Relative Location of S.W.A.N.A. Centrally located between Europe, Asia & Africa Between the Atlantic/Indian and Mediterranean

Southwest Asia & Northern Africa Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Regions & States Conflicts HEI

Ten Geographic Qualities 1. World’s great ancient culture hearth 2. Source region or hearth for several religions

Ten Geographic Qualities 3. Islam Predominates 4. Arab World 5. Population is clustered around water

Ten Geographic Qualities 6. Desert Environment predominates 7. Central Pivotal Area between 3 continents 8. Volatile area with conflicts - disputes & boundary frictions

Ten Geographic Qualities 9. Center of superpower chess game 10. Petroleum - a key economic resource

Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Historical Geography Regions & States HEI

Physical Geography Plate Tectonics Plateaus Deserts Mountains Rivers Lakes Climates

Physical Geography Plate Tectonics  Clashing Plates  Arabian Plate into Eurasian Plate  Separating Plates  Arabian Plate pulling apart from African Plate  Red Sea

Physical Geography Plateaus - Anatolian Highland Peninsulas - Saudi Arabian, Suez

Physical Geography Deserts  The Sahara Desert -  The Saudi Arabian Desert  The Libyan Desert  Negev Desert

Physical Geography Mountains  Taurus Mts (Turkey)  Atlas Mountains  Elburz & Zagros Mts. (Iran)  Golan Heights (Israel)

Physical Geography of Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Rivers & Sea  The Nile River  The Tigris & Euphrates Rivers  The Jordan River  The Red Sea Gulfs -  Persian Gulf,  Gulf of Suez,  Gulf of Aqaba

Physical Geography of Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Lakes  Dead Sea  Sea of Galilee

Physical Geography of Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Climates  Desert Climates with less than 10” of rain  under high pressure latitude belt and NE trade winds  med. zones on Northern Africa coast & eastern coasts of Mediterrean

Southwest Asia & Northern Africa Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Historical Geography Regions & States HEI

Cultural Geography  Population  Languages  Religion  Agriculture  Economics  Urbanization

Cultural Geography Population  300 million  concentrations along the Nile, Euphrates & Tigris & Coasts  low overall population due to desert climate  very high growth rates in Gaza

Northern Africa Southwest Asia Population Characteristics  Birth rates 29/1000  Death rates 8/1000  Natural Increase 2.2/1000  Infant Mortality 59/1000  Doubling Time 32 yrs  Pop <15 39%  Pop > 65 4 % Population Characteristics  Birth rates 28/1000  Death rates 7/1000  Natural Increase 2.2/1000  Infant Mortality 54/1000  Doubling Time 32 yrs  Pop <15 37 %  Pop > 65 5 %

Cultural Geography

Languages  Unified by Arabic Language - An Afro-Asiatic Language  Hebrew spoken in Israel  Tribal languages spoken in remote areas of North Africa

Cultural Geography Religion  Predominant religion is Islam  Religious landscapes of mosques, minarets, distinctive non-revealing clothing  Muslim - a follower of Islam

Cultural Geography Islamic Divisions  Sunni Islam  Shiite Islam

Cultural Geography Agriculture  commercial farming in Israel  Mediterranean climate yielding citrus, avacados & ranching  Nomadic Herding dominates the region  Bedouins  Desertification

Agriculture Map

Cultural Geography Economy  oil dominated industry

Northern Africa Southwest Asia Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Historical Geography Regions & States Conflicts

Historical Geography Pre European Prelude Colonial Transformation First World Dependence on oil

Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Historical Geography Regions & States Conflicts

Regions Egypt & the Nile River Basin Maghreb Arabian Peninsula Middle East The North

Egypt & the Nile Basin Egypt Sudan South Sudan

The Maghreb Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Western Sahara

Countries within Regions Arabian Penninsula  Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain The Middle East  Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Gaza,

The North

Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Historical Geography Regions & States Conflicts

Israel and the Palestinian Issue

Northern Africa & Southwest Asia Ten Geographic Qualities Physical Geography Cultural Geography Historical Geography Regions & States Conflicts HEI

MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES  Water Supply  Limited because of climate and few rivers  Desalination  drought  Water Pollution  Dumping during wars  Refinery pollution  Oil Spills  Dams  Decrease water supply

Ataturk Dam

HEI  Oil Distribution  A few countries have most of the reserves  Wealth in the hands of countries with oil  Dense populations in areas with oil  Transportation  Limited rivers used for transportation  Mountains and deserts are barrier to transporting  Desertification  Overuse of land and fertilizers Most people in the deserts of the Middle East were nomads. But, that changed with the discovery of oil.

Suez Canal