|
Tourism in the Arab World encompasses a wide array of activities and tourist attractions in an area spanning more than 13 million square kilometers. The Arab World mainly consists of the Arabic-speaking countries and populations in North Africa and Western Asia. The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 countries and territories of the Arab League: 10 countries in Africa, and 12 countries in Asia. Geographically, it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. It has a combined population of around 422 million people. The Arab World is divided into five main geographic regions: the Maghreb in Northwest Africa, the Nile Valley and the Horn of Africa in Northeast Africa, the Levant in the eastern Mediterranean, and the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia. Egypt is the only transcontinental country by virtue of the Sinai Peninsula, which lies in Asia. The vast area covered by the Arab World encompasses wide and diverse geographical features ranging from deserts and shrublands to Mediterranean forests and snow-capped mountain ranges. Deserts reign in most of northern Africa where the Sahara exists, the world's hottest desert where some of the sand dunes can reach 180 metres (590 ft) in height. The Arabian Peninsula is mainly covered by a range of deserts: the Nefud in the north, which is a stony desert; the Rub' Al-Khali or "Great Arabian Desert" in the south, and between them, the Dahna desert. In contrast, the Arab World boasts some of the highest mountain ranges in both Africa and Asia. The Atlas Mountains rise from the northern Sahara to peak of 4,167 m before cascading east towards the Mediterranean and west towards the Atlantic Ocean. The Hijaz mountains rise parallel to the Red Sea on the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula, separating the coastline from the inland deserts. Mountains like the Mount Lebanon and the Taurus Mountains mark the edges of the Levant, providing heavy rainfall and snowfall, thus nurturing the areas' forest landscapes. The areas within the Arab World witnessed the first forms of civilization, specifically in Ancient Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia. Throughout history, numerous civilizations, both local and foreign, settled in and ruled the Arab World each of them leaving its trace of monuments and landmarks. This made the regions within the Arab World a mosaic of remnants from most of the civilizations of the Old World. In some countries, you can find Ancient Roman temples next to an Umayyad palace, or a Crusader castle in a Mamluk Old Town, or even a Byzantine Church next to an Ottoman mosque. ==Maghreb== (詳細はMaghreb is usually defined as much or most of the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. The traditional definition as being the region including the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plains of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya. The term maghrib is in origin an Arabic word for "west", denoting the westernmost territories that fell to the Islamic conquests of the 7th century. Partially isolated from the rest of the continent by the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara desert, inhabitants of the northern parts of the Maghreb have long had commercial and cultural ties to the inhabitants of the Mediterranean countries of Southern Europe and Western Asia, going back at least to the Phoenicians in the 1st millennium BC (the Phoenician colony of Carthage having been founded, according to tradition, in what is now Tunisia c. 800 BC). The region was somewhat unified as an independent political entity during the rule of the Berber kingdom of Numidia, which was followed by Roman Empire's rule or influence. That was followed by the brief invasion of the Germanic Vandals, the equally brief re-establishment of a weak Byzantine rule by the Byzantine Empire, the rule of the Islamic Caliphates under the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Fatimids. The most enduring rule was that of the local Berber Muslim empires of Almoravids, Almohads, Hammadids, Zirids, Marinids, Wattasids (to name some of those among the most prominent) during the 8th to 13th centuries. The Ottoman Turks ruled the region as well. In 1989, the five modern states of Northest Africa established the Maghreb Union to promote cooperation and economic integration in a common market. Maghreb is home to 1 percent of the global population as of 2010. Maghrebi people include Moroccans (along with Sahrawis), Algerians, Libyans, Mauritanians, and Tunisians. Maghrebis are largely composed of Berber and Arab descent with European and Sub-Saharan elements. Various other influences are also prominent throughout the Maghreb. In northern coastal towns, in particular, several waves of European immigrants influenced the population in the Medieval era. Most notable were the moriscos and muladies, that is, the indigenous Spaniards who had earlier converted to the Muslim faith and were fleeing, together with ethnic Arab and Berber Muslims, from the Spanish Catholic Reconquista. Other European contributions included French, Italians, and others captured by the corsairs. Another significant group are Turks who came over with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. A large Turkish descended population exists, particularly in Tunisia and Algeria. The impact of all these superimposed cultures are noticeable in the diverse culture of the Maghreb, as well as in its architecture, heritage, and cuisine. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tourism in the Arab world」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|