Lesson 1: Geography & People

 Identify importance of the region.  Describe diversity of Middle Eastern peoples.  Locate key nations, waterways, and land forms in the Middle East

 Why is the Middle East called the Middle East?

 Where is the Middle East?  Arabian Peninsula, SW Asia, North Africa  Regions  Northern Tier  Arabian Peninsula  Fertile Crescent  Nile Valley  Maghreb

 Key Features  Deserts (Sahara, Rub ’al Khali)  Mountain Ranges (Atlas, Zagros & Elburz)  Rivers (Tigris & Euphrates, Nile)  Little rainfall – seasonal “wadis” erode topsoil – poor agriculture  Resources  Oil (60%) – OPEC  uneven distribution of wealth  Salt, copper, phosphate

 Strategic Location  Vital Waterways  Valuable Oil Resources  Religious Sites

 Historical Diffusion  Traders, conquerors, nomads cross ME  Spread/share ideas  Today 19 countries, 350m ppl!  Ethnic Diversity  Religious Diversity  Think-Pair-Share – Identify as many different ethnic groups as you can

GroupHomelandLocationReligionLanguage Arabs (190m ppl) Arabian Peninsula20 Countries in ME & Europe 90% Muslim 10% Christian Arabic Iranians (50m) Persia (S.Russia – Iran) IranMuslimPersian- Farsi Turks (56m) Asia MinorTurkeyMuslimTurkish Israelis (5m) “Canaan” (Egypt – Iraq) Israel (1948)JudaismHebrew Palestinians (1m ISR, 1.8m OT, 2m RC) “Palestine” (Egypt, S.Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Leb) Israel, W. Bank, Gaza Strip, (Refugee Camps) MuslimArabic Armenians (5m) TurkeyArmenia (Turkey & Russia) ChristianArmenian Kurds (20m) “Kurdistan” Turkey, Iran, Iraq,Syria, Russia MuslimKurdish

Use phones: Countries Special Territories Waterways Deserts Mountains Cities

 Why is it important we study this region?  Strategic Importance  Economic Interests  Religious Diversity