NORTH AFRICA & SOUTHWEST ASIA (CHAPTER 7)

EARLY CULTURE HEARTHS

MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL QUALITIES OF THE REALM Physical Aridity Oil Cultural Culture Hearths World Religions Conflict

MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL QUALITIES OF THE REALM (cont) Population Discontinuous clusters around infrequent water sources Regional Imbalances Oil and Non-oil states (“haves” versus “have-nots”) Political Geography Fragmented due to colonial experience

THE IMPACT OF OIL HIGH INCOMES MODERNIZATION INDUSTRIALIZATION REGIONAL DISPARITIES FOREIGN INVESTMENT

OIL AND NATURAL GAS RESERVES

NAMING THE REALM Popular Labels Dry World Arab World Islamic World Middle East

THE DRY WORLD ? Dry/arid climate prevails throughout the realm Exceptions: Peripheral regions of Turkey Northwestern section of Iran Oases Several great river valleys

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION

E.J. PALKA NEGEV DESERT

WATER - A RENEWABLE OR FINITE RESOURCE? Water is critical for life, food production, and industrial processes. 9 out of 14 Southwest Asian states face water-short conditions (the most concentrated region of scarcity in the world).

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION The majority of the population in this realm lives not in the dry arid regions, but around water resources. - The Nile - Mediterranean Sea - Euphrates and Tigris Basin - Lower mountain slopes of Iran, south of the Caspian Sea

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

AN ARAB REALM ? Relates to language as a cultural feature of this realm Arabic is the dominant language in the realm. In Non-Arab States, indigenous languages dominate. - Turkey - Turkish - Iran - Farsi - Israel - Hebrew

Turks Azerbijianis Kurds Arabs Persians Bakhtiari Lur

ISLAMIC REALM? Muhammad (571- 632 AD) Five Pillars Of Faith Belief in one God Five daily prayers Generous alms Fasting during Ramadan Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) Sunnis vs Shi’ites

E.J. PALKA DOME OF THE ROCK

E.J. PALKA THE WESTERN WALL

E.J. PALKA CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

INSIDE THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY E.J. PALKA INSIDE THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

THE STAGE FOR ISLAM

SPATIAL DIFFUSION The process by which a concept, practice, or substance spreads from its point of origin to new territories Types: relocation, contagious and hierarchical diffusion.

RELOCATION DIFFUSION The most common form of relocation diffusion involves the spreading of innovations by a migrating population.

CONTAGIOUS EXPANSION The spreading of an idea, innovation, or some other item through a local population by contact from person to person Analogous to the communication of a contagious disease

HIERARCHICAL EXPANSION A form of diffusion in which an idea or innovation spreads by “trickling down” from larger to smaller adopting units. An urban hierarchy is usually involved, encouraging the leapfrogging of innovations over wider areas, with geographic distance a less important factor. E.g. Paris, London, New York get information before the smaller towns in those same countries.

REGIONS OF THE REALM

EGYPT AND THE LOWER NILE BASIN CONTINUOUS CIVILIZATION > 5,000 YEARS 95% OF EGYPT’S 76.4 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE WITHIN 12 MILES (20 KMS) OF THE NILE BASIN IRRIGATION PERENNIAL IRRIGATION - MID 1800s ASWAN HIGH DAM - 1968 INCREASED AGRICULTURAL LAND BY 50% PROVIDES 40% OF ELECTRICITY

EGYPT STRATEGIC SITUATION CAIRO

THE MAGHREB AND ITS NEIGHBORS

MIDDLE EAST

THE MIDDLE EAST “MIDDLE” OF THE ISLAMIC REALM IRAQ, SYRIA, JORDAN, ISRAEL, LEBANON PROCLAMATION OF ISRAEL AS A STATE (14th May, 1948) CENTER OF CONFLICT BETWEEN CHRISTIANS, JEWS, AND MUSLIMS SUNNI - SHI’ITE CONFLICT (WITHIN IRAQ AND THROUGHOUT THE REGION) A FUTURE KURDISTAN? – a Stateless Nation.

ARABIAN PENINSULA

ARABIAN PENINSULA SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT, BAHRAIN, QATAR, UAE, OMAN, YEMEM OIL, DESERT, AND STRATEGIC LOCATION SAUDI ARABIA- 26.6 MILLION PEOPLE WITH THE WORLD’S GREATEST OIL RESERVES

THE EMPIRE STATES

TURKEY WESTERNIZATION KURDISH POPULATION ISLAM LOST OFFICIAL STATUS ROMAN ALPHABET REPLACED ARABIC ISLAMIC LAW REPLACED BY WESTERN CODE MONOGAMY BECAME LAW WOMEN GAINED RIGHTS TURKEY SEPARATED FROM ARAB WORLD KURDISH POPULATION 14 MILLION- 1/5 OF TURKEY’S 73.3 MILLION

IRAN A COUNTRY OF MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS POPULATION OF 67 MILLION 66% URBANIZED OIL RESERVES

5 STATES OF THE FORMER USSR KAZAKHSTAN UZBEKISTAN TURKMENISTAN KYRGYZSTAN TAJIKISTAN