southwest asia and north africa. rich cultural legacy agricultural revolution urban civilization ...
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Southwest Asia and North Africa
Rich cultural legacyAgricultural revolutionUrban civilization
Petroleum industry68% of world’s oil reservesOPEC
Political issues Islamic fundamentalism
IntroductionIntroduction
Aleppo, SyriaAleppo, Syria
Environmental Geography
MaghrebMaghreb LevantLevant
Deserts: Sahara, Libyan, Nubian
Uplands: Arabian Peninsula, Anatolian Plateau, Iranian Plateau Lowlands: Tigris-Euphrates River, Nile River
Mostly composed of deserts and uplands
Salinization
How?
Extensive irrigation + arid climates Salt accumulation in topsoilLower crop yields, and land abandonment
Where?
Iraq, central Iran, Egypt, and irrigated Maghreb
Water management Qanat system
Tapping into groundwater through tunnel Iran Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa
Water management Aswan High Dam (1970)
Benefits Year-round cropping Hydroelectricity
Detriments: Salinization Schistosomiasis Damages fishing industry nea
r the Nile DeltaFish catches between 1962 and 1992
What?What?Interplay of water resource issues and politicsInterplay of water resource issues and politics
Where?Where?Nile RiverNile River Sudan Sudan Egypt Egypt
Tigris-Euphrates RiverTigris-Euphrates River Turkey Turkey Iraq, Syria Iraq, Syria
Jordan RiverJordan River Israel, Palestine, Jordan, SyriaIsrael, Palestine, Jordan, Syria
HydropoliticsHydropolitics
Population and Settlement
More than 400 million Highest physiological densities Tie between water and life Population cluster
North AfricaThe Nile Valley, and Maghreb region
Southwest AsiaHighlands, and better-watered shores of the Mediterranean
Rural settlement patterns
What is the most important indicator of rural settlement?
water
Rural settlement patterns Home to early form of agriculture
1. Domestication 10,000 years ago Wheat, barley, cattle, sheep, goats
2. Fertile Crescent Early agricultural activity (5,000 years ago) Lebanon, Syria, northern Iraq, and eastern Turkey
Rural settlement patterns Reflects interrelationship between water and life
1. Pastoral nomadism In the drier portions of the region, inadequate moisture make per
manent settlement impossible Seasonal movement of livestock from place to place
2. Oasis settlement Tightly clustered permanent settlement
Rural settlement patterns 3. Irrigated agriculture along exotic rivers
Exotic rivers Transport water from distant, more humid lands into drier regions eg. Nile, Tigris, Euphrates
Irrigated collective farming eg. Kibbutzes
4. Dryland agriculture Depends on seasonal moisture to support farming Practiced on the Mediterranean climate regions
Urban settlement patterns
What shaped the urban landscapes?
Political system
TradesReligion
Colonialism Globalization
Cities as centers of political authority
3500 BC Mesopotamia 3000 BC Egypt Temples, palaces, tombs, and public buildings
Cities as trading centers
2000 BC the shores of the eastern MediterraneanBeirut (Lebanon), Damascus (Syria)
Port facilities, warehouse districts, and commercial thoroughfares
Islam (622) 8th century Baghdad, Cairo Walled urban core
(medina), bazaar
Cities as religious centersCities as religious centers
colonialism
Added another layer of urban landscape features Late 19th century North Africa
Algiers (French), Cairo (British)
Since 1950 added to traditional urban centersHigh-rise apartment
houses, and sprawling squatter settlements
Cairo, Egypt
globalizationglobalization
Since 1970 oil-rich states of the Persian GulfModern Western urban
design, futuristic architecture, and new transportation infrastructure
globalizationglobalization
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Coexistence of old and new
Fes, Morocco
Migration patterns Rural-to-urban shift
Saudi Arabian: 18% (1950) 83% (2000)
Migration within the region To oil-rich states such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE
Migration between the region Job
Turkish Germany Algerian, Moroccan France
Political forces Lebanese, Iranian western Europe, North America Jewish Israel
Cultural Coherence and Diversity
Religion
Which religion has originated in Southwest Asia?
