location umma
The Yazidis ( also Yezidis , " Êzidî ") are an ethnically Kurdish religious community or an ethno - religious group indigenous to northern ___MASK4___ ( see also Ezidkhan ) who are strictly endogamous . Their religion , " Yazidism " is linked to ancient Mesopotamian religions and combines aspects of Zoroastrianism , Islam , Christianity and Judaism . Yazidis who marry non - Yazidis are automatically considered to be converted to the religion of their spouse and therefore are not permitted to call themselves Yazidis . They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of ___MASK12___ . Additional communities in ___MASK85___ , Georgia , ___MASK8___ , Iran , and ___MASK51___ have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe , especially to Germany . The Yazidis ' cultural practices are observably Kurdish , and almost all speak Kurmanji ( Northern Kurdish ). The Soviet Union considered the Yazidis to be Kurds , as does Sharaf Khan Bidlisi ' s " Sheref - nameh " of 1597 , which cites seven of the Kurdish tribes as being at least partly Yazidi , and Kurdish tribal confederations as containing substantial Yazidi sections . The Kurds (  ) also the Kurdish people are an ethnic group in the ___MASK29___ , mostly inhabiting a contiguous area spanning adjacent parts of eastern and southeastern Turkey ( Northern Kurdistan ), western Iran ( Eastern or Iranian Kurdistan ), northern Iraq ( Southern or Iraqi Kurdistan ), and northern ___MASK51___ ( Western Kurdistan or Rojava ). The Kurds are culturally and linguistically closely related to the Iranian peoples and , as a result , are often themselves classified as an Iranian people . ___MASK93___ ('), officially the State of ___MASK93___ ('), is a country in Western ___MASK30___ . Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf , it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia . , ___MASK93___ has a population of 4 . 2 million people ; 1 . 3 million are Kuwaitis and 2 . 9 million are expatriates . Expatriates account for 70 % of the population . ___MASK10___ (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of ___MASK10___ (' ), is a sovereign state in Western ___MASK30___ . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia , the " de facto " Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , and Azerbaijan ; to the north by the Caspian Sea ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan ; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan ; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq . Comprising a land area of , it is the second - largest country in the Middle East and the 18th - largest in the world . With 82 . 8 million inhabitants , ___MASK10___ is the world ' s 17th - most - populous country . It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline . The country ' s central location in Eurasia and Western ___MASK30___ , and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz , make it of great geostrategic importance . Tehran is the country ' s capital and largest city , as well as its leading economic ___MASK56___ . Arabs are a people inhabiting the ___MASK20___ . They primarily live in the Arab states in Western ___MASK30___ , North Africa , the Horn of Africa , and western Indian Ocean islands . ___MASK8___ , officially the Republic of ___MASK8___ ( Turkish : ), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western ___MASK30___ , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . ___MASK8___ is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . ___MASK8___ is bordered by eight countries : Greece to the west ; Bulgaria to the northwest ; Georgia to the northeast ; Armenia , the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east ; and Iraq and Syria to the south . The Aegean Sea is to the west , the Black Sea to the north , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . The Bosphorus , the Sea of Marmara , and the Dardanelles , which together form the Turkish Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and ___MASK30___ . ___MASK8___ ' s location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout history . ___MASK4___ ("[ land ] between rivers "; from Ancient Armenian  ( Mijagetq ); " bild ar - rfidayn " " miyn rodn "; " Beth Nahrain " " land of rivers ") is a name for the area of the Tigris  ___MASK53___ river system , in modern days roughly corresponding to most of Iraq plus ___MASK93___ , the eastern parts of ___MASK51___ , Southeastern Turkey , and regions along the Turkish - Syrian and Iran  Iraq borders . ___MASK59___ , officially known as the Kingdom of ___MASK59___ ( KSA ), is an Arab sovereign state in Western ___MASK30___ constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula . With a land area of approximately , ___MASK59___ is geographically the fifth - largest state in ___MASK30___ and second - largest state in the Arab world after Algeria . ___MASK59___ is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north , Kuwait to the northeast , Qatar , Bahrain , and the United Arab Emirates to the east , Oman to the southeast , and Yemen to the south . It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba . It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast , and most of its terrain consists of arid desert or barren landforms . ___MASK43___ is the capital of the Republic of ___MASK12___ . The population of ___MASK43___ , , is approximately 7 . 