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