| 1 | This realm contains several of the world's great ancient culture hearths and some of its most durable civilizations. |
| 2 | North Africa / Southwest Asia is the source region of several world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. |
| 3 | This realm is predominantly but not exclusively Islamic (Muslim). That faith pervades cultures from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east. |
| 4 | North Africa / Southwest Asia is the "Arab World," but significant population groups in this realm are not of Arab ancestry. |
| 5 | The population of North Africa / Southwest Asia is widely dispersed in discontinuous clusters. |
| 6 | Natural environments in this realm are dominated by drought and unreliable precipitation. Population concentrations occur where the water supply is adequate to marginal. |
| 7 | The realm contains a pivotal area in the "Middle East", where Arabian, North African, and Asian regions intersect. |
| 8 | North Africa / Southwest Asia is a realm of intense discord and bitter conflict, reflected by frequent territorial disputes and boundary frictions. |
| 9 | Both the United States and Eastern European have vital interests and key client-states in this realm. |
| 10 | Enormous reserves of petroleum lie beneath certain portions of the realm, bringing wealth to these favored places. But overall, oil revenues have raised the living standards of only a small minority of the total population. |