RiyadhRiyadh (riːˈjɑːd, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' ar.riˈjaːdʕ Najdi pronunciation: er.rɪˈjɑːðʕ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. It is the largest city on the Arabian Peninsula, and is situated in the center of the an-Nafud desert, on the eastern part of the Najd plateau. The city sits at an average of above sea level, and receives around 5 million tourists each year, making it the forty-ninth most visited city in the world and the 6th in the Middle East.
HookahA hookah (Hindustani: (Nastaleeq), हुक़्क़ा (Devanagari), IPA: ˈɦʊqːa; also see other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco (often muʽassel), or sometimes cannabis, hashish and opium. The smoke is passed through a water basin—often glass-based—before inhalation.
BaharnaThe Baharna (بحارنة) are the indigenous Shia Muslim inhabitants of Bahrain who inhabited the area before the arrival of Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes from Najd, particularly by Banu Utbah in the 18th century which the Bahraini royal family is from. They are generally regarded by scholars and Bahraini people to be the original inhabitants of the Bahrain archipelago. Most Shi'i Bahraini citizens are Baharna.
Houthi movementThe Houthi movement (al.ħuː.θiː.juːn; al-Ḥūthīyūn), officially called Ansar Allah (أَنْصَار ٱللَّٰه) and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed organization that emerged from Saada Governorate in North Yemen in the 1990s. The Houthi movement is a predominately Zaidi Shia force, whose leadership is drawn largely from the Houthi tribe. Under the leadership of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the group emerged as an opposition to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Ubaid periodThe Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall and later by Leonard Woolley. In South Mesopotamia the period is the earliest known period on the alluvial plain although it is likely earlier periods exist obscured under the alluvium. In the south it has a very long duration between about 5500 and 3800 BC when it is replaced by the Uruk period.
Abu DhabiAbu Dhabi (UKˈæbuːˈdæbi, USˈɑːbuːˈdɑːbi; أَبُو ظَبِي Abū Ẓabī ɐˈbuˈðʕɑbi) is the capital and second-most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. The city of Abu Dhabi is located on an island in the Persian Gulf, off the Central West Coast. Most of the city and the Emirate reside on the mainland connected to the rest of the country. , Abu Dhabi's urban area had an estimated population of 1.
DarfurDarfur (dɑːrˈfʊər ; Dār Fūr) is a region of western Sudan. Dār is an Arabic word meaning "home [of]" – the region was named Dardaju (Dār Dājū) while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë 350 AD, and it was renamed Dartunjur (Dār Tunjur) when the Tunjur ruled the area. Darfur was an independent sultanate for several hundred years until it was invaded and incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. As an administrative region, Darfur is divided into five federal states: Central Darfur, East Darfur, North Darfur, South Darfur and West Darfur.
FlagellationFlagellation (Latin flagellum, 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly and even done by oneself in sadomasochistic or religious contexts. The strokes are typically aimed at the unclothed back of a person, though they can be administered to other areas of the body.
Artificial islandAn artificial island is one that has been constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of human intervention in their format process, while others argue that artificial islands are created by expanding existing islets, constructing on existing reefs, or amalgamating several islets together. Although constructing artificial islands is not a modern phenomenon, there is no definite legal definition of it.
ThawbThe thawb (ثَوْب "garment"), also spelled thobe or tobe, is an ankle-length robe, usually with long sleeves. With regional variations in name and style, it is commonly worn by locals in the Arab world, more specifically the Arabian Peninsula, as well as Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, North Africa, and some countries in East and West Africa. The word thawb (ثَوْب) is the Arabic word for "garment". It is also romanized as thobe or thaub. The thawb is commonly worn by men in the Arabian Peninsula.
