North Africa & SW Asia Notes · 2019. 3. 14. · Major Physical Features of North Africa &...
Transcript of North Africa & SW Asia Notes · 2019. 3. 14. · Major Physical Features of North Africa &...
NorthAfrica&SouthwestAsiaa.k.a.theMiddleEast
MajorPhysicalFeaturesofNorthAfrica&SouthwestAsia
•Deserts:• SaharaDesertinAfrica• Largestdesertintheworld• Ergs – vastareasofsandthatcover25%oftheSahara
• TheArabianDesertinSWAsia• Rub’alKhali(EmptyQuarter)– thelargestsandseaintheworld• Nofreshwaterlakesorrivers• Someoases exist(areainthedesertwhereundergroundwaterallowsplantstogrow)
MajorPhysicalFeaturesofNorthAfrica&SouthwestAsia
•Mountains• CaucasusMountains• dividetheregionfromEurope
• AtlasMountainsà• inMorocco&Algeria• BlockmoistairfromtheAtlanticOcean
• ZagrosMountains,Iran•HinduKush,Afghanistanà
MajorPhysicalFeaturesofNorthAfrica&SouthwestAsia
•Waterways:• Rivers:• Tigris&EuphratesRivers• Formanalluvialplain calledMesopotamia
•NileRiver– longestriverintheworld• NileDeltaà• NOriversontheArabianPeninsulaorSahara
• Seas:• RedSea– betweenMiddleEast&Egypt• PersianGulf– betweenIran&SaudiArabia• DeadSea– sosaltynofishcansurvive•MediterraneanSea
ClimateofNorthAfrica&SWAsia
•Arid&SemiaridclimateeverywhereintheMiddleEast&NorthAfricaexceptthecoasts&mountains• wadis – drystreambedsthatfloodwhenitrains• Sandstorms– hotdryairblowsdust&grità
•Mediterraneanclimate• Alongthecoasts
History&ReligioninSWAsia&NorthAfrica
HistoryofSWAsia&NAfrica
•Mesopotamia - 8,000yrs ago–beginningofcivilization(present-dayIraq)• Hunters&gatherersbegantofarmandcreatevillages&writingsystems•Wheat,cattle,horsesoriginatedthere
•Egypt - 5,000yrs ago– oneofthe1stgovernments,religions,&writtenlanguages(hieroglyphics)• 200BC- world’s1st libraryinAlexandria• Pyramids,mummies,&pharaohs (kings)
HistoryofSouthwestAsia
•Birthplaceofmonotheistic (one-god)worldreligions- earlyreligionspriortothiswerepolytheistic (manygods)•Judaism– ~2000BC•Christianity– ~AD30•Islam– ~AD600s
Judaism
•God(“Yahweh”)creatednature,butisnotfoundinnature•Aloving,personalgod•HolyCity:Jerusalem
Christianity
• Jesus – Jewishteacher•Teachings:• The“GoldenRule”• Humility,charity,“loveyourneighbor”
•Followers(apostles)believedhewasChrist(amessiah)&thesonofGodsenttofreetheJewsfromtheirenemies•HolyCity:Jerusalem
Islam
•Today,mostpeopleintheMiddleEastareMuslims• BelieveGod(“Allah”)spoketoaprophet(Muhammad)inAD610anddictatedaholybook(Qurʼan)intheArabiclanguage•WorshipinmosqueswhereMuslimsarecalledtoprayerà• HolyCities:Mecca&Medina,SaudiArabia• 2maingroups:Sunni&Shia
The“FivePillarsofIslam”
•FiveactionsMuslimsstrivetodo:1.Publicstatementoffaith(“IbelieveinAllah…”)2.5prayers/day3.Givecharitytopoor4.FastduringthemonthofRamadan5.Pilgrimage(Hajj)toMecca atleastoncealifetime
CultureofSaudiArabia
•GovernmentisanabsolutemonarchythatruleswithSharia(Muslim)law• Religionhelpsdetermineslaws• KingSalmanbinAbdull azizà
•Family– VERYimportant• Nosocialactivitiesoutsideofthefamily
•Women’srights•Maleguardianshipsystem
TheSpreadofIslam
•AD600s-900s-IslamicEmpiresledbycaliphs (Muslimrulers)tookovertheSWAsia&NorthAfrica• Jews,Christians,&Muslimsarealllivingonthesameland!
