Eastern Mediterranean

Physical Features  A narrow waterway separates Europe from Asia and connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.  Made up of the Dardanelles, the Bosporus, and the Sea of Marmara.  The strait splits the country of Turkey into two parts.  Small part in Europe  Large part in Asia  The Asian part of Turkey includes the large peninsula called Anatolia.

Climate  Mostly dry, with variations  Coastal regions—Mediterranean climate  Interior Turkey—Steppe climate  Driest areas are deserts, such as the Syrian Desert that covers much of Syria and Jordan and the Negev Desert that lies in southern Israel.

Water  The limited availability of water limits how land is used.  Commercial farms exist where rain or irrigation provides enough water.  In drier areas, subsistence farming and livestock herding are common.  In the desert, available water supports a few nomadic herders, but no farming.

Turkey  Turkey’s history includes invasion by the Romans, rule by the Ottomans, and a twentieth-century democracy.  Turkey’s people are mostly ethnic Turks, and its culture is a mixture of modern and traditional.  Today, Turkey is a democratic nation seeking economic opportunities as a future member of the European Union.

 Turkey is a secular state, or one in which religion is kept separate from government.  Atatürk modernized Turkey and adopted Western methods, or ways of doing things.  Urged women to stop wearing traditional veils  Encouraged women to vote, work, and hold office

 Turkey’s culture today reflects Kemal Atatürk’s changes. Middle-class Turks have much in common with the European middle class, while most rural Turks are more traditional.

Syria  Syria, once part of the Ottoman Empire, is an Arab country ruled by a powerful family the Assad’s.  Socialist government owns the country’s oil refineries, larger electrical plants, railroads, and some factories.  Key manufactured goods are textiles, food products, and chemicals.  Agriculture remains important.

 Currently Syria is in a very bitter civil war.  The Syria people are trying to over through the Dictatorship that the Assad family has placed in the country.  The conflict has cost 100,000 lives and has been on going for over two years.

Lebanon  For some decades after independence, Christian and Muslim politicians managed to share power.  Over time this cooperation broke down.  Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon added to political divisions.

 In the 1970s fighting broke out, lasting until  Tens of thousands of people died.  Beirut, the capital, was badly damaged.  During the 1990s the Lebanese economy slowly recovered.  Today Lebanon’s industries include food processing, textiles, cement, chemicals, and jewelry making.

Jordan  From 1952 to 1999 Jordan was ruled by King Hussein.  Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arab refugees fled Israel and came to live in Jordan.  The king enacted some democratic reforms in the 1990s.  A shortage of water is a crucial resource issue for Jordan.