Physical Geography of the Middle East

Who cares?!Why does it matter?!

Who cares?!

Hmmm….

This is your land to live on…

…How would this change your life?

Southwest Asia/Middle

East

Desert RegionExample: Rub al Khali – “Empty

Quarter”=

Why does this matter?• Lack fresh water• Limits work/economic

activity• Impacts where people live…

near rivers, coastal areas

When was the last

time you aspired to

herd animals?!

One of these is not like the others?Which one is it?!

1

3

2

Euphrates

Jordan

Chattahoochee

Southwest Asia/Middle

East

Region that lacks fresh water

Example: Saudi Arabia does not have a single permanent source of fresh water!

=

Why does this matter?• Their 3 major rivers (Tigris,

Euphrates, and Jordan Rivers) flow through several countries, so this creates tension about who gets how much water

Southwest Asia/Middle

East

Region surrounded by

salt water=

Why does this matter?• Wealthy countries can turn

salt water into fresh water through a process called desalination

• They can ship goods easily to other parts of the world

Southwest Asia/Middle

East

Region rich in BLACK GOLD! (Petroleum)

=Why does this matter?

• Petroleum is valuable AND is a limited resource…only so many places have it BUT everyone needs it!

• Most of the world’s oil is found around the Persian Gulf region

Persian GulfThe countries that touch it have the oil!

Who has the oil???

Middle East

Chaching

!

Oil or Gas Fields&

Refineries

Who uses the oil???

UniteStates

Knowing what we have already discussed, why do you think the Strait of Hormuz (the red arrow is pointing to it)

would be considered an important waterway?

Many oil tankers transport oil through it everyday. It is small passage, so some country could block it if they wanted to!

Southwest Asia/Middle

East

Home to strategic (important) waterways

=Why do they

matter?Oil is shipped out of the Persian Gulf through this narrow passage of water

Makes trade of goods (like oil) faster because it connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea

What are they?• Strait of Hormuz

(natural waterway)

• Suez Canal (man-made waterway)

Southwest Asia/Middle

East

Strategic location in the world=

Why does this matter?• Three continents come

together here Europe, Africa, and Asia

• Trade from around the world has and always will come through this region

Suez Canal – connects the Red to the Med

Without the Suez, this would the be the shipping alternative!

That

would

really

stink!

So…Why include North Africa?!

• Almost entirely covered by DESERT

• LACKS FRESH WATER

• OIL is a major export

Sahara Desert = World’s largest desert

Nile River = Only major river in region

So…Why do we care about the geography of the Middle East???

Has a strategic

location on the

globe for

TRADE

They have more OIL than

any other region of the world, AND we

can’t go without it!Being dry and lacking fresh water could mean future conflict (war)

between countries