Economy of the Middle East

Middle East? OR Near East? OR Southwest Asia? OR….?

Includes 25+ territories Western Sahara is disputed 5.91 million square miles

Location Almost 2 times the size of US Located at latitudes equivalent Boston and Bogota

Population Around 600 million people Majority of population in four countries: Iran Egypt Turkey Pakistan Why is this?

Natural Vegetation Map

Climate Map

Has a high population growth Developing countries Muslim cultures Palestine, one of the highest growth rates in the world The more urban the population, the wealthier the country Kuwait

On the other hand….. Desperately poor countries urban population is less than 32% Ex: Afghanistan Sudan Yemen

Water in the Middle East! Black Sea Caspian Sea Dardanelles Strait Atlantic Ocean Tigris River Mediterranean Sea Euphrates River Jordan River Suez Canal Strait of Hormuz Persian Gulf Nile River Gulf of Oman Red Sea Arabian Sea Gulf of Aden Indian Ocean

Tigris-Euphrates River System Land in between, historically called Mesopotamia “Land between two rivers” Shared by Iraq, Turkey, and Syria Part of the Fertile Crescent Marsh, swamps, shallows

The Jordan River System extremely important resource to surrounding countries Where Jesus was baptized Sections still used for baptism

The Dead Sea 1,385 ft. below sea level Lowest Place on Earth One of the saltiest bodies of water Has a high buoyancy-people can easily float Health benefits

The Arabian Peninsula and It’s Oil

2/3 of the world’s oil is located in the Middle East (most located along the Persian Gulf and in Iraq)

The U. S. imports 30% of its oil needs from the Middle East.

The Oil Giant of Saudi Arabia Occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula Homeland of Arab civilization and Islam Interior is plateau Has no permanent rivers! Saudization

Persian Gulf Oil Exports

Saudi Oil Has the largest amount of proven oil reserves in the world Produces 2nd largest amount of oil Ghawar, worlds largest oil field

Bahrain Small island Connected to SA by four-lane causeway Also center for oil refinement, but running out of oil Only country of Arabian Penninsula to allow women to vote

Qatar UAE On worlds third largest natural gas reserve 4/5 of population are imported workers because of that industry Home of al-Jazeera But before the oil and gas…. Confederation of seven units Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the oil economic centers Because of oil, UAE is successfully diversifying its economy More liberal, especially Dubai

Source of ancient worlds frankincense Yemen Oman Source of ancient worlds frankincense Capital, Muscat vital trade port between ME-SA Been U.S. allies in Gulf War and War in Iraq Located on mountainous southern tip Receives heaviest rainfall of the peninsula Struggling economy Lack of industrial production Immigrant Yemen workers Late oil discovery

Iraq Why such a hot spot? Tigris and Euphrates used for agriculture Sunni Shi’ite Kurd Tigris and Euphrates used for agriculture Baghdad is everything! Located perfectly

Continued….. Oil is main source of revenue Should have allowed them to thrive, but…. Arab Baath Socialist Party

Iran Used to be Persia, until occupied by British Restoration of the “shah” Reza Pahlavi 1979, Khomeini Islamic Republic

Continued… First country in ME to produce oil Also, pistachio and Persian rugs Mostly Mts., plateau and desert Northwest region able to grow subtropical crops Majority depend on irrigation

Kuwait Size of New Jersey Yet, 4th largest store of petroleum resources From poor fishers and farmers to wealthy urbanized state OIL ONLY!

U.S. and Iraq 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War 1991 Gulf War 2003 War in Iraq

U.S. and Iran 1980 Iraq Iran War 1980 Tehran Hostages 2002 “Axis of Evil” Straight of Hormuz/Nuclear capabilities

ACTIVITY Using the chart, create a trade flow map of how the U.S. obtains oil from around the world. Be sure to indicate the amount of oil imported by arrow size.

Trade Flow Map Examples