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11© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 7: Southwest Asia and North Africa
FIGURE 7.1
22© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Learning Objectives
• Learn about the historical roots of Southwest Asia and North Africa, including religious significance
• Understand the role of Islam in shaping the history and current political situation in this region
• Understand the role of oil and water in shaping this region• Become familiar with the physical, demographic, cultural,
political, and economic characteristics of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SW Asia and N Africa)
• Understand these concepts and models:− Exotic rivers− Hajj− Islamic fundamentalism− Monotheism− Ottoman Empire
− OPEC− Levant and Maghreb− Pastoral Nomadism− Theocratic state− Transhumance
33© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Setting the Boundaries
• Sometimes called the Middle East (a European perspective)• Region is generally arid, Muslim, and rich in oil (but this is not
true of all countries in the region)• This region is a culture hearth: cultural innovations that
subsequently diffuse to other parts of world began here• Development of petroleum industry has had large impact on
the region– OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries):
member countries profoundly influence global prices and production targets for petroleum
• Islamic fundamentalism: aspect of Islam that advocates return to more traditional practices, calls for merger of civil and religious authority, and challenges encroachment of global popular culture
44© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Environmental Geography: Life in a Fragile World
• A long history of human settlement in has left its mark on the environment in the region– Deforestation and
overgrazing– Salinization of soils
caused by centuries of irrigation
FIGURE 7.4 Environmental IssuesFIGURE 7.5 Socotra’s Dragon’s Blood Tree
55© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
FIGURE 7.6Hydropolitics in
Jordan River Basin
FIGURE 7.7Saudi Arabian Irrigation
Hydropolitics: interplay of water resource issues and politics
– Iran’s qanat system and Libya’s “Great Man-Made River” tap groundwater – Egypt’s Aswan High Dam generates electricity– Israel’s “Peace Corridor” will bring water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea
Managing Water
66© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Regional Landforms
• SW Asia is more mountainous than N Africa
FIGURE 7.1 Southwest Asia and North Africa
– North Africa• Maghreb (“West Island”): Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia; the Atlas
Mountains of Southwest Asia• Levant: eastern Mediterranean region of SW Asia mountains
and highlands• Anatolia: peninsula of Turkey
(“Asia Minor”), geologicallyactive plateau
• Mesopotamia: in Iraq, betweenthe Tigris and Euphrates rivers
77© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Patterns of Climate
• Climate region is complex because of altitude and latitude– Large portions of region are arid– Deserts stretch from the Atlantic
Coast across Africa, through Arabian Peninsula, into central and eastern Iran
Arid Iran (Figure 7.12)
FIGURE 7.12 Arid Iran FIGURE 7.14 Nile Valley
88© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Patterns of Climate (cont.)
FIGURE 7.11 Climate Map
– Mediterranean climates in the Atlas Mountains and the Levant coastline are caused by both altitude and latitude
FIGURE 7.8 Atlas Mountains
99© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Population and Settlement: Patterns in an Arid Land
• The geography of population–More than 400 million people in the region
– Physiological densities are among the highest on Earth
– Physiological density: the number of people per unitof arable (farm) land
1010© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Population and Settlement: Patterns in an Arid Land (cont.)
FIGURE 7.15 Population
– Dry areas are sparsely settled; moist lands may be overpopulated
– Population clusters: (1) Maghreb: moister areas of Atlas Mountains and coastal regions (2) Nile Valley
FIGURE 7.13 Algerian Orange Harvest
1111© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Water and Life: Rural Settlement Patterns
– Domestication: plants and animals are selectively bred for desirable characteristics; domestication began in this region 10,000 years ago
– Fertile Crescent: ecologically diverse zone from Levant through fertile hill country of northern Syria into Iraq
– Pastoral nomadism• Traditional form of subsistence
agriculture that depends on seasonal movement of livestock
– Transhumance: seasonal movement of livestock from winter to summer pastures
FIGURE 7.2Man at Livestock Market, United Arab Emirates
1212© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Water and Life: Rural Settlement Patterns (cont.)
– Oasis life• Areas where high groundwater or deep-water wells
provide reliable moisture (small agricultural settlements or densely settled trade centers)
– Exotic river: a river that comes from a humid area and flows into a dry area that otherwise lacks streams; used for irrigation
• Kibbutz: collectively worked settlement that produces grain, vegetable, and orchard crops, irrigated by the Jordan River and feeder canals
FIGURE 7.18 Oasis Agriculture in Morocco
1313© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Water and Life: Rural Settlement Patterns (cont.)
• The challenge of dryland agriculture
FIGURE 7.17 Agricultural Regions
–Depends on seasonal moisture, precipitation
–Mostly in Mediterranean area (see map)
–Crops: tree crops, livestock, grains, illegal hashish
1414© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Many-Layered Landscapes: Urban Imprint
• Some of the world’s oldest urban areas are in this region– A long urban legacy
• Earliest cities in Mesopotamia (Eridu and Ur, 3500 BCE) and Egypt (Memphis and Thebes, 3000 BCE)
• Rise of trade centers around 2000 BCE• Centers of Islamic religious administration and education
– Medina: the urban core of a traditional Islamic city has a centralmosque and bazaar
• Colonialism left Europeaninfluence
FIGURE 7.20Fes, Morocco Shown is the commercial district.
