Download Southwest Asia Locational Thematic Story Map

Southwest Asia Locational Thematic Story Map
Use the following directions to complete you map. Italicized words and symbols should all be
included on your map. The bold terms and symbols should be found in a legend.
1. Label the following countries. Afghanistan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
2. Locate and label the following cities. Istanbul, Tehran, Baghdad, Riyadh, Ankara, Jiddah. Mark
their location with a red dot to show that they are the most populated cities in the region.
3. Draw the following arrows on your map in purple: Draw one from Turkey into Europe, one from
Saudi Arabia into Africa and one from Pakistan into Asia. This region is called a cultural
crossroads because it is at the intersection of three continents so its location has created many
opportunities for trade and exchange of culture and religion.
4. Draw the following symbols around the city of Jerusalem. All three monotheistic (belief in one
God) religions: Christianity,
Islam
and Judaism
consider Jerusalem to be one of
its holiest cities.
5. Draw a symbol for a mosque, an Islamic place of worship,
next to the cities of Mecca and
Medina. These cities are considered sacred to the religion of Islam, a religion that was founded.
Draw arrows
pointing away from each of the mosques to show that Islam has spread
quickly throughout the region.
6. Outline Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in green. All of
these countries are members of OPEC, an organization established by oil producing countries
that coordinate policies on selling petroleum products.
7. Draw the following inside the theocratic country of Iran.
+
This Islamic state has
adopted the religious laws of Islam as its foundation for its political laws.
8. Draw a gun
inside of Afghanistan. The Taliban is located here and are considered
a strict, radical fundamentalist Muslim political group that has imposed strict rules on its
people and is responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. in 2001.
9. Draw an oil derrick
inside the Arabian Peninsula along the coast of the Persian Gulf. 64% of
the world’s proven oil deposits are found in Southwest Asia. Because of that, it is known as a
strategic commodity – a resource so important the nations will go to war to ensure its steady
supply.
10. Draw the following symbol
nice and large anywhere you have space in this region.
Although oil brings in a great deal of money, water is the most critical resource in this dry
region as supplies are only available in small amounts and not consistently.
Southwest Asia Physical Thematic Story Map
Use the following directions to complete you map. Italicized words and symbols should all be
included on your map. The bold terms and symbols should be found in a legend.
11.
Outline the countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, U.A.E, Oman and Yemen in red. These
countries make up the Arabian Peninsula. This peninsula plays has an important geopolitical
role because of its vast reserves of oil and natural gas.
12. In brown label and shade the Zagros, Elburz, Hindu Kush, Taurus and Pontic Mountains.
Mountains cover the northern portion of this region, blocking it from the south and separate
out the countries in this region.
13. Find and label Mt. Ararat with a
. Draw a boat next to it
as it is thought that this
extensive mountain in Turkey may have been the final resting place of Noah’s ark after the
great flood.
14. Two major plateaus mark this region. Both the Plateau of Iran and the Anatolian Plateau are
isolated by the mountains surrounding them.
15. One of the main ways people, goods and ideas move in this region is by water. This region
is completely surrounded by major bodies of water such as the Indian Ocean, Black Sea,
Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and the
Red Sea. Shade these regions blue to show that it is water on your map.
16. Draw, label and color blue the two most important rivers to this region, the Tigris and the
Euphrates. Both rivers travel through Turkey, Syria and Iraq before emptying out into the
Persian Gulf.
17. The Jordan River serves as a natural boundary between Israel and Jordan and empties out
into the salty waters of the Dead Sea. Draw, label and color the river blue. Draw in a dead
fish
to represent that this lake is so salty, that only bacteria can live in the waters.
18. Locate and label several straits including the Bosporus Strait, Dardanelles Strait and the Strait
of Hormuz. Draw a Purple star
next to their names. All of these narrow waterways are
considered to be “choke points” because they are highly desirable locations for controlling
trade and transportation to Russia and the interior of Asia.
19.
The most famous desert is the Rub Al-Khali. Next to it in the north are the An-Nafud and the
Syrian Desert extending up to the Negev Desert in Israel. Look at page 492 in your textbook to
find the desert climates. Shade this region in yellow to show their large extent and how
deserts, like mountains, limit movement in this region.
20. Draw a green circle
inside the Arabian Peninsula to represent an oasis, an area in the
desert where vegetation is found because water is available from an underground spring.