Growing up in the United States myself and many others were afforded privileges that many others across the world are not. For example, I was able to grow up in a stable middle class household in New Jersey and was afforded many opportunities. Compared to regions such as the Levant in the Middle East, my childhood would be an outlier. As a child I was raised in a religious and in a predominantly Italian-American culture which is a difference from the region. In the Levant, a non-religious family is unheard of as countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria 93% or higher of the population is Muslim as of 2018 (Muslim Population, 2023). In the region, Israel has the lowest percentage of its people being Muslim at 18% (Population, 2021). This is incredibly different from my hometown which had a significant Christian population. Furthermore, this culture shaped the majority of people in my hometown, much like I imagine having a large muslim population would.
Additionally the landscape of my home town is different from many of the areas in the Levant. This is due to the fact that I grew up in a suburban town and not in either a rural or metropolitan/urban area. In the Levant region alone, upwards of 70% of the population lives in urban areas. The only exception here is Syria where only 56% of the population lives in urban areas (Urban Population, 2018). Being a child in the suburbs was a vital part of my childhood and I could not imagine growing up in any other environment, especially an urban area.
My hometown in relation to the state.
Sources for photos: Levant
Blog Sources:
“Urban Population (% of Total Population) – Middle East & North Africa.” Data, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=ZQ.
Muslim Population by Country 2023, https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/muslim-population-by-country.
Population of Israel on the Eve of 2022 – Cbs.gov.il. https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/mediarelease/pages/2021/population-of-israel-on-the-eve-of-2022.aspx.
3 responses to “Childhood Comparison”
AJ I find it very interesting how you made the comparison between growing up in a rural area and how it impacted your life and how you view the world compared to growing up in an urban environment especially in Levant. I also agree with you on the emphasis especially when it comes to religious freedom and how fortunate we are to be able to express our religious beliefs without repercussions
My hometown is also majority Christian with a large suburban population. In the Arabian peninsula, my region of study, most people reside in urban areas. I could not imagine growing up in an urban area where everyone lives so close to each other. In terms of religion, the overarching majority of residents are Muslim, similar to your region, and there are very few non-Muslims, let alone people who do not adhere to a religion.
It’s really interesting how you included statistics about the area that people live in. I had no idea that such a large portion of the population there lived in urban areas. I expected more suburban and rural areas. Why do you think that the percentage of the population living in urban spaces in Syria is lower than the rest of the region?