Physical Middle East

1. The Middle EastThe Middle East
Physical Landscape and The
People

2. Physical Middle EastPhysical Middle East
•Also known as “Southwest Asia”
•Sometimes also includes North Africa
•Islam
•Arabic language
•Oil

3. Physical Middle EastPhysical Middle East

4. •A crossroads of civilization
–Africa, Asia, and Europe are connected
through trade routes
•Migrating people spread ideas, inventions, etc.
•Culture originating in the Middle East
•Iron making
•Alphabet
•Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Physical Middle EastPhysical Middle East

5. Physical Middle EastPhysical Middle East

6. •The Middle East is also important to the
world for economic reasons
•Control of important sea routes
•Control of large oil reserves
Physical Middle EastPhysical Middle East

7. •Five major regions
1.Northern Tier
2.Arabian Peninsula
3.Fertile Crescent
4.Nile Valley
5.The Maghreb
Major RegionsMajor Regions

8. 1.Northern Tier
–Turkey to Iran (pg. 552)
–Mountains and plateaus
–Diverse:
•Anatolian Plateau in
Turkey: fertile soil, large
population
•Iranian Plateau: dry,
small population
Major RegionsMajor Regions

9. 1.Arabian Peninsula
–Large plateau
–Largest country: Saudi
Arabia
–Small population:
–Lack of water
–Oasis: fertile desert area
that has enough water
to support life
–Large amounts of oil
–Birthplace of Islam
Major RegionsMajor Regions

10. 1.Fertile Crescent
–Eastern Mediterranean
to the Persian Gulf
–Rich soil, abundant
water
–Major population center
–Hotspot for early
civilizations
–Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
Major RegionsMajor Regions

11. 1.Nile Valley
–Important historical
connections between the
people of Egypt and the
people of the Fertile
Crescent
•Judaism
Major RegionsMajor Regions

12. 1.The Maghreb
–North Africa: Algeria,
Tunisia, Morocco
–Arab armies carried Islam
to North Africa in the
600s AD
–Sahara Desert, Atlas
Mountains
–Most people live along
the coast, where there
is more rain
Major RegionsMajor Regions

13. Climate and Resources
•Nearly all of the region is desert
•Lack of water caused some adaptations
•Building of irrigation systems
•Desalination: taking the salt out of sea water to
make it drinkable

14. Climate and Resources
•Oil
–Most valuable resource in the Middle East
–Problem: unevenly distributed

16. The People
•Ethnic diversity
–Arab: anyone whose native language is
Arabic
•Majority of people in Middle East are Arab
–Turks, Iranians, Kurds

17. The People
•Religious Diversity
–Islam is the majority religion
–Most Arabs are Muslim
–Christianity, Judaism
•Judaism is the most ancient of the three
religions from the region

18. Review
•The Middle East is a crossroads
•Five Major Regions:
–Northern Tier, Arabian Peninsula, Fertile
Crescent, Nile Valley, The Maghreb
•Resources: Oil
•Vocabulary:
–Southwest Asia, oasis, desalination, Arab,

19. Early Civilizations
•You will be assigned a section of the
text to read.
•Your objective is to fill in the chart on
the board with information from your
section of the textbook.