Introduction to the Middle East and North Africa

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Introduction to the Middle East and North Africa
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• Southwest Asia (the Middle East) forms a land
  bridge between Europe, Africa, and Asia which
  sits on the edge of a tectonic plate

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• What is North Africa?
• North Africa is Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,
  and Morocco.

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Why do we study North Africa with the Middle East?

• Ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and
  religiously, the countries of North Africa have
  more in common with the Middle East than
  Sub-Saharan Africa.
• For example, most North Africans are Muslim and
  speak Arabic.

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Physical Geography
Anatolian Peninsula

• Arabian Peninsula

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Important Waterways
Tigris River
Mediterranean Sea
Jordan River
Euphrates River
Dead Sea
Nile River
Persian Gulf
Arabian Sea
Red Sea
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• Other Landforms

Elburz Mountains
Hindu Kush Mountains
Taurus Mountains
Zagros Mountains
Rub al-Khali Desert
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Physical geography of North Africa
Atlas Mountains
Suez Canal
Mediterranean Sea
Nile River
Sahara Desert
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Climate

• Desert
• Much of the area is arid (desert) climate and
  gets less than 18 inches of rain a year
• Because of this, rivers do not flow year around
• Vegetation and animals in the area can live on
  very little water and in extreme temperatures
• Ex. Saudi Arabia, much of Iraq, Jordan, most of
  North Africa

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Semiarid

• Recieves about 16 inches of rain each year
• Summers are hot, winters are mild to cold
• Ex parts of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan

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Mediterranean Climates

• Land is green and lush for at least part of the
  year
• Summers dry and hot, winters cool and rainy
• Ex parts of Turkey, Iran

Highland/Steppe Climate

• Affected by latitude and elevation
• Located around mountain ranges and plateaus in
  Southwest Asia
• Ex. Eastern Afghanistan

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Vocabulary

• Oasis an area of the desert where vegetation is
  found because water is available, usually because
  of an underground source
• Delta made of deposited sediment, left by a
  river that slows as it enters the ocean
• Wadi riverbeds that remain dry except for the
  rainy season