Originally Posted by Yakk

You must realize, most of the middle eastern states are not all that rich, even with their oil revenue, compared to the first world.

On a per-capita basis, the two richest middle east states are UAE and Qatar. They rival New Zealand -- and there are more Kiwi's than both of those nations put together.

After them comes Isreal, Kuwait -- both of which are simularly postage-stamp sized.

Saudi Arabia and Oman have per capita GDPs that rival Lithuania and Estonia and Hungary and Poland. Saudi Arabia has fewer people than Canada, and Oman is another postage-stamp sized nation.

The middle east is poor, for all it's oil wealth.

Edit: Some spelling mistakes, and one fix