Transcript Middle east Geography

Middle East Geography
Crossroads to Africa, Asia, and
Europe
Cultural Diffusion / Diversity
Strategic Location- Sea Routes, Oil
Straits of Hormuz
Middle East Geography
 Major Regions
 Northern Tier- Turkey, Iran and the
Anatolian Plateau, Iranian Plateau
 Arabian Peninsula- Oil, birthplace of
Islam.
 Fertile Crescent- Mesopotamia, Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers Iraq,
 Nile Valley- Egypt
 The Maghreb- North Africa
Middle East Geography
 Climate- Entire region is mostly
desert
 Very little water or rain.
 Tons of oil.
Middle East Geography
 Peoples Languages- Arabic, Turkish,
Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Greek,
and Armenian
 Ethnicities- Arab, Turks, Iranians
(Persians), and Kurds
Middle East People
People live:
 In small farming villages
 As Nomads- Bedouins
 They have conflicts between over water
and grazing land.
Middle East People
 Family life important and patriarchal.
Father has final say.
 Marriages are arranged / Multiple
wives / divorce was permitted
 Women subordinate to men / “Men are
the managers of the affairs of women”
Middle East Geography
 Religions- Islam, Christianity,
Judaism
Middle East History Highlights
 The Code of Hammurabi- 1st law code
 The Phoenician Alphabet- basis for
English
 The Persian Empire- largest and most
benevolent
 Zoroaster- 1st Single God concept
Middle East History
 Moses and the Jews flight from slavery in
Egypt to Israel as God commanded…10
Commandments
 Romans expel Jews from Palestine in70A.D.
 Christianity and Jesus
 Islam and Mohammad
 Christian Crusades
Middle East History
WW1 Treaty of Versailles stripped
Middle East from Ottoman Empire
(who sided with Germany) - Britain
and France get Syria, Lebanon, Iraq,
Trans-Jordan, Palestine.
Middle East History
 Turkey becomes a republic under
Kemal Ataturk
 Iran achieves independence under
Reza Khan Pahlavi
Middle East History
 Iraq gets independence from Britain
in 1932
 Lebanon and Syria from France in
1943 and 1946 respectively.
 Conflict over Palestine intensifies.
Middle East History
 Zionist movement calls for establishment
of Jewish State in Palestine…Encourage
Jews from Europe to emigrate to Palestine
 1917 Balfour Agreement- British back
Jewish state in Palestine
 Arab Nationalists in Palestine feel
betrayed by the British
Middle East History
 Muslims and Christians far outnumber Jews in
Palestine
 By 1930 many Jews are moving to Palestine
because of Anti-Semitism by Hitler.
 After WW2- Thousands of Jews (death camp
survivors) left Europe for Palestine.
Middle East History
 Palestinian Arabs bitterly oppose this
migration by Jews
 1947- U.N. partitions Palestine into a
Jewish and Arab state- Israel is formed.
 1948- Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon
attack Israel separately.
Middle East History
 Israel wins and seizes ½ the area the U.N. set
aside for Arabs in Palestine. 500,000 Arabs
forced to leave Palestine
 Wars in 1956, 1968, and 1973 all led to
territorial gains by Israel including the Sinai
Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, The
Golan Heights for Syria, and the West and
East Bank plus east Jerusalem from Jordan.
Middle East History
 Palestinians form PLO- Palestinian Liberation
Organization.
 PLO main objective is to create a Palestinian state for
Muslims.
 Yasser Arafat leads PLO and is moderately successful
forcing Israel to turn over some of the west bank and
Gaza Strip.
 Conflict continues as both Israel and the Palestinian
States seek to control Jerusalem and west bank.
Middle East Today
-OPEC- Organization of Petroleum Exporting NationsMiddle Eastern, Latin American, and African members.
Sets per barrel export prices on “light sweet crude”
Affect gasoline prices worldwide
U.S. and Great Britain are not members
OPEC has used supply issues as weapons against the West
Middle East Today
 Iraq- Operation Desert Storm- 109 nations respond to
Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. U.N. Resolution.
Iraq ejected from Kuwait. Hussein survives.
 Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hussein caught/executed.
U.S.installs democracy and leaves this past year. 4,000 dead
 Afghanistan- Invaded in 2001 in response to 9/11. Taliban
is expelled and U.S. continues to try to stabilize the country.
Schedule now calls for our exit on 2013.
Middle East Today
 Future Issues:
 Independent Palestinian State
 Nuclear Iran
 Stable Iraq and Afghanistan
 Trigger Happy Israel.
 The Arab Spring