ContinuedConflictintheRegion
•1100-1200s:Crusades– militaryexpeditionsofEuropeanChristianstofreetheHolyLandfromthe“infidels”• TheCatholicPopepromisedforgivenessofsinsforallwhowenttotheMiddleEasttofight
•1200s: MongolsinvadedSouthwestAsia•1300s:OttomanTurkscreatedanEmpireintheregion
NorthAfricaiscolonized
•1500s– Spain&PortugalcapturedMorocco•1800s– FranceseizedAlgeria&Tunisia,ItalytookLibya,andtheUKcontrolledEgypt•1950s-60s– NorthAfricacountriesrevolted&tookbackcontroloftheirgovernments• Establisheddemocracies&militaryregimes
WorldWarI– 1910s
•TheMuslimOttomanEmpirefoughtwithGermany&ItalyinWWI• LeadersontheArabianPeninsulaagreedtohelptheAlliesfighttheOttomansinexchangeforautonomyafterthewar• Instead,afterthewarG.B.&FrancetookoverSyria,Palestine,Jordan,&Iraqasmandates(acountryisrunbyanothercountryuntilitisreadytoruleitself)
Palestine
•2groupshaveclaimeditastheirhomelandduringitshistory• Arabs(Muslims)• Jews– hadlivedthereuntil1000BCwhentheywereexiled(kickedout)byinvaders• Somereturned,butmostmovedtootherplaces•Werepersecutedinthoseotherlands&“Zionists”wantedtocomebacktotheirHolyLand
•HowwillWWII&theHolocaustaffectPalestine?
WorldWarIIincreasestheConflict
•AftertheHolocaust,manyJewsfledEurope&movedbacktotheir“HolyLand” ofPalestine• ConflictbetweenArabs&Jewishimmigrants
•WhatcouldbethesolutiontothisArab/Jewproblem?
TheDivisionofPalestine,1948
•TheUnitedNationstookover÷dPalestineinhalf.• Palestine&Israel
Arab/IsraeliWar!
•ThesurroundingArabnationsattackedIsrael• Israeltookover¾ofPalestine,andEgypt&Jordantooktherest!• NOMOREPALESTINE!
TheWestBank&GazaStrip
•PalestinianterritoriesthatweretakenoverbytheIsraeligovernment• Israelishavemovedintotheseterritories&arepushingoutthePalestinians
ThePalestinianLiberationOrganization(PLO)
•ThePalestiniangovernmentinexile• RefusetorecognizeIsraelasacountry• SomeconductterrorismonIsrael&itssupporters
TheMunichOlympics,1970
•PLOterroristskidnappedmembersoftheIsraeliOlympicteam• Goal:tousethemashostagestogetPalestinianprisonersfreedfromIsraeliprisons• ActualResult:noprisonerswerefreed,alloftheterrorists&hostageswerekilled
PalestinianRefugees
•ManyPalestinianArabsfledIsraelduringthewars.• Somefoundjobs&homesinotherArabcountries• Otherscontinuetoliveincrowdedrefugeecamps,hopingtoreturntoPalestinesomeday
IsraelToday
•80%ofthepopulationisJewish• Jewshavemovedtherefrommanydifferentcountries• DifferentJewishcustoms&beliefsmakeithardfortheirgovernmenttoworktogether
•20%ofthepopulationisArab• Havefullrights,butfeeltheyarediscriminatedagainstforjobs,education,etc.
EconomicsofNorthAfrica&SouthwestAsia
EconomicsofNorthAfrica&SouthwestAsia
•Mostareasareverydry,sopeopletendtoliveinlargecitiesalongrivers&coasts•World’stallestbuilding- theBurj Khalifa,Dubai,UAE
•Smallruralvillages&nomadiclivestockherders
FindingWaterintheMiddleEast
•Majorissue– findingenoughwaterforhumanuse,irrigation,&animals•Hydropolitics – politicsrelatedtowaterusage&rights
•Overallwaterriskaroundtheworld:
FindingWaterintheMiddleEast
•Desalination• Processofturningsaltwaterintofreshwaterusingevaporation
•Oases&aquifers• Aquifers – undergroundlayersofrockinwhichwatercollects• Fossilwater - Waterthatfellasrainthousandsofyearsagoandistrappedbelowground
•Tigris,Euphrates,&NileRivers
Economics:OilinSouthwestAsia
•Oil&naturalgas•World’slargestoilreserves
•OPEC(OrganizationofPetroleumExportingCountries)• Iran,Iraq,Kuwait,SaudiArabia,&Venezuela•Whydotheycollaborate?
