Physical GeographyNorth Africa and Southwest Asia

©2012, TESCCC World Geography Unit 8, Lesson 1

Factors of Settlement

• What factors influence where people live within a certain area?

• Generate a list of ideas on the board or using an overhead projector (data projector).

• Discuss the answers that are generated by students.

• Now, let’s look at the factors.

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Factors of Settlement• Physical Factors - most settlements cluster near

bodies of water such as rivers and gulfs. People also settle in areas that have access to fresh water. Low-lying areas near fertile soil attracts settlement. Temperate and mild climate regions are also regions of large settlement.

• Human Factors - people settle in areas where they have access to natural resources, economic activities, and access transportation routes.

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How do geographers study human settlement?

• A number of tools are available for geographers to study settlement patterns. These include:

• GIS• Maps (atlas)• Government data (charts, graphs, reports)• Satellite imagery

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So where were the first settlements located in North Africa

and Southwest Asia?

• Fertile Crescent (Tigris and Euphrates River Valley) (Mesopotamia)

• Nile River Valley

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Mesopotamia

• The earliest cities have been uncovered in the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys. About 3500 B.C. civilizations began here due to the rich soil created by the rivers.

• Mesopotamia is the land that is located between the two rivers.

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Nile River Valley• The annual flooding of the river brought

nutrients to the soil and allowed farmers to grow crops in abundance.

• Farmers were able to predict the time of the floods and farming became more reliable.

• People relied less on nomadic ways of life.

• Farmers learned to retain water for use later in the year by developing irrigation and building reservoirs.

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The Nile Delta at Night

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Persian Gulf• The Persian Gulf is located between Iran and the Arabian

Peninsula. It is an extension of the Indian Ocean.• The discovery of oil transformed the region from one of

desolation to one of commercial wealth as the global demand for oil expanded rapidly.

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Then…. Now

Dubai in the mid 20th century

Dubai today

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Sahara• The largest desert in the world. • It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red

Sea.• Temperatures can rise to over 130 degrees.• The desert consists of sand, mountains, gravel,

and rock formations.• Underground water supplies—aquifers—can

come to the surface. They can create an oasis.• In an oasis, wildlife and vegetation can survive.

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Sahel

• Sahel means shore of the desert.• The Sahel is a narrow band of dry grassland that runs east

to west along the edge of the Sahara. It receives very little rainfall.

• People use the Sahel for farming and herding.• The Sahara has spread into the Sahel leading to

desertification.©2012, TESCCC

Population Distribution

• The majority of the population in this realm lives not in the dry arid regions but around water sources:

• The Nile• Mediterranean Sea• Euphrates and Tigris Basin• Lower mountain slopes of Iran, south of the

Caspian Sea

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Water- A Renewable or Finite Resource?

• Water is critical for life, food production, and industrial processes.

• 9 of the 14 Southwest Asian states face water shortage conditions, the most concentrated region of water scarcity in the world.

• The North African states all have rates of natural increase above 2.0%, increasing the stress on water sources.

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Other Notable Physical Features of North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Atlas Mountains• Nubian Desert• Red Sea• Gulf of Aden• Strait of Hormuz• Anatolia• Black Sea• Caspian Sea

• Dead Sea• Arabian Sea• Rub al Khali (Empty

Quarter)

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