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World Regional Geography
Chapter 6:
A Geographic Profile of the
Middle East & North Africa
6.1 Area & Population
• Middle East and North Africa
– “Middle East” is Eurocentric
– 21 Countries, Palestinian Territories of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, and the disputed Western Sahara
– Area of 5.9 million square miles
– Population of 500 million people (2007)
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Turkey, Iran & Egypt each have more than 70 million people
People locate where water is abundant in this arid region
Region on the whole is 56% urban
High rate of population growth across region
Many oil-rich countries of the Gulf region have
more foreigners than citizens living in them
Middle East and North Africa
Comparison in Area & Latitude
Middle East & North Africa vs. Conterminous U.S.
Population Distribution
Population Cartogram
6.2 Physical Geography & Human Adaptations
• Margins of region are oceans, seas, high
mountains, and deserts
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Atlantic Ocean to the west
Sahara to the south
Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the north
Hindu Kush and Baluchistan Desert to the east
• Land composed of arid plains and plateaus
– Large areas of rugged mountains
– Isolated “seas” of sand
Physical Geography
6.2.1 Region of Stark Geographic Contrasts
• Climate
– Aridity
• 75 percent of region receives < 10” of annual precipitation
• Higher precipitation around Mediterranean or up at elevation
• Strategies of drought avoidance and drought endurance
– Temperature
• Large daily and seasonal ranges
• Very hot days and surprisingly cool nights
– Summer relocation of government in Saudi Arabia
• Tectonic Processes
– Collision zones have resulted in mountain building
– Frequent earthquakes for places like Turkey, Iran,
and Afghanistan
Climate Types
Biome Types
Great Sand Sea in Egypt
Land Use
The Treasury
Pontic Mountains in Turkey
The West Bank and The Dead Sea
Taurus Mountains of Turkey
Solar Boat of King Cheops
6.2.2 Villager, Pastoral Nomad, Urbanite
• Middle Eastern Ecological Trilogy
– Villagers
• Subsistence farmers of rural areas where dry farming
or irrigation is possible
– Pastoral Nomads
• Desert peoples who migrate through arid lands with
livestock, following rainfall and vegetation patterns
– Urbanites
• Inhabitants of large towns and cities, generally located
near bountiful water sources
The Ecological Trilogy
6.2.3 The Village Way of Life
• Historically, agricultural villagers represented the
majority populations in the region
– Villages located near reliable water sources with
cultivable lands nearby
– Production and consumption focus on a staple grain
– Reliance on nomads for pastoral produce
• Effects of exposure to outside influence
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Introduction of cash crops
Improved and expanded irrigation
Modern technology
Rural-to-Urban Migration
6.2.4 The Pastoral Nomadic Way of Life
• Pastoral Nomadism
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Emerged as offshoot of village way of life
Vertical Migration in mountainous areas
Horizontal Migration in flatter expanses
Sedentarization is a recent trend
Nomads in region number estimated 5 to 13 million
• Identified by their tribe, not be their nationality
6.2.5 The Urban Way of Life
• The city was the final component to emerge in the
ecological trilogy
– Mesopotamia, 4000 B.C.E.
– Egypt, 3000 B.C.E.
• Medina (classic Islamic city)
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High defensive wall
Congregational mosque
Administrative and educational complex
Bazaar or Suq (Commercial Zone)
Residential areas based on ethnicity, not income
• Rural-to-Urban Migration
• New modern urban development in oil-rich countries
Model of the Medina
Bazaar in Cairo, Egypt
Indoor Ski Resort in Dubai, UAE
6.3 Cultural & Historical Geographies
• Egypt and Mesopotamia are among the
world’s great culture hearths
• Language Families
– Afro-Asiatic Family
• Examples: Semitic (Arabic & Hebrew), Berber, and Bedawi
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Altaic Family (Turkic)
Caucasian Family
Indo-European Family (Farsi and Kurdish)
Nilo-Saharan Family
• Religious Hearth
– Monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Languages of the Middle East & North Africa
Religions of the Middle East & North Africa
6.3.1 The Promised Land of the Jews
• Judaism
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First significant monotheistic faith
Practiced today by 14 million worldwide
Torah is the Jewish holy scripture
Unlike Christianity, Jesus not seen as a savior
Ethnic, not proselytizing religion
Western Wall in Jerusalem
• The most sacred site in the world accessible to Jews
Holy Places in Jerusalem
6.3.2 Christianity:
Death & Resurrection in Jerusalem
• Christianity
– Offshoot of Judaism that emerged in Palestine
– Jesus Christ
• Born in Bethlehem around 4 B.C.E.
