Geography of the Arab world

Regions

Terrains in the area can be divided into three main types: the large arid desert covering most of it, the fertile south and north, and finally the high mountains of the Atlas, Ahaggar, Zagros and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, along with the Hijaz Mountain range.

The Arab world can also be divided into two continental parts: Asian, which has 12 states, and African, which is larger and has 10 states. Adjacent to the Arab world are 14 land neighbours and 4 sea neighbours. Geographically, the Arab world countries are further subdivided into four regions:

The Arab world has a high population density, with an estimated 350 million inhabitants. Culturally, the Arab states can be divided into 3 regions:

• The Greater Maghreb, which includes Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
• The Fertile Crescent, which includes Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.
• The Arabian Peninsula, which includes Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen.

Landscape

Most of the Arab world falls in the driest region of the world. Almost 80% of it is covered in desert (10,666,637 of 13,333,296 km2), stretching from Mauritania and Morocco to Oman and the UAE. The second most common terrain is the semi-arid terrain, which found in all Arab countries except Lebanon and Comoros.

Several deserts span the Arab world:

The highest point in the Arab world is in Morocco called Jbel Toubkal, standing 4,165m tall, making it the 40th highest place on earth, and 6th in Africa, next comes Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb (at 3,666 m (12,028 ft)) in Yemen and Cheekha Dar (at 3,611 m (11,847 ft)) in Iraq.

The lowest point in the Arab world is the Dead sea between Jordan and Palestine. At 1,312 feet (400 meters) below sea level it is also the lowest point on Earth.

Climate

The hottest temperature recorded in the Arab world took place in Kuwait from Mid-July to Mid-August 2022, reaching 54.6 °C (130.3 °F) in Kuwait City, breaking a record set in 1987.