southwestern Asia called the Arabian
Peninsula. Today the word Arab also
refers to Arabic-speaking people who
live in the Middle East, North Africa,
and other places. In the early 21st century
there were more than 100 million
Arabs throughout the world.
Early Arabian society was made up of
families that came together to form
tribes. Tribes traced their heritage back
many centuries. According to tradition,
some Arabs are descended from a man
named Qahtan, who lived in southern
Arabia. Others are descended from a
man named !Adnan, of northern Arabia.
The religion of Islam brought Arabs
together beginning in the early AD
600s. Because Islams holy book (the
Koran) is written in Arabic, that
language soon was used by all who
practiced the religion.
Arabs shop at a street market in
Cairo, Egypt.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Arabs 159
More than 90 percent of modern Arabs
practice Islam. Religion is an important
part of everyday life for many Arabs. It
influences how people behave and dress.
Arabs, especially women, tend to dress
modestly. In many areas women are
expected to wear dark robes and to cover
their face with a veil in public.
Arabs who live in cities tend to have less
traditional attitudes than those who live
in small villages. Both men and women
have more educational and employment
opportunities in cities.
#More to explore
Arabian Peninsula Islam
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea is a saltwater body in central
Asia. The seas name comes from the
Kyrgyz word Aral-denghiz, meaning Sea
of Islands, because of the many islands
in its waters.
Also called Lake Aral, the Aral Sea is
situated more than 250 miles (400 kilometers)
east of the Caspian Sea. It is
bordered by Kazakhstan on the north
and Uzbekistan on the south. The Amu
Darya and Syr Darya rivers are the seas
two main sources of inflowing water.
The Aral Sea area has cold winters and
hot summers. The area gets very little
rainfall.
In 1960 the Aral Sea covered an area of
26,300 square miles (68,000 square
kilometers). However, during the
second half of the 1900s, most of the
inflowing river water was used for
irrigation before it reached the sea. The
sea also loses water through
evaporation. Because there is not much
rainfall this water is not replaced fast
enough to maintain the water level.
The Aral has therefore shrunk
drastically in its area and volume. By
the end of the 1900s the Aral Sea had
lost so much water that the exposed
land divided the sea into three separate
parts.
Scientists view the changes to the Aral
Sea as a serious threat to the local
environment and human health. As the
water has evaporated, the salt and
mineral content has risen dramatically.
This has made the water unfit for
drinking and killed the once-abundant
supplies of freshwater fish. The fishing
industry along the Aral Sea was
virtually destroyed. Many groups tried
to address these issues, but the
problems continued into the 21st
century.
#More to explore
Kazakhstan Uzbekistan
160 Aral Sea BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Arapaho
The Arapaho are Native Americans who
originally lived in the Great Lakes
region. They gradually moved westward
and became great buffalo hunters and
warriors of the western Great Plains.
The Arapaho traditionally were farmers,
but as they moved west they began
hunting instead. Bison (buffalo) meat
became their main source of food. They
used bison hides to make clothing and
covers for their tepees.
The Arapaho were very religious people.
They believed that sacred objects had
supernatural power. Their most sacred
object was the Flat Pipe, a tobacco pipe
with a very long stem. They used this
pipe only during special religious
ceremonies.
By the mid-1800s the Arapaho had
separated into two groups. The Southern
Arapaho lived in what is now Colorado,
and the Northern Arapaho lived in
what is nowWyoming.
The Arapaho were pressured by the U.S.
government to move to a reservation. In
1869 the Southern Arapaho moved to
land in Indian Territory, which is now
part of Oklahoma. In 1878 the Northern
Arapaho moved to the Shoshone
Reservation (now called theWind River
Reservation) in what is nowWyoming.
Later in the 1800s both Arapaho groups
lost much of their reservation lands to
white settlers. At the end of the 20th
century more than 6,000 Arapaho lived
in the United States.
#More to explore
Native Americans
Arawak
The Arawak Indians once lived in South
America and on islands in the Caribbean
An Arapaho man wears the traditional
clothing of his people.
The Arawak people were forced to leave
the islands of the Lesser Antilles long ago.
They left behind stone carvings and pottery.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Arawak 161
Sea. The island Arawak, or Taino, were
the Indians the explorer Christopher
Columbus met on his first journey to
the Americas.
The Arawak lived in large villages. They
built their houses from logs, poles, and
the leaves of palm trees. They got most
of their food by farming. They also
fished, caught shellfish, and hunted
birds, lizards, and other small animals.
The Arawak first lived in northern
South America. Then they spread to the
Caribbean islands. Shortly before Europeans
arrived, the warlike Carib people
pushed the Arawak off the islands called
the Lesser Antilles. Columbus met the
Arawak in 1492. At that time the
Arawak lived only on the Greater Antilles
(Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and
Puerto Rico).
Columbus men and the Spaniards who
followed them treated the Arawak
harshly. They forced the Arawak to
work in fields and in mines. Some
Arawak died of starvation. Many others
died of diseases brought by the
Europeans.
By 1550 the island Arawak population
had been reduced from 1 million or
more to almost nothing. Their traditional
way of life largely disappeared as
well. Small groups of Arawak managed
to survive. Their descendants now live in
Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Florida.
#More to explore
Carib Columbus, Christopher
Arbor Day
A day set aside for the planting of trees,
Arbor Day began in Nebraska in 1872.
Today people across the United States
celebrate Arbor Day.
How Arbor Day Is Celebrated
Many states observe Arbor Day on the
last Friday in April, though the date may
vary depending on the climate. On
Arbor Day people plant trees throughout
their neighborhood. They plant trees
as memorials to loved ones, to restore
damaged landscapes, or just to add natural
beauty to the surroundings.
History
J. SterlingMorton, a newspaper editor
and politician, founded ArborDay. In
1854 he moved fromMichigan to
Nebraska, which was then a territory. The
NebraskaTerritory was a land of rolling
plains with few trees.Morton missed the
trees he had known in the East.
After Nebraska became a state, Morton
asked the state to create a holiday for
The largest
Arawak villages
had as
many as
3,000 people
living in them.
Girl Scouts plant a tree on Arbor Day.
162 Arbor Day BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
tree planting. Nebraskans celebrated the