40 Maps that explain the Middle East

[Fragile Bird]

I was trying to find some information about the Middle East and came across this compact set of maps the show the history of the Middle East from the Sumerians on forward. While I think I have over the years read about a great deal of the information shown in the maps and the accompanying explanation of what is being shown, I found the visuals of the places being discussed to be very helpful in being able to relate the information I know with the actual places.

Maps 4 and 5, for example, show the growth of the Caliphate in the 100 years after the founding of Islam. If ISIL/ISIS wants to restore the Caliphate, I can now see what lands they are targeting.

Map 8 shows the Sykes-Picot treaty lines which carved up the Middle East after WW 1, which I probably have seen somewhere along the way, Map 13 shows where the Sunnis and the Shias live, Map 15 shows where Muslims live around the world, Map 27 shows the Durand Line which is more or less the Afghanistan-Pakistan border (what an idiot Durand was!), Map 36 shows where the Kurds live, and Map 38 shows the mess in Northern and Western Africa that has developed after the fall of Ghadafi.

I was going to post this in the Middle East or the ISIS threads, but the maps are interesting enough, I think, to stand alone. They aren't perfect, of course, but they give some insight into what is going on there today.

The link: http://www.vox.com/a/maps-explain-the-middle-east

[straits]

Great link :) . I forgot how full of straight lines African and Middle Eastern borders are on the map.