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Five Themes of Geography- The Middle East Theme 1 Location: Located near the Suez Canal, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Mediterranean Sea Theme 2- Regions 1. Middle East” or Southwest Asia 2. The term “Middle East” came from the Europeans because it was in the middle between Europe and Asia on the trade routes. It is located on the African and Asian continents. 3. North Africa, Central Asia, and Southwest Asia Theme 3- Place Physical Characteristics 1. Sahara and Arabian Desert 2. The Arabian Peninsula 3. Major Rivers- Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan and the NILE- Longest river in the world 4. Major Seas- Caspian, Aral, Red, Dead, and Arabian Sea a. The Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960’s when the Soviet Union diverted the rivers for irrigation projects. 5. The climate is arid with little rain and Mediterranean 6. Vegetation a. Shrubs b. Fruit trees such as olives, figs, citrus, walnuts and grapes c. Grasses: grassland types, bunchgrasses; sedges, and rushes d. Herbs: such as fragrant rosemary, thyme, and lavender. 7. The Middle East lies on 4 fault lines so they have earthquakes. Mountains are: a. Lebanese Mountains b. El Buz Mountains c. Atlas Mountains d. Zagros Mountains Human Characteristics 1. Known as one of the “Cradles of Civilization. Birthplace of the world’s first civilizations a. Sumerians b. Mesopotamians c. Babylonians d. Assyrians e. Ethiopians f. Egyptians 2. Religion (Birthplace of the three monotheistic religions): a. Islam b. Christianity c. Judaism 3. Government: a. Iran Presidential parliamentary democracy under Islamic religious control. Also known as a theocracy. b. Iraq dictatorship c. Israel Parliamentary democracy d. Kuwait Constitutional monarchy e. Saudi Arabia Monarchy f. Syria g. Turkey Presidential parliamentary 4. Languages- Arabic, English, Hebrew 5. Economy- based on oil. a. Oil reserves is an important factor in determining population distribution. b. OPEC-Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. i. Intergovernmental organization that was created to stabilize oil prices and stop competition between oil producing nations. ii. As of 2016, OPEC's members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. iii. Two-thirds of OPEC's oil production and reserves are in its six Middle Eastern countries that surround the oil-rich Persian Gulf. 6. Many countries are war torn because of oil, religion, and post colonialism conflicts over land ownership. a. Israel and Palestine have been fighting for years over control of Gaza. b. The borders of Israel, Gaza, and Palestine are constantly shifting and changing. Theme 4- Movement 1. Silk Road - Historically, much of the world’s trade flowed through this area (Silk Road) 2. 3 of the world’s most followed religions started here and spread throughout the globe 3. Today, the Suez Canal is a vital route for trade and military ships Theme 5- Human-Environment Interaction 1. Some of the world’s earliest civilizations were located here because of the war climate and water sources. Humans settled near water to survive (Nile, 2. Use desalination factories to make fresh water from salt water. 3. Accessing Oil and drilling 4. Deforestation 5. Freshwater is a scarcity. Oil is used to trade for water. a. Building aquifers i. Israel is the world leader in recycling water for agriculture. b. Aswan Dam. Benefits include i. Reduced flooding ii. Year-round irrigation iii. Hydroelectric power generation