripe representing the bloody struggle to attain independence.

The Sudan is one of the poorer countries of the Arab World. It is a country dominated by Sunni Muslims with a Christian minority. With only a 61% literacy rate among the population and just a 50% literacy rate among women, the Sudan ranks among the lowest of Arab World nations. In fact, according the CIA World Fact book: “Sudanese women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude in Middle Eastern countries (…) and to forced sex trafficking in European countries.” The children are transported to Saudi Arabia through Yemen where they are forced to beg and vend in the streets.

Many of the flags of Arab Nations have some type of ties to conflict or to the Muslim religion. As in the green flag of the birthplace of the Muslim religion, Saudi Arabia, the green in the Kuwait flag represents fertile land while the red, white and black of the Kuwaiti flag represent blood on their swords, purity and defeat of the enemy, respectively, which is similar to the Egyptian flag but very different at the same time. The small nuances in just the flags of these very similar nations speak for the independence and the passion of that independence that these countries feel and they pride they take in their people.

Works Cited
"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. 22 Dec. 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. .