North Africa questions

The picture shows argania, a tree endemic to the calcareous semidesert Sous valley of southwestern Morocco. In some parts of Morocco, argan takes the place of the olive as a source of forage, oil, timber, and fuel in Berber society. Especially near Essaouira, the argan tree is frequently climbed by goats.

The Alboran Sea is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea. The name of the sea is derived from the small Alboran Island in the middle of the sea. The island is named after a Tunisian pirate, Al Borani, who had a base on the island in the 16th century.

The English name Egypt is derived from the Ancient Greek Aígyptos, but it has nothing in common with the local name of the country (except maybe with the Late Egyptian name of Memphis - Hikuptah). Ancient Egyptians called their land Kemet, meaning "black soil" (as opposed to the desert). Today, Misr is the official name of Egypt, while Masr is the Egyptian-local pronunciation in the Egyptian Arabic.

The Berber language is ancient and has 2200 years of written tradition. In 2011 Berber became a constitutionally official language of Morocco, after years of persecution (under the policy of Arabization). There is a movement among speakers of the closely related varieties of Northern Berber to unite them under a standard language.

With 90M inhabitants, Egypt is by far the most populous Arab country. The population of Algeria is 38M, Iraq 35M, Sudan 35M, Morocco 32M, and Saudi Arabia 31M.

This is an Egyptian soccer fan. She gets her national flag drawn on her face on a street in Cairo.

The ruins of Carthage are just 15 km north of Tunis. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Tunisia.

The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient kingdom situated south of Egypt, on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile. Approximately 255 pyramids were constructed at three sites (including Meroe listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site) over a period of a few hundred years to serve as tombs for the Kushite kings and queens. These steep pyramids differ from Egyptian ones and were constructed much later.

The Mediterranean Sea makes up the majority of Israel's coastline. But Israel also has a small coastline on the Red Sea in the south, with the port of Eilat. This 11 km (7 miles) wide strip of land separates Egypt from Jordan, so tourists visiting Egypt typically need to approach Jordan by the sea if they want to visit Petra.

Gaddafi was a controversial and highly divisive world figure. Supporters lauded his anti-imperialist stance and work in unifying Africa and the Arab world, and he was decorated with various awards. Conversely, he was internationally condemned as a dictator and autocrat whose authoritarian administration violated the human rights of Libyan citizens and supported international terrorism.