World Regional Geography

1
World Regional Geography

• Chapter 6 A Geographic Profile of the
  Middle East North Africa

2
6.1 Area Population

• Middle East and North Africa
• Middle East is Eurocentric
• 21 Countries, Palestinian Territories of the West
  Bankand Gaza Strip, and the disputed Western
  Sahara
• Area of 5.9 million square miles
• Population of 500 million people (2007)
• Turkey, Iran Egypt each have more than 70
  million people
• People locate where water is abundant in this
  arid region
• Region on the whole is 56 urban
• High rate of population growth across region
• Many oil-rich countries of the Gulf region
  havemore foreigners than citizens living in them

3
Middle East and North Africa
4
(No Transcript)
5
Comparison in Area LatitudeMiddle East North
Africa vs. Conterminous U.S.
6
Population Distribution
7
Population Cartogram
8
6.2 Physical Geography Human Adaptations

• Margins of region are oceans, seas, high
  mountains, and deserts
• Atlantic Ocean to the west
• Sahara to the south
• Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the
  north
• Hindu Kush and Baluchistan Desert to the east
• Land composed of arid plains and plateaus
• Large areas of rugged mountains
• Isolated seas of sand

9
Physical Geography
10
6.2.1 Region of Stark Geographic Contrasts

• Climate
• Aridity
• 75 percent of region receives lt 10 of annual
  precipitation
• Higher precipitation around Mediterranean or up
  at elevation
• Strategies of drought avoidance and drought
  endurance
• Temperature
• Large daily and seasonal ranges
• Very hot days and surprisingly cool nights
• Summer relocation of government in Saudi Arabia
• Tectonic Processes
• Collision zones have resulted in mountain
  building
• Frequent earthquakes for places like Turkey,
  Iran,and Afghanistan

11
Climate Types
12
Biome Types
13
Great Sand Sea in Egypt
14
Land Use
15
The Treasury
16
Pontic Mountains in Turkey
17
The West Bank and The Dead Sea
18
Taurus Mountains of Turkey
19
Solar Boat of King Cheops
20
6.2.2 Villager, Pastoral Nomad, Urbanite

• Middle Eastern Ecological Trilogy
• Villagers
• Subsistence farmers of rural areas where dry
  farmingor irrigation is possible
• Pastoral Nomads
• Desert peoples who migrate through arid lands
  with livestock, following rainfall and vegetation
  patterns
• Urbanites
• Inhabitants of large towns and cities, generally
  locatednear bountiful water sources

21
The Ecological Trilogy
22
6.2.3 The Village Way of Life

• Historically, agricultural villagers represented
  the majority populations in the region
• Villages located near reliable water sources with
  cultivable lands nearby
• Production and consumption focus on a staple
  grain
• Reliance on nomads for pastoral produce
• Effects of exposure to outside influence
• Introduction of cash crops
• Improved and expanded irrigation
• Modern technology
• Rural-to-Urban Migration

23
6.2.4 The Pastoral Nomadic Way of Life

• Pastoral Nomadism
• Emerged as offshoot of village way of life
• Vertical Migration in mountainous areas
• Horizontal Migration in flatter expanses
• Sedentarization is a recent trend
• Nomads in region number estimated 5 to 13 million
• Identified by their tribe, not be their
  nationality

24
6.2.5 The Urban Way of Life

• The city was the final component to emerge in the
  ecological trilogy
• Mesopotamia, 4000 B.C.E.
• Egypt, 3000 B.C.E.
• Medina (classic Islamic city)
• High defensive wall
• Congregational mosque
• Administrative and educational complex
• Bazaar or Suq (Commercial Zone)
• Residential areas based on ethnicity, not income
• Rural-to-Urban Migration
• New modern urban development in oil-rich countries

25
Model of the Medina
26
Bazaar in Cairo, Egypt
27
Indoor Ski Resort in Dubai, UAE
28
6.3 Cultural Historical Geographies

• Egypt and Mesopotamia are among theworlds great
  culture hearths
• Language Families
• Afro-Asiatic Family
• Examples Semitic (Arabic Hebrew), Berber, and
  Bedawi
• Altaic Family (Turkic)
• Caucasian Family
• Indo-European Family (Farsi and Kurdish)
• Nilo-Saharan Family
• Religious Hearth
• Monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity
  Islam