Economics:Israel•Hightechindustries• Medicallasers• High-techweapons• Aerospaceequipment
• Services&Tourism• TheDeadSeaà• Highlevelsofsalt,potash,&bromine,sonofishinit,butcanextractthemineralsforexport
• Strugglestoconvincepeopletoliveinthedesert• Drainswaterfromswamps&irrigates
desertsforfarming
Oman&Yemen
•Mostlyfarmers&herders• Usethefalaj systemtoirrigatetheirfarmsusingcanalstobringwaterfromthemountains
•Poor,butstartingtodrill&selloiltoimprovetheireconomies
EconomicsinNorthAfrica
•Oil&naturalgasinLibya&Algeria• Phosphates (forfertilizer)inTunisia&Morocco• Egypt– moderntechnology&traditionalfarmingdonebyfellaheen (poorfarmers)• Largecitieshavesouks (traditionalopen-airmarkets)à• Cairo,Algiers,Casablanca
• TraditionalnomadicherdingisstilldonebyBerbersneartheSaharaDesert
ConflictsinSouthwestAsia&NorthAfrica
ConflictinSouthwestAsia:Afghanistan• Taliban– radicalMuslimgroupthatruledharshly&trainedterroriststoattacktheWest• OsamabinLaden– SaudiArabianmillionairewhorantheterroristgroupAl-Qaida• Responsibleforthe1998bombingsofUS’sKenya&Tanzaniaembassies,USshipinYemen,9/11/2001attacks
• After9/11,theTalibanhelpedhidebinLaden• TheUS&othercountriessenttroopstoattacktheTaliban&AlQaidatrainingcamps
ConflictinSouthwestAsia:Iran
•MostlyMuslim•1925- RuledbyaUS-supportedshah(dictator)•1979 – Revolutionreplacedtheshahwithanayatollah(Islamicleader)republic•1980-88– warwithIraqoveroillandsinIran• PutbothIran&Iraqintodebt
•Today– corruptMuslimextremistgovernmentthatmaysecretlybebuildingnuclearweapons&threateningIsrael&westernnationsw/terrorism
ConflictinSouthwestAsia:Iraq•1st PersianGulfWar,1991• IraqinvadedKuwaittotaketheiroil,sotheUSsenttroopsandtheUNimposedanembargo(traderestrictions)
•2nd PersianGulfWar,2003-2010• USthoughtSaddamHusseinwasmaking“weaponsofmassdestruction,”sotheUSinvadedtoremovehimfrompower• Kurds– separateethnicgroupwithnocountryoftheirown,manywerekilledbySaddamHussein
ConflictinNorthAfrica:Tunisia&TheArabSpring
•Dec.2010– AmaninTunisiaprotestedhismistreatmentbyoppressivegovernmentpolicebyself-immolation•Sparkedthe“ArabSpring” – protestsinseveralArabcountriestooverthrowdictatorships&demanddemocraticreform• Tunisia,Egypt,Libya,Yemen,Bahrain,Jordan,UAE,Syria
ConflictintheNorthAfrica:Egypt
• InFebruary2011,protestorsinCairo’sTahrirSquareforced30-yearpresidentHosniMubaraktostepdown•Hasbeenachallengetowriteanewconstitution(setofrulesforanewgovernment)•Western-styledemocracyorMuslimfundamentalism (beliefthatgov’tshouldbebasedonMuslimlaws)?
ConflictinNorthAfrica:Libya
•Muammaral-Gaddafià• Hadbeendictatorsince1969
•Gotridof“Westerninfluences”• Nojeans,bars,pants(forwomen)
•Builtupthemilitarytoattackitsneighbors•AllowedterrorismontheUSuntil1999• Libyanpeopledidnotgetashareofoilprofits!
ConflictinNorthAfrica:Libya• Libyanrebelsw/NATOairsupportfoughtan8-monthcivilwar beforecapturingandkillingGaddafiinOctober2011
ConflictinSouthwestAsia:Syria
•March2011:PeacefulproteststurnedintoarmedconflictwhenPresidentBasharAl-Assad’soppressivegovernmentcrackeddownwithviolence.•TofighttheSyriangovernment,rebelsformedtheFreeSyrianArmywithmanygroupsinvolved,someaffiliatedwithal-Qaida• 170,000dead&6.9millionsdisplacedfromtheirhomes(4millionasrefugees)• Aug2013:thegov’tusedchemicalweaponstokill1400civilians
ISIS:IslamicStateinIraq&Syria
• ExtremistgroupthattookoverterritoryinIraq&Syriain2014
• Usesbrutaltacticsto• controlitsterritory,ruling
withSharia(Islamic)law• trytouniteallMuslims• wagejihad(holywar)on
non-Muslimsaroundtheworld