216 . 040 making it the largest city in ___MASK12___ , the second largest city in the ___MASK20___ ( after Cairo , Egypt ), and the second largest city in Western ___MASK30___ ( after Tehran , Iran ). The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define ___MASK4___ , the other being the ___MASK53___ . The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern ___MASK8___ through Iraq and empties itself into the Persian Gulf . Sumer was the first urban civilization in the historical region of southern ___MASK4___ , modern - day southern ___MASK12___ , during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages , and arguably the first civilization in the world with Ancient ___MASK25___ and the Indus Valley . Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates , Sumerian farmers were able to grow an abundance of grain and other crops , the surplus of which enabled them to settle in one place . Western ___MASK30___ , West ___MASK30___ , Southwestern ___MASK30___ or Southwest ___MASK30___ is the westernmost subregion of ___MASK30___ . The concept is in limited use , as it significantly overlaps with the Middle East ( or Near East ), the main difference being the exclusion of Egypt ( which would be counted as part of North Africa ). The term is sometimes used for the purposes of grouping countries in statistics . The ___MASK53___ ( Sumerian : : " Buranuna ", : " Purattu ", : " al - Furt ", : " Prt ", : " Yeprat ", : " Perat ", ) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western ___MASK30___ . Together with the Tigris , it is one of the two defining rivers of ___MASK4___ . Originating in eastern Turkey , the ___MASK53___ flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al - Arab , which empties into the Persian Gulf . Arabic (' or ' ) is a ___MASK22___ Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the " lingua franca " of the ___MASK20___ . Arabic also is a liturgical language of 1 . 7 billion Muslims . It is one of six official languages of the United Nations . It is named after the Arabs , a term initially used to describe peoples living from ___MASK4___ in the east to the Anti - Lebanon mountains in the west , and from northwestern Arabia to the Sinai in the south . ___MASK51___ , officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic (""), is a country in Western ___MASK30___ , bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west , Turkey to the north , Iraq to the east , Jordan to the south , and Israel to the southwest . ___MASK51___ ' s capital and largest city is Damascus . ___MASK12___ (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of ___MASK12___ ('; ') is a country in Western ___MASK30___ , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . The capital , and largest city , is Baghdad . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , Turkmen , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . Around 95 % of the country ' s 36 million citizens are Muslims , with Christianity , Yarsan , Yezidism , and Mandeanism also present . The official languages of ___MASK12___ are Arabic and Kurdish . ___MASK76___ ('), officially The Hashemite Kingdom of ___MASK76___ ('), is an Arab kingdom in Western ___MASK30___ , on the East Bank of the ___MASK76___ River . ___MASK76___ is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south , Iraq to the north - east , Syria to the north , Israel , ___MASK99___ and the Dead Sea to the west and the Red Sea in its extreme south - west . ___MASK76___ is strategically located at the crossroads of ___MASK30___ , Africa and Europe . The capital , Amman , is ___MASK76___ ' s most populous city as well as the country ' s economic , political and cultural centre . Umma ( modern Umm al - Aqarib , Dhi Qar Province in ___MASK12___ ) was an ancient city in Sumer . There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site . Until recently Umma was identified with Tell Jokha , less than 7 km to its northwest . Ancient ___MASK25___ was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa , concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of ___MASK25___ . It is one of six civilizations to arise independently . Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric ___MASK25___ and coalesced around 3150 BC ( according to conventional Egyptian chronology ) with the political unification of Upper and Lower ___MASK25___ under the first pharaoh Narmer ( commonly referred to as Menes ). The history of ancient ___MASK25___ occurred in a series of stable kingdoms , separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods : the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age , the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age .