Landforms & Resources

Southwest Asia is not just a sea of sand dunes it ranges from green coastal plains to snow peaked mountains. Southwest Asia forms a land bridge connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe

In Southwest Asia is the Arabian Peninsula which is separated from Africa by the Red Sea and from Asia by the Persian Gulf. Another important landform is the Anatolian Peninsula which is occupied by the country of Turkey.

The Suez Canal is a strategic opening between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Goods from Asia flow through his canal to ports in Europe and Northern Africa.

Strait of Hormuz is very important because it is the only waterway that can access the oil fields of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Two narrow waterways, the Bosphorus Strait and the Dardanelles Strait, are located between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and control trade between Russia and the interior of Asia.

North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia feature numerous seas and peninsulas. Including the Mediterranean, Red, and Black Seas. The Dead Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Aral Sea are actually landlocked bodies of salt water.

The Nile River Valley provides water and a lush, fertile living space for about 90 percent of Egypt’s population.

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers help irrigate farms throughout Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. They have supported several ancient civilizations. The area between the two areas is known as Mesopotamia and the “Fertile Crescent.”

The Jordan River is another valuable resource in this region The Jordan River is another valuable resource in this region. It flows down from the mountains of Lebanon into the salty waters of the Dead Sea (a landlocked salt lake). The Dead Sea is so salty that only bacteria can live in its waters.

Two major mountain rangers are the Atlas and Caucasus Mountains. The Atlas Mountains of North Africa are good for farming. The Caucasus Mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea are known for their grandeur and beauty.

About 70 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 33 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves are found in the region. The oil fields are located in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, and Iraq, with natural gas fields close by. The oil and gas makes up for majority of their economy.

Oil and natural gas deposits were formed millions of years ago when an ancient sea covered most of the area. Plants and animals lived and died in these waters. Their remains sank and mixed with sand and mud on the bottom of the sea. Over time, pressure and heat transformed the material into hydrocarbons which form the chemical basis for oil and natural gas. Oil and natural gas are trapped inside rock. The more porous the rock, the more oil can be stored. A barrier of nonporous rocks above the petroleum deposits prevents the gas or oil from moving out of the rock and onto the surface.

Petroleum that has not been processed is called crude oil Petroleum that has not been processed is called crude oil. Crude oil is pumped from the ground and must be moved to a refinery. Refineries convert it to useful products. There is always the risk of oil spills during transportation. Buried pipelines in Southwest Asia help reduce the danger of above-ground accidents.

Climate

Rainfall is plentiful in some parts of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia, but in most places water is scarce. Desert areas, such as North Africa’s Sahara, cover almost 50 percent of the region. In the deserts, summers are long and hot, winters are cold, the land is mostly flat, and precipitation averages about 10 inches (25 cm) per year.

Southwest Asia is extremely arid Southwest Asia is extremely arid. Because it is so dry, the region’s rivers do not flow year round. The vegetation and animals living in the desert can survive on little water and in extreme temperatures. The most famous desert in S.W. Asia is the Rub al-Khali also known as the Empty Quarter. It is located on the Arabian Peninsula and is approximately the size of Texas. Sand dunes there can reach 8 feet high and temperatures in the summer often exceed 150 degrees on the surface of the sand.

Steppe is the second-largest climate region Steppe is the second-largest climate region. Semi-arid conditions with light precipitation support short grasses that are grazed by livestock. On the fringes of the deserts are regions with a semiarid climate. There is enough rainfall to support grass and some low-growing shrubs. Both cotton and wheat can be grown in this climate. The lands have good pastures for grazing animals. Afghanistan also has semiarid land that is heavily cultivated.

Southwest Asia does have some areas with adequate rainfall Southwest Asia does have some areas with adequate rainfall. There are hot summers and rainy winters along the Mediterranean coast and across most of Turkey.

Human Environment Interaction

North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia have limited sources of freshwater. Much of it comes from rivers, oasis, and aquifers. Only a few countries have enough water for irrigation.

An Oasis is a fertile area in a arid region, where stores of underground water have reached the surface. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. Much of this underground water is known as Fossil Water because it has been in the aquifers for a very long time. Fossil water cannot be replaced because of the limited rainfall in the region.

Libya’s “great man-made river” is an ambitious project to supply freshwater. Two pipelines carry water from large aquifers beneath the Sahara to farms near the Mediterranean coast.

The Aswan High Dam, 600 miles south of Cairo, irrigates 3 million acres (1.2 million ha) of land and provides nearly half of Egypt’s electric power. It also has created the world’s largest artificial lake. The dam, however, has blocked the Nile’s natural process of depositing fertile soil and washing salt from the soil when it floods each year. Farmers now must fertilize the soil by other means. Egypt is working to overcome these problems.

War in the region has had a negative effect on the environment War in the region has had a negative effect on the environment. During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, Iraqi troops retreating from Kuwait set fire to oil wells and dumped about 250 million gallons (947 million liters) of oil into the Persian Gulf. The long-term effects of the smoke and oil pollution are still unknown.

Central Asian countries have inherited the Soviet era’s environmental problems. For example, radiation leaks from Soviet nuclear testing have contaminated areas of Kazakhstan.

Aral Sea, which began to dry up when the Soviet Union diverted river source waters for irrigation, seems to be coming back.