 The Oil boom stabilized the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, making them the world's largest oil producers and exporters, which focuses on free trade and tourism.The following timeline can serve as a rough visual guide to the most important polities in the Islamic world prior to the First World War.It covers major historical centers of power and culture, including Arabia, Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), Persia (modern Iran), Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel/Palestine), Egypt, Maghreb (north-west Africa), al-Andalus (Iberia), Transoxania (Central Asia), Hindustan (including modern Pakistan, North India and Bangladesh), and Anatolia (modern Turkey).