Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

underground pipes. Some of the aqueducts

are still used today. The Romans

also built aqueducts in other parts of

their empire.

Most engineers today use powerful

pumps to force water upward when necessary.

This allows modern engineers to

design aqueducts in ways that ancient

engineers could not. Instead of building

a bridge over a valley, for example, modern

engineers can simply run pipes

down one side of the valley and up the

other. Pumps powered by steam were

first used in the late 1700s. Later pumps

were powered by electricity.

#More to explore

Bridge • Canal • Rome, Ancient

Arabian

Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, is a

piece of land in southwestern Asia. It is

the original homeland of the Arab

people. It is also the birthplace of the

religion of Islam. The country of Saudi

Arabia takes up about four fifths of the

peninsula. The peninsula also includes

Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab

Emirates, Yemen, Bahrain, and parts of

Jordan and Iraq.

Geography

The Arabian Desert covers almost all of

the peninsula. Some parts of the desert

get enough rain for grass and shrubs to

grow. In general, however, the climate is

very dry and hot. At least one third of

the desert is sandy. Other parts are cov-

The Inca

people of

South America

built a system

of aqueducts

to carry water

down from the

Andes Mountains.

One

Inca aqueduct

was 360 miles

(579 kilometers)

long.

156 Arabian Peninsula BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

ered by bare rock. There are some hills

and mountains.

The Arabian Peninsula has almost half

of the world’s supplies of petroleum

(oil). Most of the oil is in or near the

Persian Gulf, the body of water east of

the peninsula. The countries of the

region sell the oil to other countries.

People

Arabs make up most of the population

of the peninsula. Nearly all Arabs speak

the Arabic language. Most Arabs are

Muslims, or followers of Islam. Muhammad,

the founder of Islam, was born in

what is now Saudi Arabia.

History

In ancient times the Sabaeans, the

Minaeans, and the Himyarites built up

powerful kingdoms in southwestern

Arabia. These Arab peoples traded with

Egypt, China, and India.

In the 600s Muhammad started Islam.

Soon all of Arabia was united under the

religion. Then the Arabs spread Islam

beyond the peninsula by conquering

other lands. The Muslim leaders who

followed Muhammad ruled a large

Islamic empire. At first they ruled from

Arabia. Later, however, they ruled from

other parts of the empire.

In the 1500s the Ottoman Turks made

Arabia part of their empire. However,

they never gained firm control of the

peninsula. The Arabs revolted

repeatedly against the Ottomans. The

Sa!ud family controlled the middle part

of Arabia.

Meanwhile, the British took control of

most of the southern and eastern coasts

of Arabia. The local Arabian rulers

united with the British against the Ottomans.

They defeated the Ottomans in

the early 1900s. Then the peninsula

gradually became free from British rule.

By 1971 the peninsula was made up

entirely of independent countries. In

1990 the countries of North Yemen and

South Yemen were united to form the

Republic of Yemen.

#More to explore

Arabs • Islam • Petroleum • Saudi

Arabia

Arab-IsraeliWars

Since the creation of Israel in 1948, the

Jewish state has gone to war with its

Arab neighbors on several occasions.

The differences between the groups continued

into the 21st century.

The Arabian Desert features large areas of

mountains and raised flat areas called

plateaus.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Arab-Israeli Wars 157

 

Background

The Middle Eastern region known as

Palestine was the ancient home of the

Jewish people. It became part of the

Islamic world in the AD 600s. From

1923 to 1948 the British ruled the

region. During this time, many Jewish

immigrants from Europe settled there.

Arabs also lived in Palestine, and both

groups wanted to control the land.

When Britain gave up Palestine, the

United Nations (UN) divided the land.

Each group got the same amount, but

the Arabs were unhappy because the

Jews were given some land that was

owned by Arab Palestinians.

The War of 1948–49

On May 14, 1948, as soon as Israel

came into existence, Arab Palestinians

and neighboring Arab countries declared

war on Israel. Arab forces occupied parts

of Palestine, but by the time the war

ended Israel ended up with more land

than it had before the war.

In 1949 Israel and the Arab states signed

border agreements. There was no peace

treaty, however. The many Palestinians

who had left their homes ended up in

refugee camps in Arab countries.

The Six-DayWar

In the spring of 1967, fighting between

Syria and Israel led to the Six-DayWar.

Israel saw that Egypt was preparing for

war in order to aid Syria. On June 5

Israel struck quickly and wiped out

nearly the whole Egyptian air force on

the ground. In six days’ time Israel

seized the Old City of Jerusalem, the

Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Jordanian

territory west of the Jordan River

(known as the West Bank), and the

Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian

border.

The Yom KippurWar

On October 6, 1973, on the Jewish holy

day of Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria

both attacked Israel. In the Yom Kippur