Viridovipera

Ah, I really want to go. I'm not much into history normally, but Iran (and Iraq really) are where civilization as we know it basically began! What's not to love??? Thanks for sharing!

Did you see any cool animals along your trip??

Would love to hear an answer to this!

There have been some commercials going around with farmers celebrating the quality of their potatoes and saying that only the best potatoes go into McDonald's french fries. Is there ANY truth to this? What are the standards for potatoes in your factory?

I have heard many wonderful things how wonderful the people, landscapes and rich history of Iran are. Until this most recent turn in politics I was actually planning a trip there. Tell us a story that sheds light on your experiences in Iran.

They're connected though. Before urban migrations, GENERALLY northern Muslims tended to be of different ethnic groups than the southern Christians. Their religious colonization (Muslim from the north, Christian from the tropical southeast and southwest) were largely separated by the environment that the various people's lived in. The people's of those different environments GENERALLY were of two separate ethnic groups and thus spoke different languages.

Yes the friction right now is over religion, but the division of Islam and Christianity in many sub-Saharan countries follows divisions of ethnicity and environment as well. (See Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and other sahel/forest split countries for other examples.)

That being said, you're very right that a fraction of the two groups would probably only further the conflict.