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Southwest Asia and North Africa
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Rich cultural legacy Agricultural revolution Urban civilization Petroleum industry 68% of world’s oil reserves OPEC Political issues Islamic fundamentalism Introduction Aleppo, Syria
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Environmental Geography
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Maghreb Levant Deserts: Sahara, Libyan, Nubian Uplands: Arabian Peninsula, Anatolian Plateau, Iranian Plateau Lowlands: Tigris-Euphrates River, Nile River Mostly composed of deserts and uplands
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Salinization How? Extensive irrigation + arid climates Salt accumulation in topsoil Lower crop yields, and land abandonment Where? Iraq, central Iran, Egypt, and irrigated Maghreb
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Water management Qanat system Tapping into groundwater through tunnel Iran Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa
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Water management Aswan High Dam (1970) Benefits Year-round cropping Hydroelectricity Detriments: Salinization Schistosomiasis Damages fishing industry near the Nile Delta Fish catches between 1962 and 1992
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What? Interplay of water resource issues and politics Where? Nile River Sudan Egypt Tigris-Euphrates River Turkey Iraq, Syria Jordan River Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria Hydropolitics
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Population and Settlement
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More than 400 million Highest physiological densities Tie between water and life Population cluster North Africa The Nile Valley, and Maghreb region Southwest Asia Highlands, and better-watered shores of the Mediterranean
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Rural settlement patterns What is the most important indicator of rural settlement? water
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Rural settlement patterns Home to early form of agriculture 1. Domestication 10,000 years ago Wheat, barley, cattle, sheep, goats 2. Fertile Crescent Early agricultural activity (5,000 years ago) Lebanon, Syria, northern Iraq, and eastern Turkey
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Rural settlement patterns Reflects interrelationship between water and life 1. Pastoral nomadism In the drier portions of the region, inadequate moisture make permanent settlement impossible Seasonal movement of livestock from place to place 2. Oasis settlement Tightly clustered permanent settlement
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Rural settlement patterns 3. Irrigated agriculture along exotic rivers Exotic rivers Transport water from distant, more humid lands into drier regions eg. Nile, Tigris, Euphrates Irrigated collective farming eg. Kibbutzes 4. Dryland agriculture Depends on seasonal moisture to support farming Practiced on the Mediterranean climate regions
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Urban settlement patterns What shaped the urban landscapes? Political system Trades Religion Colonialism Globalization
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Cities as centers of political authority 3500 BC Mesopotamia 3000 BC Egypt Temples, palaces, tombs, and public buildings
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Cities as trading centers 2000 BC the shores of the eastern Mediterranean Beirut (Lebanon), Damascus (Syria) Port facilities, warehouse districts, and commercial thoroughfares
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Islam (622) 8 th century Baghdad, Cairo Walled urban core (medina), bazaar Cities as religious centers
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colonialism Added another layer of urban landscape features Late 19 th century North Africa Algiers (French), Cairo (British)
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Since 1950 added to traditional urban centers High-rise apartment houses, and sprawling squatter settlements Cairo, Egypt globalization
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Since 1970 oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf Modern Western urban design, futuristic architecture, and new transportation infrastructure globalization Abu Dhabi, UAE
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Coexistence of old and new Fes, Morocco
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Migration patterns Rural-to-urban shift Saudi Arabian: 18% (1950) 83% (2000) Migration within the region To oil-rich states such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE Migration between the region Job Turkish Germany Algerian, Moroccan France Political forces Lebanese, Iranian western Europe, North America Jewish Israel
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Cultural Coherence and Diversity
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Religion Which religion has originated in Southwest Asia? Judaism (4000 years ago) Christianity (2000 years ago) Islam (622)
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Geographies of religion Judaism BC 2000 Mesopotamia to Canaan AD 70 Jewish Diaspora 1948 Jew’s return to Israel Christianity Outgrowth of Judaism Emerged 2000 years ago near Israel
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Geographies of religion Islam Originated in Makkah (or Mecca) in AD 622 Follows Quran (or Koran) Divided into Shiites and Sunnis Diffused to Persia (656), North Africa & Iberian Peninsula (750), Central/South Asia, and Southeast Asia
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Diffusion of Islam
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Modern religions
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Geographies of language Afro-Asiatic Semitic language Arabic Hebrew Berber language Indo-European Indo-Iranian language Persian Kurdish Altaic Turkish language
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Geopolitical Framework
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Colonial legacy When? Late arrival because of Turkish Ottoman Empire Began after WWI (1918) Ended by the 1950s
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Colonial power - France Maghreb Algeria (1830s) Tunisia (1881) Morocco (1912) After WWI Syria (1918) Lebanon (1918)
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Colonial power - Great Britain British Protectorate before 1900 Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Aden Suez Canal (1869) Egypt (1882), Sudan (1896) After WWI Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq
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So which countries have NOT been occupied by European powers? Turkey Saudi Arabia
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Decolonization and independence North Africa Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco (1950s) Algeria (1962) Southwest Asia Iraq (1932), Lebanon (1946), Syria (1946), etc… while containing the cultural seeds of its later trouble
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Arab-Israeli conflict
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“Intifada” (1987) Demonstration, led by Palestinian, against the rule of Israel in Gaza Strip and the West Bank Agreements between the PLO and Israel (1990s) Potential control of the ruling Palestinian Authority (PA) in the Gaza Strip and West Bank
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Islamic fundamentalism Khomeni took power in Iran (1979) “Rule the country by the Islamic law” Sudan (1989) Algeria (1992~) Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia…
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Conflicts within states Lebanon (1975-95) Discord among Christian and Muslim communities Spillover of Arab-Israeli conflict Iraq South: Shiites North: Kurds Cyprus Northern third: Islamic Turkish South: Greek Orthodox
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Conflicts between states Western Sahara Morocco (late 1970s) Libya Israel, Western Europe, U.S…. (1969~) Sudan Egypt (1995) Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) Persian Gulf war (1990-91)
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Geopolitical issues What is the destablizing force after WWII? Creation of Israel Rise of Islamic fundamentalism Cold war (eg. Libya) Ethnic differences (eg. Kurds) Political/religious divide (eg. Sudan, Labanon)
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Relations with the U.S. Strong allies Israel, and Turkey Strongly opposed Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya Ambiguous relations Saudi Arabia
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Economic and Social Development
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The geography of fossil fuels
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Regional economic patterns Higher-income oil exporters Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and UAE Lowe-income oil exporters Algeria, Libya, Iraq, and Iran Prospering without oil Israel, Turkey, Tunisia, and Cyprus
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Regional patterns of poverty Sudan Civil war Morocco Berber communities Brain drain Egypt Population growth Yemen Civil unrest
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The role of women Is major social issues Lowest female labor participation rates Large gap between male and female literacy But is changing Iran Libya Israel
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Connections with global economy Oil economy Influences oil price Outflow of capital Economic integration E.U., AFTA, Union of the Arab Maghreb Role of Saudi Arabia Tourism Ancient historical sites; significant religious localities
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The geography of tourism
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