BBC
Bbc News: Un to Assess Security in Somalia
Describes the UN's plan and trip to visit Somalia after the Islamic leaders took control of Mogadishu. The UN is evaluating whether or not it is safe to send aid. (June 2006)
BBC
Bbc: Mauritania Army Coup Condemned 8/04/05
In the Islamic Country of Mauritania, there was a coup that overthrew the U.S. backed leader. This coup has been condemned by many, and the international community hopes that the President of Mauritania is reinstated. The BBC goes into...
Other
Islam Project: Maps
A series of historical and near-present-day maps that span Islamic history. Starting with A.D. 750, the maps illustrate both the spread of Islam (from Medina outward to Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and other parts of the world) and...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Yemenis
The Yemenis are a Muslim and Arabic-speaking people who are mainly Arabs, although a small percentage of the population has African and Asian ancestry. Yemeni values have traditionally relied on a hierarchical, tribally organized, and...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Jews, Arabic Speaking Settlements
Throughout their history, the vast majority of Jews have lived in large cities and market towns. They lived in neighborhoods that were largely Jewish, but in most cities they had neighbors who adhered to other religions. Preference was...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Mande
"Mande" is a term that has been used to identify the culture that embraces the western third of Africa's great northern savanna and coastal forests. The Mali Empire was the source of the Mande diaspora; therefore, in a broad sense,...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Zarma Settlements, Kinship
The Zarma are the second-largest ethnic group in the Niger Republic, in West Africa, and they have close cultural affinities with the Songhay. Zarma villages are typically nucleated settlements made up of round mud or thatched dwellings...
PBS
Pbs: Wonders Sankore Mosque
This site has a study of the building and cultural significance of the Sankore Mosque. From its early 15th century construction, the Mosque has been a religious and educational landmark in Timbuktu.
PBS
Pbs News Hour: African Embassy Bombings
A special report from PBS on the African embassy bombings in 1998. Links to various articles on different associated topics.
BBC
Bbc News: Meeting Somalia's Al Shabab
A first hand account of Somalia's terrorist group, al-Shabab as well as the unsteady and dangerous political situation in Somalia as different factions fight for power at the expense of the people. (July 3, 2009)
The British Museum
British Museum: Artists of the Modern Middle East
The online home of "Word into Art," an exhibition mounted by the British Museum that details the way in which artists from across the Middle East and North Africa use written language in their art. The exhibition follows four thematic...
PBS
Pbs: The Swahili People
This is a site from the PBS series "Wonders of the African World." This brief but detailed article gives information about the origins and history of the Swahili people.
Arlington Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery: Bombings of Us Embassies
This site from the Arlington National Cemetery provides several photographs of the terrorist bombings on U.S. embassies in Africa in August of 1998. The text is very brief, but the pictures tell a lot.
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Arabs
The Arab world is usually considered to be comprised of the following nineteen countries: Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Mossi
The Mossi are the most prominent ethnic group in the modern nation of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta). They are also well known in the anthropological literature as a society with an especially high rate of labor migration to...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Tuareg
The Tuareg, a seminomadic, Islamic people who speak a Berber language, Tamacheq, live in the contemporary nation-states of Niger, Mali, Algeria, and Libya. They are believed to be descendants of the North African Berbers and to have...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Zaramo
"Wazaramo" is the preferred name for the people who live in the coastal area of Tanzania, in the vicinity of the capital city, Dar es Salaam. "Wazaramo" refers to the ethnic group, "Mzaramo" to an individual, and "Kizaramo" to the...
BBC
Bbc: Us 'Will Not Talk' to Somali Head
BBC article tracks the progression of the new government in Somalia which the US fears will become a haven for Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Examines why the United States will not talk to the new head of the Somali government....
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Mandaeans
The Mandaeans are a group of people defined primarily by their religious affiliation, which differs from that of their mainly Muslim neighbors in Iran and Iraq. Today they live along the rivers and waterways of southern Iraq and...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Syriacs
Syriac is a branch of the Aramaic family of languages and was the lingua franca of the eastern Roman Empire at the beginning of the Christian era. It is also spoken extensively in the regions farther east. It became the language of...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Jews of Kurdistan
Kurdish Jews, a largely rural people, have lived in the mountains and plains of Kurdistan since time immemorial. They have been geographically isolated throughout much of their history and are thought to have retained some old Jewish...
InterKnowledge Corp.
Exploring Mali
A very brief, yet informative page in which you will find an overview of Mali, its location, geography and climate, history and people.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: World History: Unit: 600 1450 Regional & Interregional Interaction
The World History unit is from Khan Academy. The years 600 to 1450 are included. The Byzantine Empire, European Middle Ages, origins of Islam, spread of Islam, Great Schism, Crusades, Mongols, Song China, Medieval Japan, Maya Empire,...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Peripatetics of Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey
The data concerning Afghanistan and Iran refer to the period prior to the Saur and Islamic revolutions, respectively. It is not known whether such communities still exist in these two countries. Each existing community is primarily...