29
Languages of the Middle East North Africa
30
Religions of the Middle East North Africa
31
6.3.1 The Promised Land of the Jews

• Judaism
• First significant monotheistic faith
• Practiced today by 14 million worldwide
• Torah is the Jewish holy scripture
• Unlike Christianity, Jesus not seen as a savior
• Ethnic, not proselytizing religion
• Western Wall in Jerusalem
• The most sacred site in the world accessible to
  Jews

32
Holy Places in Jerusalem
33
6.3.2 Christianity Death Resurrection in
Jerusalem

• Christianity
• Offshoot of Judaism that emerged in Palestine
• Jesus Christ
• Born in Bethlehem around 4 B.C.E.
• His teachings denied validity of many
  Jewishdoctrines and protesters called for his
  death
• Jesus was put on trial, was found guilty of being
  aclaimant to Jewish kingship, and was crucified
• Christians believe Christ was resurrected from
  thedead two days later and ascended into heaven
• Seldom has Christianity been majority religion
  inthe land where it was born
• Crusades (11th 14th centuries)

34
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
35
6.3.3 The Message of Islam

• Islam
• Monotheistic faith
• Dominant religion by far in Middle East North
  Africa
• Prophet was Muhammad, who was from Mecca
• Quran is the holy book of Islam
• Five Pillars of Islam
• Profession of the faith
• Prayer five times daily toward Mecca
• Almsgiving
• Fasting during Ramadan
• Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca (Islams holiest city)

36
Great Mosque in Mecca
37
6.4 Economic Geography

• Oil dominates the regions economic geography
• Large reserves
• Role of OPEC
• Aim of taking joint action to demand higher
  profits
• Other resources include
• Remittances
• Revenues from ship traffic through Suez Canal
• Exports of cotton, rice, and other commercial
  crops

38
6.5 Geopolitical Issues

• Historically, region has been a geographic
  crossroads
• Geopolitical Interests
• Narrow Waterways
• Access to Oil
• Access to Freshwater
• Terrorism

39
6.5.1 Chokepoints

• Chokepoints
• Strategic narrow passageways on land or sea that
  may be easily closed off by force or even the
  threat of force
• Examples Links
• Suez Canal Mediterranean Red Seas
• Strait of Tiran Gulf of Aqaba Red Sea
• Strait of Hormuz Persian Gulf Arabian Sea
• Bab el-Mandeb Red Sea Indian Ocean
• Bosporus Mediterranean Black Seas
• Dardanelles Mediterranean Black Seas
• Strait of Gibraltar Mediterranean Sea
  Atlantic Ocean

40
Chokepoints
41
History of War in the Suez Canal Zone
42
6.5.2 Access to Oil

• Regions oil is marketed primarily in western
  Europe and Japan
• American Interest in Oil
• Support for Israel while courting Israels
  oil-rich enemies
• Carter Doctrine
• U.S. would use any means necessary to defend its
  vital interests (i.e., Maintaining a secure
  supply of Gulf oil)
• Gulf War
• U.S. led coalition of Western and Arab allies
  against Iraq
• U.S. Invasion of Iraq in 2003
• About weapons of mass destruction or control of
  oil?

43
6.5.3 Access to Freshwater

• Hydropolitics
• 90 percent of usable freshwater in the region
  crosses one or more international borders
• Role of water in Palestinian-Israeli conflict
• Water is a critical issue blocking a peace treaty
  between Israel and Syria
• Nile Water Agreement
• Signed by 10 countries in 1926
• Guaranteed Egyptian access to water
• Many countries have defied the treaty in recent
  years
• Upstream country is usually able to maximize
  itswater use at expense of a downstream country
• Exception with Israel on the Yarmuk

44
Water Developments in the Nile Basin
45
Waterfall on Tigris River in Turkey
46
6.5.4 Terrorism

• Terrorists pursued by U.S. are Islamist militants
• Islamist Groups
• Hizbullah
• Hamas
• Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
• Al-Qaida
• President Bushs Axis of Evil
• Iran, Iraq, and North Korea
• Tiny minority of Muslims have carried out
  terrorist actions that the great majority of
  Muslims condemned

47
Terrorist Attacks Linked to al-Qaida, 1998-2007