• His teachings denied validity of many Jewish
doctrines and protesters called for his death
• Jesus was put on trial, was found guilty of being a
claimant to Jewish kingship, and was crucified
• Christians believe Christ was resurrected from the
dead two days later and ascended into heaven
– Seldom has Christianity been majority religion in
the land where it was born
– Crusades (11th – 14th centuries)
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
6.3.3 The Message of Islam
• Islam
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Monotheistic faith
Dominant religion by far in Middle East & North Africa
Prophet was Muhammad, who was from Mecca
Qur’an is the holy book of Islam
• Five Pillars of Islam
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Profession of the faith
Prayer five times daily toward Mecca
Almsgiving
Fasting during Ramadan
Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca (Islam’s holiest city)
Great Mosque in Mecca
6.4 Economic Geography
• Oil dominates the region’s economic geography
– Large reserves
– Role of OPEC
• Aim of taking joint action to demand higher profits
• Other resources include:
– Remittances
– Revenues from ship traffic through Suez Canal
– Exports of cotton, rice, and other commercial crops
6.5 Geopolitical Issues
• Historically, region has been a geographic crossroads
• Geopolitical Interests
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Narrow Waterways
Access to Oil
Access to Freshwater
Terrorism
6.5.1 Chokepoints
• Chokepoints
– Strategic narrow passageways on land or sea that may
be easily closed off by force or even the threat of force
– Examples
Links:
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Suez Canal
Strait of Tiran
Strait of Hormuz
Bab el-Mandeb
Bosporus
Dardanelles
Strait of Gibraltar
Mediterranean & Red Seas
Gulf of Aqaba & Red Sea
Persian Gulf & Arabian Sea
Red Sea & Indian Ocean
Mediterranean & Black Seas
Mediterranean & Black Seas
Mediterranean Sea &
Atlantic Ocean
Chokepoints
History of War in the Suez Canal Zone
6.5.2 Access to Oil
• Region’s oil is marketed primarily in western
Europe and Japan
• American Interest in Oil
– Support for Israel while courting Israel’s oil-rich enemies
– Carter Doctrine
• U.S. would use any means necessary to defend its vital
interests (i.e., Maintaining a secure supply of Gulf oil)
– Gulf War
• U.S. led coalition of Western and Arab allies against Iraq
– U.S. Invasion of Iraq in 2003
• About weapons of mass destruction or control of oil?
6.5.3 Access to Freshwater
• Hydropolitics
– 90 percent of usable freshwater in the region crosses
one or more international borders
– Role of water in Palestinian-Israeli conflict
– Water is a critical issue blocking a peace treaty
between Israel and Syria
– Nile Water Agreement
• Signed by 10 countries in 1926
• Guaranteed Egyptian access to water
• Many countries have defied the treaty in recent years
– Upstream country is usually able to maximize its
water use at expense of a downstream country
• Exception with Israel on the Yarmuk
Water Developments in the Nile Basin
Waterfall on Tigris River in Turkey
6.5.4 Terrorism
• Terrorists pursued by U.S. are Islamist militants
• Islamist Groups
– Hizbullah
– Hamas
– Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
– Al-Qa’ida
• President Bush’s “Axis of Evil”
– Iran, Iraq, and North Korea
• Tiny minority of Muslims have carried out terrorist actions
that the great majority of Muslims condemned
Terrorist Attacks Linked to al-Qa’ida, 1998-2007