Download The Middle East Southwest Asia chp 19-20

Charles King
The Middle East Notes
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Southwest Asia
Chapters 19-20
The Persian Gulf and Interior
The Eastern Mediterranean
The Persian Gulf and Interior
• The Arabian Peninsula lies between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
• The Arabian Peninsula includes the following countries:
1. Saudi Arabia
5. Oman
2. Bahrain
6. Qatar
3. Kuwait
7. Yemen
4. The United Arab Emirates
• Iraq and Iran are also on the Persian Gulf. Afghanistan is landlocked and
lies to the northeast.
• This area has continued tectonic activity that brings earthquakes.
• As the tectonic plates in Africa and Arabia move farther apart the Red Sea
is widening.
• The region known as Mesopotamia (Greek for “between rivers”) lies
mostly in Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
• These rivers are exotic rivers, meaning that they start in humid regions
and then flow across dry areas.
• Hot and dry climates dominate this region with rains coming mostly
during winter when westerly winds bring occasional storms.
• The lowlands of Saudi Arabia are among the hottest places in the world
(History and Culture)
• The world’s first civilizations developed in the area known as the Fertile
Crescent
• The Fertile Crescent is an arc of productive land that extends northward
from the Persian Gulf and through the plains of Mesopotamia.
• Many of the plants and animals found in the world today were first
domesticated here.
In 3000B.C. the Sumerians built the world’s first known cities in southern
Mesopotamia.
• Throughout history the rich resources of Mesopotamia have attracted
invaders and the land has changed hands from many empires and
kingdoms.
(History and Culture)
Charles King
The Middle East Notes
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• The Islamic founder Mohammad lived in this area from about A.D. 570 to
632.
• Islam is one of the world’s most practiced religions.
• Mohammad was born in Mecca and at about age 40 he reported that the
angel Gabriel, sent from Allah, had told him to preach Allah’s word.
• Muhammad’s followers became known as Muslims and his writing were
collected into the Qur’an (Koran).
• Muhammad’s established a Muslim community center at Medina
• Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia and this gives the country a special place
in the Islamic world.
• Every Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least one time in his
life. It is Islam’s holiest city.
• After his death Arab armies spread Islam thought as far west as Morocco
and Spain.
• In the 1200’s the Mongols swept through Southwest Asia to conquer what
are now Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
• Rulers called the Safavids came into power in Iran in the early 1500’s.
• The rule of the Safavids is considered a golden age in Persian culture,
literature, and architecture.
• The Safavid dynasty ended in the mid 1700’s
In the 1500’s the Ottoman Turks conquered much Mesopotamia and the
east and west coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
• They held this area until the early 1900’s, when the British took it over.
• Iraq and Saudi Arabia emerged as independent countries in 1932.
• Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen became
independent from Britain in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
• Islam is the identifying culture of this region.
• Arabic is the dominant language.
• There are over a million Arabs in southern Iran, but there are also many
non-Arabic ethnic groups.
• For example the Kurds are Muslim but not Arabic. They live in the
borderlands of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
• Their desire for self rule is a source of political tension throughout the
region.
• Most of Iran’s people are Persians who speak Farsi. It is these people
who dominate the important position in the country.
• The other ethnic groups have little say in what goes on.
• In Afghanistan the Pashtun make up the largest ethnic group (they are
actually a number of tribes that speak the Pashtu language.)
Sunni and Shia
Charles King
The Middle East Notes
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Islam has split into two main branches: Sunni and Shi’ism.
The difference centers on their choice of leader or imam.
The Sunni Muslims choose their imams.
The Shia Muslims believe that only a decedent from Mohammad can be
an imam.
The Shia also rely on imam to interpret the Qur’an and the Sunni use them
mainly as prayer leaders.
• About 90% of Muslims are Sunni and 10% are Shia.
• Shi’ism is concentrated in Iran, southern Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
• There have been many conflicts caused simply by persecution of one
ethnic group by another.
(The Region Today)
• Oil and gas production is central to the countries along the Persian Gulf.
• Saudi Arabia alone produces 8.25 million barrels of oil a day.
• Oil wealth has help to modernize the economics of the region, however
many people continue to follow traditional rural ways of life.
• Good soil is scarce so every country in the Persian Gulf must import food.
• Because Islam prevent eating pork no pigs are raised in these areas.
• Nomadic herders known as Bedouins live in the outlying dry lands.
• But more and more Bedouins are leaving the nomadic way of life and
getting jobs in the cities.)
• Most of the larger cities are the nations’ capitals.
• Most cities are ancient but there are some newer cities with modern
buildings.
• The regions politics center around three themes:
1) Oil
2) Tradition
3) Islam
• The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) influences
oil prices throughout the world by increasing or decreasing production.
• Saudi Arabia is a key member of OPEC.
• Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter; this gives the country a
special place in world affairs.
Iran
• Iran’s politics has been unstable in recent years.
• In 1979 there was a revolution that toppled Iran’s monarchy.
