Transcript Slide 1 - Bishop Lynch High School

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CHAPTER 19
THE PERSIAN GULF AND INTERIOR
NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS
CHAPTER 19 – SECTION 1
QUESTIONS

What landforms and rivers can be found in the Persian Gulf
area and the interior of Southwest Asia?
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How does the region’s physical geography affect its climates
and biomes?
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What natural resources does the region have?
LANDFORMS
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The region formed by the Persian Gulf and interior
Southwest Asia includes the following countries:
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Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain.
Kuwait.
Oman.
Qatar.
United Arab Emirates.
Yemen.
The Arabian Peninsula is often referred to as the Middle
East.
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BODIES OF WATER
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The Arabian Peninsula lies between the Red Sea and the
Persian Gulf.
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To the south – the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
Beyond those two bodies of water is the Indian Ocean.
North and northwest of the Arabian Peninsula are three
large countries:
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Iran and Iraq which have coast on the Persian Gulf.
Afghanistan which is landlocked.
TECTONIC ACTIVITY
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Tectonic activity shaped most of the physical features in the
area.
 Southwest Asia sits on the intersection of the African,
Eurasian, and Arabian Plates.
 Mountains, valleys, plateaus.
 The Red Sea is becoming wider as the African and Arabian
plates move apart.
MESOPOTAMIA
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The land between two rivers.
 The Tigris and the Euphrates.
 Exotic rivers – rivers that begin in humid regions and flow across
dry areas.
HINDU KUSH MOUNTAINS
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Extension of the Himalayas.
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Difficult to cross with only a few major passes.
CLIMATES
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Hot and dry climates dominate the region.
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Region’s mountains provide water to the valleys.
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Rains come mostly in the winter.
Southern interior is mostly uninhabited desert called the
Rub’al-Khali (Empty Quarter) and the An Nafud, a desert of
reddish sand.
Orographic effect produces humid climates with water picked
up along the Caspian Sea.
Lowlands of Saudi Arabia along Persian Gulf are among
hottest places on Earth.
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Over 114⁰ .
Little rain but high humidity.
PLANTS AND ANIMALS
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Shrubs and grasses grow on the wide dry plains, adapting
to climates without water.
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Trees grow only in mountains and dry streambeds.
Highest plains are grasslands.
Soil is so salty in some places that nothing can grow.
Hunting and domestic animals has made life hard for
larger wild animals.
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Gazelles, lions, wild goats, hyenas, leopards, wild camels and
donkeys are rare and mostly limited to game preserves.
NATURAL RESOURCES
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Two most important natural resources are water and oil.
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In Iraq, rivers are the main source of water.
In Iran, farmers depend on rain and irrigation.
Surface water in desert areas can only be found at an oasis.
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Desalinization.
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Bubbling surface waters have been turned into producing wells.
Only wealthy countries can afford to make freshwater this way.
Oil reserves are the largest in the world.
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Countries in the region have few other resources to develop.
HISTORY AND CULTURE
CHAPTER 19 – SECTION 2
QUESTIONS

How have peoples, empires, and Islam affected the history
of the Persian Gulf area and interior of Southwest Asia?
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What are the major features of the region’s cultures?
FROM EMPIRES TO INDEPENDENCE
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Fertile Crescent.
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The world’s first civilizations developed in this arc of
productive land.
3000 B.C. the Sumerians built the
first known cities in southern
Mesopotamia.
Traders continually traveled
through the area.
Akkadians conquered the
Sumerians.
Later the Persians, Greeks, and
Romans controlled much of the
region.
THE RISE OF ISLAM
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Muhammad established Islam when he was 40 years old
and was visited by the Archangel Gabriel.
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Muhammad was to spread the word of Allah to his followers,
Muslims.
Allah’s message is contained in the Qur’an.
Muhammad established a Muslim community in Medina when
he was forced to leave Mecca.
Eventually Islam spread throughout North Africa, Spain, Central
and Southeast Asia, and India.
GAINING INDEPENDENCE
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Mongul rulers conquered Central Asia in the 1200s.
The Safavids came to power in Iran in the early 1500s and
seized Afghanistan from the Muslims.
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Lasted more than 200 years.
Considered to be the golden age of Persian culture.
In the western part of the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman
Turks conquered Mesopotamia.
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The British took over the area in the early 1900s.
CULTURE
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Islam is the unifying cultural feature of the region.
Many empires and migrating peoples have coexisted in the presence
of many ethnic groups in the region.
PEOPLE AND LANGUAGES
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Most people in the region are Arabs and Arabic is the
dominant language.
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The Qur’an in written in Arabic.
Arabic place-names can be found throughout the Eastern
Hemisphere as a result of trade, migration, and Islam.
NON-ARABS
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Iraq is an Arabic country.
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More than a million Arabs live in southern Iran.
Non-Arab ethnic groups live in the area.
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Most of Iran’s Persians speak Farsi.
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Kurds live in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and are Muslims, have never
had their own country and have often been persecuted.
Other groups that live in Iran:
Baloch, Bakhtiari, Hazara, Turkmen, Azeri, Qashqai.
In Afghanistan, the Pashtun are the largest ethnic group.
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Most people’s loyalties lie with their clan and family, rather than
an ethnic group.
RELIGION AND SOCIETY
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Islam has split into two main groups – Sunni and Shia.
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Difference centers around who can be a leader within the
religion – imams (spiritual leaders).
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Sunnis choose their imams – lead prayer.
Shia allows only descendents of Muhammad to become leaders –
interpret the Qur’an.
90% of Muslims are Sunnis and 10% are Shia.
THE REGION TODAY
CHAPTER 19 – SECTION 3
QUESTIONS
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On what activities do the region’s economies depend?
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What are the region’s cities like?
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What are some important issues in the region today?
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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Oil and gas production is central to their economies.
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Oil wealth has helped modernization.
Some still follow traditional ways.
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Farmers – subsistence agriculture.
Bedouins – nomadic herders.
Traditional crafts.
Modern manufacturing is limited.
URBAN ENVIRONMENTS
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The largest cities in the regions are the national capitals.
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Tehran, Baghdad, Kabul, Riyadh.
People move to the cities looking for jobs.
Most cities are ancient and contrast with the newer sections.
GOVERNMENTS, ISSUES AND
CHALLENGES
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Politics and concerns for the future center around three
basic themes.
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Use of oil wealth.
Preservation of authority of traditional leaders.
Role of Islam in a modernizing world.
OIL WEALTH AND POWER
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Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter.
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Key member of OPEC.
Controls Islam’s holies city, Mecca.
Absolute monarch who maintains Arab traditions.
Iran suffered a revolution in 1979, deposing the shah and
replacing the leadership with religious leaders or
ayatollahs.
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Government is a theocracy.
IRAQ
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Iraq was ruled by a dictator, Saddam Hussein, until 2003.
 After raising a large military, Saddam invaded Iran in 1980 and
Kuwait in 1990.
 Coalition forces, led by the U.S., liberated Kuwait in the Persian
Gulf War.
 U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 after Iraq refused to allow U.N.
inspectors to check for violations of U.N. sanctions.
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New government was elected in 2005.