Transcript North Africa and Southwest Asia Culture

Ch. 22: North Africa and
Southwest Asia
The Cultural Geography of North
Africa and Southwest Asia
Southwest Asia
Damascus, the
capital of Syria,
is the oldest
continuously
inhabited city on
the globe-4,000
years.
Bahrain has one of the highest
standards of living in the Persian Gulf
area.
Bahrain is the
headquarters of
the U.S. Central
Command, and
the docking and
refining base of
the U.S. Navy
contingent that
has been
patrolling the
Persian Gulf since
1949.
The Bedouins
Arab nomads who
live in Southwest
Asia
Many are moving
to cities
As the site of the Tigris-Euphrates
River, Iraq is the birthplace of the
world’s first city-states.
Jordan’s largest source of income is the
billions of dollars sent home by
Jordanians working in other Arab
countries.
Israel
After WWII, Jews
from around the
world have
relocated to
Israel.
90% urbanized
The Cities of Israel
About 25% of Israel’s population live in
the 3 largest cities- Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
and Haifa.
Jerusalem
Haifa
Tel Aviv
Although Israel is poor in natural
resources, and averages less than 5” of
rain per year, it produces most of its
own food through improved irrigation
and soil conservation
Jordan River
North Africa
Most of the people live along the
Mediterranean coast.
People have lived in Algeria for at least
40,000 years.
The Sahara is very sparsely populated.
Morocco is
closer to Europe
than any other
North African
country.
Spain is just 8
miles away,
across the Strait
of Gibraltar.
Because of its
strategic location,
Egypt is very
important in world
transportation.
Written history begins
with the records of
ancient Egypt.
Arabs
Most of the people in North Africa and
Southwest Asia are of Arab descent.
Most practice the Islamic religion.
Not all Arabspeaking people
are from the
Arabian peninsula,
some are
Canaanites,
Babylonian and
Egyptians.
Arabs live in 21
countries in the
region.
Israelis
Nearly 5 million people in the region are
Israelis. Of these, 4.1 million are
Jewish and .9 million are Arab.
Israeli Jews trace their roots back to the
ancient Hebrews and believe that God
had given them this land as their
permanent home.
The Arabs of the region did not approve of
the creation of the Jewish state of Israel
because it had been their homeland for
centuries.
As a result, conflict has been a way of life in
this region.
Severe hardship had been experienced by
both groups of people trying to survive in this
very small area of the Southwest Asia.
Turks
The Ottoman Turks
once controlled the
entire
Mediterranean area
for more than 600
years.
not Arab but they
practice Islam.
They have their
own Turkish
language and have
developed a mixed
culture that
includes Turkish,
Arab and Western
elements.
Iranians
Iran used to be called Persia.
“Iran” means the land of
the Aryans; the Iranians
believe themselves to be
the descendants of the
ancient Indo-European
people who settled the
area around 2,000 B.C.
Their language is “Farsi”distantly related to English.
Most Iranians practice the
Shi’a form of Islam.
Afghanis
many different
ethnic groups.
Islam is common
thread.
Cypriots
Cyprus is a nonArab nation.
The people of
Cyprus include
Greek majority
and Turkish
minority.
When the people of
Cyprus won their
independence from
Britain, the nation
broke out in a civil
war between the
Turks and Greeks.
The island remains
divided today.
Kurds
one of the largest ethnic groups in the
region
Unfortunately, they have struggled for
years to establish their own country.
live in the border
regions of Turkey,
Iraq, Iran, Syria and
the former Soviet
Union.
They call their land
Kurdistan, but they
have not been able
to gain self-rule.
Kurdish-inhabited area
Ethnic Cleansing
Iraq tested its
poison gas on the
Kurdish tribes in the
borderlands of Iraq
killing thousands of
people including
women and
children.
Population Information
450 million people in region
The most populous nations are Turkey, Iran
and Egypt.
Urbanization
Prior to WWII, the population generally
lived in rural areas, however, since
WWII, people have moving to the
cities.