• The government became a theocracy ran by ayatollahs (religious leaders
of high authority among Shia Muslims.)
• Many leaders view western ideas as a threat to public minority.
However, many Iranians are seeking more personal freedoms.
Charles King
The Middle East Notes
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• Iran’s politics are often watched because if they close the Strait of Hormez
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off their coast it could cut off a large portion of the world’s oil supply.
Iraq
Until 2003, Iraq was ruled by dictator Sadam Hussein, who used the
countries oil reserve to build a large military.
Under Sadam, Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990.
A group of countries led by the US repelled the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in
1991 to keep stability in the region.
This became known as the Persian Gulf War.
To prevent this from happening again the United Nations ordered Sadam
to stop producing weapons of mass destruction.
In 2003, after Iraq’s continued resistance to UN inspectors and violations
of UN sanctions the United States led an invasion of the country.
Iraq forces were defeated and Hussein was captured and executed.
However, the issue remains of what will become of Iraq now?
Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s ethnic and political conflicts have long plagued the country.
In the 1990’s a group called the Taliban came into power. They are by an
extreme version of Sunni Islam and established strict laws for the country.
After the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, US officials focused on the aid the
terrorist received from the Taliban government.
The US and allied forces attacked terrorist camps and Taliban military
targets.
The Taliban regime soon collapsed. Freed from the Taliban Afghanistan
experienced new liberties.
Eastern Mediterranean Countries
• Eastern Med. is part of the Middle East and has six countries:
– Israel
– Jordan
– Lebanon
– Syria
– Turkey
– Cyprus
• Turkey lies in both Europe and Asia
• Turkey lies along many faults and experiences devastating earthquakes.
• Israel, Lebanon and Syria lie in the coastal plain region
• The Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. This unusual sea lies 1,312
feet below sea level.
Charles King
The Middle East Notes
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• The Dead Sea was once part of the Mediterranean, but today it no longer
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has an outlet.
It is so salty nothing can live in it and anyone can easily float in it.
Arid, Semiarid and Mediterranean climates cover this region.
Lebanon used to be famous for its many cedar trees but most have been
forested over the last 2,000 years.
Valuable minerals, like potash and magnesium, can be found through out
the region
In about 1,000 BC the Hebrew people set up a kingdom between the
Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Hebrews practice Judaism, which is dominant in Israel.
The Romans conquered the Eastern Mediterranean between 200BC and
AD 106.
Jesus Christ was born at the beginning of the first century in Bethlehem,
Israel. His ministry throughout the Jerusalem area changed this region.
Christian belief states that all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God, but Jesus Christ gave his life as a sacrifice so that through him all
may have eternal life that repent and believe in Him.
In the first century AD Christianity began to spread throughout this
region.
By the late 300’s Christianity was the official religion of the Roman
Empire.
In the 400’s AD the Roman Empire became divided, the eastern part
became known as the Byzantine Empire.
The Eastern Orthodox Church also became divided from the Roman
Catholic Church at this time.
Israel
In 1077 Arab Muslims took over Jerusalem.
This started a 200 year war between Christians and Muslims known as the
Crusades.
In the 1300’s the Ottoman Turks took over this area.
By the 1600’s the Ottoman Empire included most of Southwest Asia.
During World War I the Ottoman Empire fought on the losing side.
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• The former territories of the Empire became mandates of Great Britain
and France.
• After WWII these mandates became independent.
• In the 1800’s European Jews began a movement called Zionism.
• (This called for Jews to set up their own homeland in Palestine.)
Charles King
The Middle East Notes
• After WWI thousands of Jews moved to the area.
• During WWII Germany’s Nazis murdered millions of Jews in what
became known as the Holocaust.
• This greatly increased the Jewish move to Palestine.
• Today 80% of Israel’s population is Jewish.
• In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, the
next year the Jewish leadership declared itself independent.
• There have been a series of wars between Arabs and Israelis.
• (1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and 2006)
• Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish are the most common languages.
• Jewish, Christian, and Muslim are the major religions of the area.
• Traditions and Customs revolve mainly around religion.
• Many factors have slowed economic development in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
– Earthquakes in Turkey
– Political problems in different countries.
– Hostile relations between Israel and its neighbors.
• The economics of Syria and Jordan are underdeveloped and suffer high
unemployment.
• The Eastern Mediterranean region relies heavily on agriculture, but many
places require irrigation.
• Israel is the most technologically advanced country of the eastern
Mediterranean.
• Tourism is also important to Cyprus, Turkey, and Israel.
• Many cities are ancient but the urban population is growing.
• Open air markets called souks are common.
• Most of the pressing issues of the region are political.
– The Gaza Strip in Israel (Israelis vs. Arabs)
– Kurds in Turkey complain of unfair treatment.
– (Thousands have been killed as result of this struggle)
– Islamic fundamentalist want the secular governments to be more
Islamic.
– Refugees from wars of various countries in the area are flooding into
Jordan and they now make up a slight majority.
• The most pressing environmental concern is lack of water.
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