Download Chapter 7: North Africa and Southwest Asia Part One: pages 342

Chapter 7: North Africa and Southwest Asia
Part One: pages 342 - 362
Teacher Notes
I. Major Geographic Qualities
1) Several of the world’s greatest civilizations based in its river valleys and basins
2) Cultural Hearths: ideas, innovations, technology spread to the world
3) Home of Judaism, Christianity, Islam
4) Islam, the last of the religions expanded rapidly and far
5) Drought and variable precipitation dominate the region
6) Enormous oil/gas reserves provide great wealth and worsen poverty
7) Boundaries are volatile
8) Conflicts over water and supplies threaten the region
9) Middle East is the heart of the realm
10) Religion, ethnicity, and culture conflicts bring instability and strife
II. Defining the Realm (345-347)
A. Dry World – very dry, but people live around areas of water
Dry/arid climate prevails throughout the realm
Exceptions:
Peripheral regions of Turkey
Northwestern section of Iran
Oases
Several great river valleys
The majority of the people in this realm live not in the dry arid regions, but around water
resources, such as:
The Nile Valley
Mediterranean Sea
Euphrates and Tigris Basin (Hydraulic Civilization)
Lower mountain slopes of Iran, south of the Caspian Sea
B. The Middle East
Middle East – reflection of western prejudices
C. Arab World
– only applies to a portion of this region (Arabian Peninsula) – based upon language
D. Islamic World
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Muhammad’s teachings spread far and have powerful influences.
Language: (Not in the text)
Relates to language as a cultural feature of this realm
Arabic is the dominant language in 16 States of the realm.
In Non-Arab States, indigenous languages dominate
Turkey - Turkish
Iran - Farsi
Israel - Hebrew
Niger - French
III. Hearths of Culture – two of the world’s first cultural hearths (347-350)
Geographic Terms:
Cultural Geography: studies spatial aspects of human culture
Cultural Hearths: crucibles of civilizations, source of ideas, innovations & ideologies
Cultural Diffusion: spreading of these cultural ideas and innovations
Cultural Environment: the dominate culture of a region dictates/creates the overall culture
Cultural Ecology: the relationship between human societies and natural environments
General Information on Region:
Great strides in domesticating veggies, animals, science, health, math, astronomy,
engineering, metallurgy
1. Mesopotamia - World’s first states
“Land amidst the rivers” – Tigris & Euphrates
“Fertile Crescent” – Agricultural hearth of innovative farmers, used irrigation. The
knowledge from this agricultural hearth diffused from Mesopotamia across southern
Turkey into Syria and the Mediterranean.
“Hydraulic Civilization Theory:” cities who control water/irrigation control others
2. Egypt/Nile
Egyptians used Nile for protection, trade and irrigation
3. Indus Valley
Cultural and commercial ties to Mesopotamia
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4. Decline and Decay:
Climate changes, overuse, overpopulation, etc.
IV. Stage for Islam (351-352)
A. Introduction:
Arab Peninsula escaped invasions
Arab world was in disarray
Muhammad: 571-632, Revelations from God in 611
B. Faith
Mecca: spiritual center of Islam
Islam: political, values, way of life, unit of Arabs and mobilized overnight!
Combined Judaism and Christianity
Muhammad was the final prophet
Beliefs: what is Earthly & worldly is profane; only Allah is pure; Allah’s will is absolute; Allah
is omniscient (all knowledge) and omnipotent (powerful); all humans live in Allah’s world and
are waiting for His judgment
Five Pillars of Faith:
Repeated expressions of the Creed
Frequent prayer
Month of daytime fasting
Alms-giving
Pilgrimage to Mecca (2012 – October, 11 days earlier each year)
C. Arab-Islamic Empire
Islam spread rapidly by AD 1000 (see page 352 MAP)
D. Diffusion:
Spatial Diffusion: the way ideas, inventions, and cultural practices propagate through a
population in a given space and time.
General Points:
-
Arabs overshadowed Europeans in Architecture, Math, Science, institutions of
higher learning in many cities (Baghdad, Cairo, Toledo)
-
Crusades were carried out in response – today the word is an insult – 200 years
-
Stopped when Mongols entered Europe, them Islam pushed again – Ottoman
Empire
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V. Islam Divided (352-358)
A. Introduction:
Division over who was to be successor or the Caliph
Sunnis – anyone of the faith who was a good leader (85 %)
Shi’ites – a blood line had to be followed, his cousin Ali
B. Strength of Shi’ism
Persia (Iran) was the only to adopt Shiism
When Shiism emerged again in Iran in 1970s when it overthrew the secular govt
(US backed) govt. of the Shah (King) this action invigorated world Shiite
communities
C. Religious Revivalism:
A cry against western corruption of their Islamic ways
Placing religious leaders in charge of govts
War with Iraq became a Holy War (originally over borders)
Much internal conflict between moderates and militants
Osama Bin Laden followed this path, but his greatest goal was to return Saudi Arabia to
an Islamic state.
Greatest struggle between Israel and Islamic world
D. Muslim vs. Muslim:
Militancy increased and attacked moderates
Mullahs were given more power than governments
E. Other Religions
Christians invaded Muslim world (Crusades) frequently to retake what had been
Christian areas, which had been Jewish previously.
F. Ottoman Aftermath
Named after Osman I, in Turkey (1453) – far reaching empire (Eastern Europe, Persia,
Mesopotamia, North Africa)
Four centuries of rule, then lost power in Eastern Europe, then Russian
Europeans took the lands they conquered (Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen)
Artificial boundaries in the sand, violated tribal customs
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VI. Power and Peril of Oil (358-362)
Two biggest obstacles: Israel and Oil
A. Dimensions: 77% of world’s oil from:
Major Oil Producing Nations:
Saudi Arabia (267 B), Iraq (114), United Arab Emirates (101), Kuwait (97), Iran (91)
[Canada may be the greatest of all but its oil is in the Tar Sands and is too difficult and expensive
to recover and process]
Venezuela (80), Russia (60), US (40), Libya/Mexico, China, Ecuador (30)
B. Foreign Invasions:
- Middle East nations were unable to exploit resources, they needed Western help which brought
conflict.
- Haves vs Have-nots = internal conflict
- US orchestrated covert operations to create the Iran we know today.
C. Impact of Oil:
High Incomes for states and people
Modernization – infrastructure
Industrialization – seeking to diversify
Intra-Realm Migration – Shiites and Palestinians moved into areas to find work, throwing
balance off.
Inter-Realm Migration – Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka – working for lower Wages
Regional Disparities – extreme differences within nations of modern/old, rich/poor, etc.
(Mercedes vs Camel)
Foreign Investment – Arab state investments intertwined in global matters
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