1. Physical Geography of SW & Central Asia, and N. Africa
Ch. 17

3. Bodies of Water Caspian Sea Black 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 3

4. Seas & Peninsulas Arabian Peninsula
Separated from Africa by Gulf of Aden & Red Sea
Sinai Pen. &
Suez Canal separate the land to the north/west
Persian Gulf is on the east side
Gulf of Aden

5. Seas & Peninsulas Anatolia Pen. Black Sea to N Aegean Sea to W
Mediterranean Sea to S
Many straits connecting seas ($$)
Bosporus Strait
Aegean Sea
ANATOLIA

6. Dardenelles
Bosporus Strait

7. Seas & Peninsulas Strait of Gibraltar
Separates Africa from Iberian Pen.
Only a dozen
miles or so
wide
‘gateway to
Africa’

8. Strait of Gibraltar

9. Seas & Peninsulas Dead Sea On Jordan River (border w/ Israel)
8X saltier than any ocean- How come?
In the 50s
L= 262 m, W= 57 m
Today
L= 42 m, W= 11 m

10. The Jordan River System: Israel & Jordan--A Fight Over Water Rights?10

11. Dead Sea: Lowest Point on Earth Highest Salt Content (33%)
2,300’ below sea level
Highest Salt Content (33%) 11

13. Seas & Peninsulas Caspian Sea
Largest inland/landlocked body of water (lake)
But it is salt water!! (remnants of larger sea)
Facing evaporation increases, decrease in
flow from feeder rivers,
and increase in irrigation/industry uses

14. Seas & Peninsulas Aral Sea Use to be lg & have productive fishing
Shrunk drastically due to USSR draining it for irrigation
Ppl build sm. dams to create basins of freshwater from rivers

15. Rivers Nile River Longest in world Flows NORTH to Med. Sea
90% of Egyptians live in delta or along river (= 3% of land)
Faces great flood seasons  built Aswan High Dam for control
Aswan High Dam

16. The Mighty Nile River: “Longest River in the World”16

17. Egypt: The “Gift of the Nile”
Nile Delta
Annual Nile Flooding
90% of the Egyptian people live on 3% of the land! 17

19. Hydroelectric Power Plant
Aswan High Dam, Egypt
Hydroelectric Power Plant 19

20. Completed by the British in 1869
Suez Canal
Completed by the British in 1869 20

21. Rivers Tigris & Euphrates
Mesopotamia or ‘land b/w two rivers’; aka Fertile Crescent
Join to form Shatt al Arab
Border of Iraq &
Iran
Wars & treaties
over it

22. Rivers
Wadi in Oman
Wadis- dry streambeds that will fill with heavy rain  flash floods (seasonal)
Since they are typically arid, creates mud quickly dangerous mud flows

23. Wadis – Instant Springs23

24. Plains, Plateaus, & Mtns.
Since most is desert/steppe agricultural base = coastal areas of Med. Sea, Caspian Sea, & Persian Gulf
Atlas Mtns
Longest mtn
range
Stretches from
Morocco to Algeria
Northern side of Atlas allows for lots of agric. (farms, fishing, livestock)
Rainy side, Med. climate

26. Plains, Plateaus, & Mtns. Hejaz & Asir Caucasus Mtns
West coast of Arabian Pen.
Rainshadow effect to Central Plateau
Caucasus Mtns
b/w Black & Caspian Sea
Seen as border b/w
European Russia
& Asia

27. Mountain Ranges in Mid-East
Elburz Mts., Iran
Zagros Mts., Iran
Lebanese Mts.
Taurus Mts., Turkey 27

28. Plains, Plateaus, & Mtns. Garagum (Karakum)- Qizilqum (Kyzyl Kum)-
Black sand desert, covers 70% of Turkmenistan
Qizilqum (Kyzyl Kum)-
Red sand desert in Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan
Use wide spaces for livestock

29. Hejaz
Rub’ al Khali
Asir

31. Desert Bedouins 31

32. Swarms of Desert Locusts!
Israel Hit By Worst Locust Plague Since the 1950s!
Locusts Swarm the Pyramids Complex at Giza! 32

33. Fresh Groundwater Sources33

34. Desalinization Plants34

35. Tectonic Activity
Meeting point of the African, Arabian, & Eurasian plates
Reason for mountainous terrain
Many earthquakes
Turkey 1999
Iran has 90% of land on faults
Landforms still Δing
Red Sea

37. Natural Resources
Oil (petroleum) & nat. gas are region’s most abundant resources
70% of world’s oil
33% of world’s nat. gas
Reserves are still being discovered!
WWII sparked production as we moved to modern industry/reliance

38. The Natural Resources of the Middle East38

39. World Oil Reserves 39

40. Persian Gulf Oil Exports (2003)40

41. Saudi Oil Fields & Refineries41

42. Kuwait: An Island Floating on a Sea of Oil
Kuwait City 42

43. Leading U. S. Oil Suppliers
The U. S. imports 30% of its oil needs from the Middle East. 43

44. Natural Resources Why might such heavy dependence on oil be risky?
Many countries are now diversifying
UAE  banking, info. tech, tourism
Libya  infrastructure, fisheries
Completed Dubai Tower, Monday night

45. Homework
Complete the Guided Reading for Ch. 17 Sec. 2