languages_spoken_or_written muhaqqiq al-hilli
The Yazidis ( also Yezidis , " Êzidî ") are an ethnically ___MASK7___ religious community or an ethno - religious group indigenous to northern Mesopotamia ( 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 Iraq . Additional communities in Armenia , Georgia , Turkey , Iran , and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe , especially to Germany . The Yazidis ' cultural practices are observably ___MASK7___ , and almost all speak Kurmanji ( Northern ___MASK7___ ). The Soviet Union considered the Yazidis to be Kurds , as does Sharaf Khan Bidlisi ' s " Sheref - nameh " of 1597 , which cites seven of the ___MASK7___ tribes as being at least partly Yazidi , and ___MASK7___ tribal confederations as containing substantial Yazidi sections . Turkey , officially the Republic of Turkey ( ___MASK3___ : ), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . Turkey is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . Turkey 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 ___MASK3___ Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and Asia . Turkey ' s location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout history . Saudi Arabia , officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( KSA ), is an Arab sovereign state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula . With a land area of approximately , Saudi Arabia is geographically the fifth - largest state in Asia and second - largest state in the Arab world after Algeria . Saudi Arabia 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 ___MASK2___ Gulf coast , and most of its terrain consists of arid desert or barren landforms . Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western Asia . 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 ___MASK2___ 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 , Iran 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 Asia , 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 center . The Kurds (  ) also the ___MASK7___ people are an ethnic group in the Middle East , 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 Syria ( 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 . The Circassians ( Circassian :  , " Adygekher ") are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group native to Circassia , many of whom were displaced in the course of the ___MASK92___ conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century , especially after the ___MASK92___  Circassian War in 1864 . In its narrowest sense , the term " Circassian " includes the twelve Adyghe ( Circassian :  , " Adyge ") tribes ( three democratic and nine aristocratic ), i . e . Abzakh , Besleney , Bzhedug , Hatuqwai , Kabardian , Mamkhegh , Natukhai , Shapsug , Temirgoy , Ubykh , Yegeruqwai , and Zhaney , each one represented by a star on the green - and - gold Circassian flag . However , due to Soviet administrative divisions , Circassians were also designated as the following : " Adygeans " ( Adyghe in Adygea ), " Cherkessians " ( Adyghe in Karachay - Cherkessia ), " Kabardians " ( Adyghe in Kabardino - Balkaria ), " Shapsugians " ( Adyghe in Krasnodar Krai ) although all the four are essentially the same people residing in different political units . A city is a large and permanent human settlement . Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general ___MASK32___ language meanings , many cities have a particular administrative , legal , or historical status based on local law . Najm ul - Din Abul - Qasim Ja ' far bin al - Hasan bin Yahya bin al - Hasan bin Sa ' id , famous as al - Muhaqqiq al - Hilli and al - Muhaqqiq al - Awwal ( c . 1205 -- 1277 ) was an influential Shi ' i Mujtahid born in the city of al - Hilla , Iraq . He played an important role in shaping Twelver Shi ' ism ' s legal doctrines works . His legal manual , Shara ' i ul - Islam , has been particularly influential , attracting more than thirty commentaries . ___MASK37___ (' or ' ) is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the " lingua franca " of the Arab world . ___MASK37___ 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 Mesopotamia in the east to the Anti - Lebanon mountains in the west , and from northwestern Arabia to the Sinai in the south . Kuwait ('), officially the State of Kuwait ('), is a country in Western Asia . Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the ___MASK2___ Gulf , it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia . , Kuwait 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 . Iraq (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of Iraq ('; ') is a country in Western Asia , 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 , ___MASK83___ , 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 Iraq are ___MASK37___ and Kurdish . A Christian ( or ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , an Abrahamic , monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . " Christian " derives from the ___MASK51___ word " Christós " (  ), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term " mashiach ".