Algeria- Algeria is North African country with a Mediteranian coastline and a Saharan desert interior. Many empires have left legacies.

Morroco- Also a North African country bording the Alantic Ocean and Mediteranian Sea, is distingushed by its Berber, Arabian and European cultural influences.

Libya- Currently Libya is falling back into the Civil war as rival sides fight to control oil termanials. Diplomats are concerned the fighting will severely damage the coastal oil infrastructure – the economic lifeblood of the country.

Egypt- An Egyptian father named his newborn daughter “Facebook” to commemorate the role Facebook played in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Her full name is Facebook Jamal Ibrahim.

Mediterranian sea- The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levan

Iraq- Iraq is celebrate two New Year’s Days. The first celebration is Muharram on the first month of the Muslim calendar. Some Iraqis also celebrate New Year’s Eve on December 31 of the Gregorian calendar

Syria- In Syria the president Bashar al-Assad is re-elected, receiving 88.7% of the vote in the country's first election since civil war broke out in 2011. The election is criticized by opposition groups and many Western countries.

Turkey- In 1990 Turkey supported the West against Iraq following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and in 2003 allowed U.S. forces to use Turkish air space in the Iraq war. In 1999 Turkey gained approval as a candidate country for membership in the European Union.

Afganistan-After decades of war, Afghanistan is rebuilding its economy, which is mostly agricultural, and has successfully held elections. A 2004 vote gave the country its first democratically elected president, Hamid Karzai

Yemen-The northern portion of Yemen was ruled by imams until a pro-Egyptian military coup took place in 1962. The junta proclaimed the Yemen Arab Republic, and after a civil war in which Egypt's Nasser and the USSR supported the revolutionaries and King Saud of Saudi Arabia and King Hussein of Jordan supported the royalists, the royalists were finally defeated in mid-1969.

Saudi Arabia-Saudi Arabia has 83,000 square miles (2,149,690 square km) in total area, which makes it the 13th largest country in the world. It is the largest country in the Middle East, about the size of Western Europe and one-quarter the size of the U.S.