Judaism (4000 years ago)
Christianity (2000 years ago)
Islam (622)
Geographies of religion
Judaism
BC 2000Mesopotamia to Canaan
AD 70Jewish Diaspora
1948Jew’s return to Israel
Christianity Outgrowth of JudaismEmerged 2000 years ago near Israel
Geographies of religion
Islam Originated in Makkah (or Mecca) in AD 622Follows Quran (or Koran)Divided into Shiites and SunnisDiffused to Persia (656), North Africa & Iberian Penins
ula (750), Central/South Asia, and Southeast Asia
Diffusion of Islam
Modern religions
Geographies of language Afro-Asiatic
Semitic language Arabic Hebrew
Berber language Indo-European
Indo-Iranian language Persian Kurdish
Altaic Turkish language
Geopolitical Framework
Colonial legacy
When?Late arrival because of Turkish Ottoman EmpireBegan after WWI (1918)Ended by the 1950s
Colonial power - France Maghreb
Algeria (1830s)Tunisia (1881)Morocco (1912)
After WWISyria (1918)Lebanon (1918)
Colonial power - Great Britain British Protectorate before 1900
Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Aden
Suez Canal (1869)Egypt (1882), Sudan (1896)
After WWIPalestine, Transjordan, Iraq
So which countries have NOT been occupied by European powers?
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
Decolonization and independence
North AfricaEgypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco (1950s)Algeria (1962)
Southwest Asia Iraq (1932), Lebanon (1946), Syria (1946), etc…
while containing the cultural seeds of its later trouble
Arab-Israeli conflict
Arab-Israeli conflict
“Intifada” (1987)Demonstration, led by Palestinian, against the rule of Is
rael in Gaza Strip and the West Bank
Agreements between the PLO and Israel (1990s)Potential control of the ruling Palestinian Authority (P
A) in the Gaza Strip and West Bank
Islamic fundamentalism
Khomeni took power in Iran (1979) “Rule the country by the Islamic law” Sudan (1989) Algeria (1992~) Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia…
Conflicts within states Lebanon (1975-95)
Discord among Christian and Muslim communitiesSpillover of Arab-Israeli conflict
IraqSouth: ShiitesNorth: Kurds
CyprusNorthern third: Islamic TurkishSouth: Greek Orthodox
Conflicts between states
Western Sahara Morocco (late 1970s) Libya Israel, Western Europe, U.S….
(1969~) Sudan Egypt (1995) Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) Persian Gulf war (1990-91)
Geopolitical issues
What is the destablizing force after WWII?
Creation of Israel
Rise of Islamic fundamentalism
Cold war (eg. Libya)
Ethnic differences (eg. Kurds)
Political/religious divide (eg. Sudan, Labanon)
Relations with the U.S. Strong allies
Israel, and Turkey
Strongly opposed
Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya
Ambiguous relations
Saudi Arabia
Economic and Social Development
The geography of fossil fuels
The geography of fossil fuels
The geography of fossil fuels
Regional economic patterns Higher-income oil exporters
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and UAE
Lowe-income oil exportersAlgeria, Libya, Iraq, and Iran
Prospering without oil Israel, Turkey, Tunisia, and Cyprus
Regional patterns of poverty Sudan
Civil war Morocco
Berber communities Brain drain
Egypt Population growth
Yemen Civil unrest
The role of women Is major social issues
Lowest female labor participation ratesLarge gap between male and female literacy
But is changing IranLibya Israel
Connections with global economy Oil economy
Influences oil priceOutflow of capital
Economic integrationE.U., AFTA, Union of the Arab MaghrebRole of Saudi Arabia
TourismAncient historical sites; significant religious localities
The geography of tourism