Transcript Southwest Asia

Southwest Asia
Chapters 21-23
Landforms and Resources
• Not just sand dunes
– Ranges from green coastal plains to snow peaked
mountains
• Serves as a land bridge connecting Asia,
Africa, and Europe
• Arabian Peninsula
– Separated by the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf
• Anatolia Peninsula
– Begins the Asian continent
Landforms
• Arabian Peninsula
– Mostly covered by dry, sandy, and windy conditions
– Low hills, ridges and wadis- dry river beds until the
rainy season
– People mostly live nomadic lifestyle due to harsh
climate conditions
• Mountains
– Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan
– Zagros Mountains in Iran
Bodies of Water
• Dead Sea
– 9 times saltier than the oceans
– Cannot sink and nothing lives there
• Tigris and Euphrates rivers
– Supported several ancient river valley civilizations
– Called the Fertile Crescent
– Agriculture is still good here
Resources
• Oil
– 1/2 of the world’s oil reserves are found in Southwest
Asia
• Most valuable resource is water
– Some countries have an abundance (Afghanistan,
Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon)
– Some countries have to guard and ration their water
• Other minerals are present but not in large
quantities
Climate
• SW Asia is very arid
– Most areas receive less than 18 inches of precipitation
a year
– Rivers do not flow year round
• Deserts
– Rub-al-Kali- known as the empty quarter
• About the size of Texas
– Salt deserts
• High mountains block rain and dry winds evaporate rain
• Chemicals stay in the soil as water leaves
• Two of these exist in Iran
Climate
• Well-Watered Coast Lands
– Along the Mediterranean coast
• Hot summers and rainy winters
• Like Southern California
• Semiarid Lands
– These surround the deserts
– Can produce wheat and cotton
– Found mainly in Turkey
Human-Environment Interaction
• Water
– Most important resource
– Includes dams and irrigation systems
– If you dam one part of the river, will less come
down to other countries?
– Types of Irrigation:
• Drip: places water just at the root zone, reduces
evaporation
• Qanat: Underground brick-lined tunnels and collect
runoff
Oil
• Oil and natural gas deposits were formed
millions of years ago
– Microscopic plants and animals lived and then
died in waters, they mingled with sand and mud
– Over time, heat and pressure transformed them
into hydrocarbons
– Oil is trapped in rocks and you cannot tell if you
have a rock filled with oil without breaking it open
Oil
• Petroleum not processed is called crude oil
– Must be sent to a refinery either by shipment or
by pipeline
• Always a risk for oil spills caused by accidents
– Exxon Valdez in 1989 in Alaska
– Worst was in 1991 during Persian Gulf War
– Underwater pipelines can crack
– Ships can run aground in the narrow straight of
Hormuz or the Persian Gulf
The Arabian Peninsula
• Area includes: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi
Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and
Yemen
– Many opportunities for trade
– The crossroads of 3 continents
• Islam
– Monotheistic
– Based on the teachings of Muhammad
– Sunni and Shia are the two main groups
Islam
• Five Pillars of Islam
– Faith: All believers must testify to the following statement:
“There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah”
– Prayer: Five times a day, Muslims face toward the holy city
of Mecca to pray. They can do it at a mosque or wherever
they may be.
– Charity: Muslims believe they have a responsibility to
support the less fortunate
– Fasting: During Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink
anything between sunrise and sunset
– Pilgrimage: All Muslims are expected to make a hajj, or
pilgrimage to Mecca once during their lifetime.
Islam
• Theocratic governments
– Religious control of the government
– Use religious laws
– Consult religious leaders about the issues
• Spread Islam through conquering territory
from the sixth century
• Law of the land is known as Shari’ah
Eastern Mediterranean
• Holy place
– 3 religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
– City of Jerusalem is holy place for all three
• Jerusalem for Jews:
– The Capital of Israel
– Temple Mount
– Western Wall
• Jerusalem for Christians
– Mount of Olives (Jesus’ crucifixion)
• Jerusalem for Islam
– Dome of the Rock
A History of Unrest
• Ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1520-1922
– Unable to grant freedom to countries and solve issues
• Colonized after WWI by France and Britain
– France= Lebanon and Syria
– Britain= Israel and Jordan
• Zionism- the movement of Jewish people back to
the Holy Land
• At the end of WWII, Holocaust survivors started
to immigrate to Israel.
– Was formally created in 1947
A History of Unrest
• Many Palestinians were forced out or moved
due to the Jewish population rising.
• Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
– Formed in 1964 to make Palestine a country
– Has political and military agenda
• PLO and Hezbollah attack Jews of Israel and
Israel retaliates.
– Many refugees result from these wars, beginning
in 1948
Eastern Mediterranean
• Many ethnicities in this regions
– Lebanon hosts Christians and Shi’ite Muslims.
– Also include Orthodox and Druze faith.
• Druze= section of Shia Islam but includes Judaism and
Gnosticism.
The Northeast
• Blend of many cultures
– Turkish, Farsi, and Arabic languages
– Sunni (4/5) and Shi’ite Muslims
• Early civilizations known as Mesopotamia
• Fights for land increased after WWI
– The Kurds have been a stateless nation since WWI.
– Iraq and Iran have prevented the Kurds from
becoming a nation-state
The Northeast
• Taliban– Islamic fundamentalist political group in control
of Afghanistan
• Working toward modernization
– Turkey is developing its water supply and
hydroelectric power
– Iran trying to get rid of harsh government
– Modernization slow because of wars and oil
disputes
Southwest Asia Issues
• Population Relocation
– Life in 1900 was not much different than life in 1100
– Guest Workers- immigrants doing jobs that the local
population finds unacceptable
– Stateless Nations
• Kurds
– Refugees
• Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip)
• How can governments work together to create peace
in the region?
• Is this issue able to be resolved only through
diplomacy?
Southwest Asia Issues
• Oil Wealth and Fuels Change
– Strategic commodity- a resource so important that
nations will go to war over it
– 64% of oil reserves and 34% of natural gas
deposits found here
– Drive to modernize their infrastructures
– Where does agriculture fit into the equation?
– What could a new role for women do for the
economy?
– Can countries share wealth and resources?