Southwest Asia

1
Southwest Asia

• Human Geography
• Chapters 22 23

2
Leading countries according to GDP

• Kuwait
• United Arab Emirates
• Qatar
• Israel

3
Leading countries according to Land size

• Algeria
• Saudi Arabia
• Libya

4
Leading countries according to population

• Iran
• Turkey
• Egypt

5
Physical Characteristics

• Area is the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and
  Asia
• It has a primarily desert or semi-arid climate
• Sahara, Sahel, and steppes are the primary
  vegetation region

6

• Sahara--worlds largest desert, it stretches over
  most of North Africa and is growing
• Sahel--area separating the Sahara from the
  tropical rainforest of Africa.

7

• The Sahel is an area of temperate grassland
  (steppe) moving into sparse desert scrub-like
  vegetation

8

• Three main mountain ranges
• 1. Atlas Mountains in northern Algeria and
  Morocco
• 2. Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey
• 3. Zagros Mountains in western Iran

9

• Even though this is a dry area, water plays a
  very large role
• There are several large bodies of water which
  play a major role in world politics

10

• Examples
• Persian Gulf/Arabian Gulf
• Strait of Hormuz
• Arabian Sea
• Red Sea

11

• Other important bodies of water
• Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Bosporus Strait,
  Dardanelles Strait, Nile River (longest in the
  world), Tigris and Euphrates (home to the worlds
  first civilization) and the Jordan River

12

• The area is also subject to seasonal flooding,
  alluvial soils, delta regions, oases, and wadis

13

• Seasonal flooding--several of the rivers flood
  regularly (Nile) which deposit rich alluvial soil
  for farming

14

• The desert regions are home to many oases (a
  place where fresh water makes it possible for
  life to exist in a dry area) and wadi (a gully or
  usually dry river bed cut by running water after
  a downpour)

15
Economic Characteristics

• The area has a heavy reliance on primary economic
  activities such as oil drilling, agriculture and
  herding/grazing

16

• The area is the home of the Organization of
  Petroleum Exporting Countries
• Many countries in the area still belong today
• Major producers of the worlds oil
• Provide large oil revenues

17

• Positive effects--jobs, revenue, position of
  power
• Negative effects--reliance on one industry,
  pollution, unequal distribution of wealth

18

• Water is the regions MOST PRECIOUS resource
• Aswan High Dam has had positive and negative
  effects on the region.
• Suez Canal enhanced shipping routes in the region

19

• There is a great variation in the standard of
  living in the region.
• It ranges from the relatively high to the poverty
  stricken.
• There is also a wide range of per capita income
  and differing levels of development

20

• Trade has been important to the region from the
  earliest time.
• Today regional conflicts and political unrest
  have affected trade and tourism
• The area today has contemporary trade routes (sea
  lanes)

21
Cultural Characteristics

• The area has experienced rapid urbanization
• Most modernization has centered around urban
  areas and more traditional life has continued in
  the rural areas

22

• Large percentage of the population is under the
  age of 15 due to conflict, disease and the
  hardships associated with the region.
• The population is generally unevenly distributed
  due to the environment and resources

23

• All but three of the countries are Arab nations
  and they use the Arabic language.
• Turkey, Iran and Israel are the non-Arab countries

24

• The art of the region reflects the diversity of
  the religions
• stained glass, geometric tiles, calligraphy,
  mosaics, and prayer rugs

25
Religious Conflict

• Three major world religions consider land in
  Southwest Asia holy.
• Judaism, Christianity, Islam (In order of
  appearance)
• Birthplace of monotheistic religions
• Judaisim
• Old Testament of Bible, belief in 1 God, Jesus
  was a holy man, but not the messiah, city of
  Jerusalem holy
• Christianity
• Old and New testament of Bible, Belief in 1 God,
  Jesus was God in human form, the Messiah, city of
  Jerusalem holy
• Islam
• Belief in 1 God, Allah, Jesus was a prophet,
  greatest prophet was Mohammed, who was visited by
  the Angel Gabriel, holy book is the Koran, city
  of Mecca holy

26
Sahara desert
27
Oasis
28
Stained Glass/Mosaics
29
Prayer Rugs
30
Oil Rigs
31
Kaaba
32
Dome of the Rock
33
Hagia Sophia
34
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
35
Pyramids
36
Western Wall
37
Western Wall
38
Jerusalem
Church of the Visitation
Golden Gate
From Virtual Tour of Jerusalem at
http//www.md.huji.ac.il/vjt/
39
Mecca
The Great Mosque, around the Kaaba, Mecca, Saudi
Arabia
http//www.sacredsites.com/middle_east/saudi_arabi
a/mecca.html
40
Five Pillars of Islam

• Faith
• All beleivers testify to an oath
• Prayer
• Pray five times per day at specific times, facing
  Mecca
• Charity
• Support the less fortunate by giving money
• Fasting
• During Islamic holy month of Ramadan, dont eat
  or drink anything between sunrise and sunset
• Pilgrimage
• All able Muslims must make a pilgrimage or
  journey to Mecca once in their life.

41
Government

• Muslim controlled lands were theocracies
• Theocratic government run by religious leaders
  and religious policies
• Though modernizing, some aspects of Muslim
  culture havent changed for centuries due to
  Islamic law
• Codes of decncy, modesty, male and female
  relationships
• Some women are becoming educated and are able to
  to pursue careers in other nations.

42
The Northeast

• Mesopotamia
• Land in Tigris and Euphrates River valley that
  was the birthplace of civilization

43
People of the Northeast

• Kurds
• Ethnic group in Iraq region
• Murdered by the thousands by the Iraqi military
  in the late n1980s

• Genocide
• The strategic extermination of a group of people,
  usually based on ethnic differences
• Example - holocaust

44
People of the Northeast

• After Mohammeds death, Muslims divided into two
  groups
• Sunnis
• Most in Turkey, Iraq and Afghanistan (83 of all
  muslims)
• Shiites
• Most live in Iran but some in Iraq and
  Afghanistan
• These groups have clashed over land for decades
  and continue to do so
• Even in Iraq today, the sectarian violence
  (violence by different sections of the
  population) essentially divides along Sunni and
  Shiite lines

45
Taliban

• In all of the Muslim nations there is a conflict
  between those who want to be come more modern,
  and those who want to stay traditional.
• Afghanistan is torn by a conflict like this.
• Taliban imposed strict traditional rules on
  people of Afghanistan
• They were toppled by US led forces after the 9-11
  attacks because they were suspected of supporting
  the terrorists who did it.