Asia Tengah

Country	Basic Data		Religions & ethnic groups	Flag	Links
Algeria Map of Algeria	Capital	Algiers	Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%; Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%		Foreign Affairs Finances Energy Industry Statistics Bank
	Currency	Algerian Dinar
	Area (km2)	2,380,000
	Languages	Arabic, French, Berber
Bahrain Map of Bahrain	Capital	Manama	Shi'a Muslim 70%, Sunni Muslim 30% Bahraini 63%, Asian 19%, other Arab 10%, Iranian 8%		Foreign Affairs Finance Commerce Information Research
	Currency	Bahraini dinar
	Area (km2)	620
	Languages	Arabic
Egypt Map of Egypt History of Egypt	Capital	Cairo	Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90-94%, Coptic Christian and other 6-10%. Eastern Hamitic (Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers) 99%, Greek, Nubian, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%		Foreign Affairs Economy Statistics Energy Planning Central Bank Government Site
	Currency	Egyptian pound
	Area (km2)	1,001,450
	Languages	Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes
Iraq Map of Iraq History of Iraq	Capital	Baghdad	Muslim 97% (Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other 3%. Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%		Foreign Affairs Information
	Currency	Iraqi Dinar
	Area (km2)	437,072
	Languages	Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian
Iran Map of Iran History of Iran	Capital	Teheran	Shi'a Muslim 89%, Sunni Muslim 10%, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 1%. Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%.		Foreign Affairs Agriculture Energy Mines and Metals Statistics
	Currency	Iranian Rial
	Area (km2)	1,648,000
	Languages	Persian & dialects 58%, Turkic & dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
Israel Map of Israel History of Israel and Palestine	Capital	Jerusalem2	Jewish 80.1%, Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim), Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.) Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language		Foreign Affairs Prime Minister Bank Education
	Currency	New Israeli Shekel
	Area (km2)	20,770
	Languages	Official: Hebrew, English, Arabic; Russian, French
Jordan Map of Jordan	Capital	Amman	Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6%, other 2% (several small Shi'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2000 est.) Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%		Finance Planning Industry and Trade Energy Tourism Statistics Bank of Jordan
	Currency	Jordanian Dinar
	Area (km2)	92,300
	Languages	Arabic (official), English
Kuwait Map of Kuwait	Capital	Kuwait	Muslim 85% (Sunni 45%, Shi'a 40%), Christian, Hindu, Parsi, and other 15%. Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 7%		Foreign Affairs Finance Planning Information Bank of Kuwait
	Currency	Kuwaiti Dinar
	Area (km2)	17,820
	Languages	Arabic (official), English
Lebanon Map of Lebanon	Capital	Beirut	Muslim 70% (including Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 30% Jewish <1%. Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%		Finance Economy Agriculture Tourism Président Statistics Banque du Liban
	Currency	Lebanese Pound
	Area (km2)	10,400
	Languages	Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian
Libya Map of Libya	Capital	Tripoli	Sunni Muslim 97%. Berber and Arab 97%, Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, Tunisians.
	Currency	Libyan dinar
	Area (km2)	1,759,540
	Languages	Arabic, Italian, English
Morocco Map of Morocco	Capital	Rabat	Muslim 98.7%, Christian 1.1%, Jewish 0.2% Arab-Berber 99.1%, other 0.7%, Jewish 0.2%		Foreign Affairs Planning Industry Economy Investments Statistics
	Currency	Moroccan Dirham
	Area (km2)	446,550
	Languages	Arabic (official), Berber dialects, French
Oman Map of Oman	Capital	Muscat	Ibadhi Muslim 75%, Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu Arab, Baluchi, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi), African.		Economy Commerce Information Bank of Oman
	Currency	Omani Rial
	Area (km2)	212,460
	Languages	Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects
Palestine1 Map of Palestine History of Israel & Palestine	Capital	NA	Muslim 87% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 7% (settlers), Christian and other 6%. Palestinian Arab and other 93%, Jewish 7%		Planning Industry Information Labor Tourism Statistics (PCBS)
	Currency	New Israeli Shekel; Jordanian Dinar
	Area (km2)	5,898
	Languages	Arabic, English
Qatar Map of Qatar	Capital	Doha	Muslim 95% Arab 40%, Pakistani 18%, Indian 18%, Iranian 10%, other 14%		Foreign Affairs Municipal Affairs and Agriculture Planning Council Qatar Central Bank
	Currency	Qatari Rial
	Area (km2)	11,437
	Languages	Arabic (official), English
Saudi Arabia Map of Saudi Arabia History of Arabia	Capital	Riyadh	Muslim 100%. Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%		Foreign Affairs Agriculture and Water Information Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
	Currency	Saudi Riyal
	Area (km2)	1,960,582
	Languages	Arabic (official), English
Sudan Map of Sudan	Capital	Khartoum	Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), animist 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum). African 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%		Foreign Affairs
	Currency	Sudanese Dinar
	Area (km2)	2,505,810
	Languages	Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
Syria Map of Syria	Capital	Damascus	Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, & other Muslim 16%, Christian 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo). Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%		Economy Industry Information Tourism
	Currency	Syrian Pound
	Area (km2)	185,180
	Languages	Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English
Tunisia Map of Tunisia	Capital	Tunis	Muslim 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish and other 1% Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%		Government Statistics Bank Tourism
	Currency	Tunisian dinar
	Area (km2)	163,610
	Languages	Arabic (official and one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce)
Turkey Map of Turkey	Capital	Ankara	Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (Christian and Jews). Turkish 80%, Kurdish 20%		Foreign Affairs Finance Industry and Trade Planning Statistics Mineral Research
	Currency	Turkish Lira
	Area (km2)	769,630
	Languages	Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek
UAE Map of UAE	Capital	Abu Dhabi	Muslim 96% (Shi'a 16%), Christian, Hindu, and other 4%; Emirati 19%, other Arab and Iranian 23%, South Asian 50%, others 8% (1982). less than 20% are citizens.		Commerce Finance Planning Statistics Government Bank
	Currency	Emirati dirham
	Area (km2)	78,000
	Languages	Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu
Yemen Map of Yemen	Capital	Sana	Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu; Predominantly Arab. also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans		Resources Supply and Trade Information Central Bank of Yemen
	Currency	Yemeni Riyal
	Area (km2)	527,970
	Languages	Arabic

Sources: CIA World Book of Facts (2000 estimates) SESRTCIC, Updated November 2001.