1. THE REGION TODAY Vocab: free port, fellahin, Luxor

2. ECONOMIC & URBAN ENVIRONMENTS  Controlling spending  Keeping inflation down  Reducing restrictions on gov’t trade  Tangier, Morocco is a free port. This means no taxes are placed on goods unloaded from there.

3. ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES  Oil & natural gas are the backbone of Libyan & Algerian economies.  Egypt & Tunisian also have significant oil products.  Agriculture is important. Egypt has fellahin (peasant farmers) who work the Nile Valley.  Fellahin make up 40 % of the Egyptian work force.  Libya imports 75% of its food.

4. ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES  Tourism is important in North Africa.  It is important in Egypt, Morocco & Tunisia.  Area does not have enough jobs.  Rapid population makes the situation worse.

5. URBAN ENVIRONMENTS  Cairo, Egypt, Tripoli, Libya, Tunis, Tunisia & Algiers, Algeria are large capital cities.  They are a mix of modern & traditional buildings.  The cities are large with slums in the middle of the city.

6. ISSUES  Islam is important in North African politics.  Many Islamic fundamentalists believe that government should be based strictly on the laws of Islam.

7. CHALLENGES  Desertification  Pollution from oil refining  Polluted water supplies  Nile River  Aswan Dam stops the annual flooding which helps helps the farm land.