Iraq's population represents a wide spectrum of religious and ethnic groupings. Most Iraqis are Arabs and live along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, or on the fertile plain between the rivers. Bedouins roam vast deserts in the west and south.

Before the advent of oil, Abu Dhabi was a small fishing village on an island. Now it is a large modern city with outstanding architecture; it is also the political and financial centre of the UAE.

The seven countries of the Arabian Peninsula are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen. The two holiest cities in the Muslim world, Mecca and Medina, are in Saudi Arabia, the largest nation on the Peninsula.

There are over five million Bedouin in the Near East (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq), comprising a number of tribes, each with their own loyalties, characteristics and dialects. The Gospel has hardly reached the Bedouin in this region.