Download Middle East

Name __________________________________________________________
GEOTHEMES
Middle East
The Region and the People
PLACES, REGIONS, AND LANDSCAPES
1: The Middle East is a region in Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa. Turn to the political
map of the Middle East on page 72. Name each country described below.
a. country just south of the Caspian Sea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
b.country across the Red Sea from Egypt ________
_
c.country bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea Turkey
d.country in which the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet Iraq
2. Look closely at the part of this region bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.
a. Name the country west of Jordan. Israel
b. What country is north of Israel? Lebanon
c. To which country does the Sinai Peninsula belong? Egypt
Syria
d. What country is north and east of Lebanon? ____________
_
3. Muslims consider Mecca the most holy city.
a.
Find the city of Mecca in the index. What country is this city in? Saudi Arabia
b. Locate Mecca on the political map on page 72.
Name the larger city near it. Jidda
4. To look at physical features of the Middle East, turn to the physical map of Asia on pages 76
and 77.
a. Two of the region's major rivers flow southeast into the Persian Gulf. Name them.
Euphrates River and Tigris River
b. What mountains are east of these rivers?Zagros Mountains
c. Are these mountains as high as the Himalayas? How do you know?
No. There is no purple, the color that shows the highest elevation, in this area of the map.
5. Now turn to the Natural Vegetation map of Asia on page 81. What is the natural vegetation
of most of the Asian part of the Middle East?
scrubland
6. On page 74 is an Annual Rainfall map. Would you describe the Middle East as mostly wet or
mostly dry?
mostly dry
NYSTROM
DIVISION Of HERfF JONES INC
71
GEOTHEMES
Middle East
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ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
7. Turn to page 73.
a. What is the title of this special feature? Oil_and_OPEC
b. What does OPEC stand
for?
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
c. Study the graph on page 73. Which country or group of countries named
below produces the most oil? Circle one.
OPEC
d.
Russia
China
At the top of page 73 is a photograph of pipelines that carry oil to ports on the
Arabian Peninsula. Use the political map on page 72 to name one of these port
e.
cities on the Persian Gulf. Kuwait, Manama, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai (any one)
Besides the countries on the Persian Gulf, what other OPEC members are shown
on the map? Algeria and Libya
HUMAN SYSTEMS
8. Find the graph of People per Car on page 74. This graph tells something about the
standards of living in three Middle Eastern countries. Which of the three has a
standard of living closest to the United States?
Israel
9. Look at the Dominant Religion map on page 75.
a.What is the major religion in Iran? Shiah lslam
b. What is the major religion in Egypt,
Turkey, and Saudi Arabia? Sunni_lslam
10. In which country is Judaism the major religion? lsrael
11. The photograph on page 75 shows Jerusalem, a city in Israel. Two religious sites are
shown. People of what two religions worship in these places? Judaism and Islam
11. Study the maps showing Israel's Changing Shape on pages 74 and 75. Read the
bulleted text.
a. Where do Palestinians rule in the Middle East? In Gaza and parts of the West Bank
b. How would you describe Israel's changing shape? ________________________ _
In 1967 Israel grew, but from 1975 to 1982 Israel returned land to Egypt.
Now Israel is closer to the size it was in 1948.
c. How big is Israel compared to Florida? __ Israel is one seventh the size of Florida.