1515© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Signatures of Globalization
• Urban centers have become focal points of economic growth (Cairo, Algiers, Istanbul)
• Oil wealth has added modern element to traditional cities (e.g., Dubai)
FIGURE 7.21 Modern Doha, Qatar
1616© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
A Region on the Move
• Migration streams– Rural-to-urban migration– Outmigration from Iraq because of war
• 10 percent of population have left– Job-related migration within the region
• More than 75 percent of Saudi Arabia’s workers are foreign– Immigration of low-wage workers from other regions – Emigration of workers from
the region• 2.7 million Turkish guest
workers went to Germany• Algerians and Moroccans
went to FranceFIGURE 7.22 Labor Camp in Shariah City, United Arab
Emirates Shown are South Asian workers.
1717© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Shifting Demographic Patterns
• Population growth rates vary within the region– Women in are having fewer children
• Causes: delayed marriage, family planning initiatives, greater urbanization; rising consumer orientation
• Tunisia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt
– High rates of natural increase in West Bank, Gaza, and Yemen
• Increasing population strains cities, water supplies, public services, job availability
FIGURE 7.23 Egypt’s Changing Population Shown are data for 2000 and 2050 (projected).
1818© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: Signatures of Complexity
• Patterns of religion– Hearth of the Judeo-Christian tradition
• Jews and Christians trace their rootsto the eastern Mediterranean
• Monotheism: belief in one God– The emergence of Islam
• Originated in Southwest Asia in 622 CE• In the Judeo-Christian tradition: shares
prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus
• Qur'an (Koran); Islamic book of revelations received by Muhammad from Allah (God)
• Islam means “submission to the will of God”
FIGURE 7.25Pilgrimage to Makkah
1919© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
FIGURE 7.26 Modern Religions
• Schism in Islam– Shiite Muslims favored passing power within Muhammed’s
family– Sunni Muslims favored passing power through established
clergy; most Muslims are Sunni
– Iran is an Islamic theocracy
• Theocratic state: state where religious leaders (ayatollahs) guide policy
Patterns of Religion
2020© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Patterns of Religion (cont.)
– Modern religious diversity• Muslims are majority in region, except for Israel and
Cyprus– Sunni (73 percent)– Shiites (23 percent); majority in Iran, southern Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Bahrain
• Sufism (mystic form of Islam) in region’s margins• Druze (spin-off of Shi’a Islam) in Lebanon and Syria
FIGURE 7.27 Old Jerusalem
2121© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
FIGURE 7.24 Diffusion of Islam
Patterns of Religion (cont.)
– The expansion of the Ottoman Empire helped to spread Islam– Ottoman Empire: vast empire of Turks; it included most of
Southwest Asia and North Africa, as well as southeastern Europe (circa 1453)
2222© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Geographies of Language
FIGURE 7.28 Modern Languages
• Semites and Berbers– Arabic and Hebrew (Semite)– Berber in Atlas Mountains and Sahara
• Persians and Kurds – Indo-European languages– Persian In Iran– Kurdish in northern Iraq, NW Iran, eastern Turkey
• The Turkish imprint– Altaic language: more Turkic speakers in Central Asia (Chapter 10)
2323© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Regional Cultures in Global Context
• Islamic internationalism– Islamic communities are well established in central
China, European Russia, central Africa, southern Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, elsewhere
– Muslim congregations are expanding in western Europe and North America
• Globalization and cultural change– Global economy is having impact
on traditional cultural values• Fundamentalism is a reaction
– Access to satellite TV, cell phones, Internet bring global culture to theregion FIGURE 7.29
Kurdish Family in Eastern Turkey
2424© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Geopolitical Framework: Never-Ending Tensions
• The colonial legacy• European colonialism after World War I
– Dominance of Ottoman Empire (1550–1850)– Many political boundaries set by colonial powers
• Imposing European power• French in Algeria since 1800, later in Tunisia, Morocco,
Syria and Lebanon• Britain in Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf by 1900
– Suez Canal: British-engineered canal linking Mediterranean and Red seas in 1869
– European banks influenced Egyptian economy– British instrumental in establishing Saudi Arabia
• Italians in Libya, Spanish in Morocco• Turkey, Iran (Persia) never occupied
2525© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Decolonization and Independence
• Europeans began to withdraw before World War II– By 1950 most countries independent
– Algeria independent in 1962
• Modern geopolitical issues– Across North Africa
• Libya formerly a problem; since 2004 moving toward cooperation, including disarmament
• Islamist movements in Algeria and Egypt
• Sudan had north (Islamist) versus south (Christian and animist) war in 1990s; now has conflict between nomadic Arabs and black African sedentary farmers in the Darfur region
2626© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Modern Geopolitical Issues
• The Arab–Israeli conflict– Creation of Israel in 1948– Three wars: 1956, 1967 (when Israel gained most land), 1973– Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements (ongoing) • Israel’s construction of wall around settlements is a new source of tension; contributes to economic woes of Palestinians
FIGURE 7.32Evolution of Israel
FIGURE 7.33West Bank
2727© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Modern Geopolitical Issues (cont.)
• Iraq’s political evolution– Iraq was born in colonial era:
carved from British Empire, 1932
– Multiethnic: Shi’a Arabs, Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Marsh Arabs
– U.S. troops in Iraq (since 2003)
FIGURE 7.36Multicultural Iraq
2828© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Modern Geopolitical Issues (cont.)
• Instability in Saudi Arabia
• Iranian geopolitics
– Saud family (conservative monarchy) controls country– No democratic reforms– Home to radical Wahhabi Muslims (15 of 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi)– Foreign workers, U.S. military presence
– Islamic Revolution 1978– Supports other Shi’a Islamists– Oil and gas reserves– Nuclear development– Reformers among Iran’s educated middle class
FIGURE 7.30 Geopolitical Issues
2929© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Economic and Social Development: Lands of Wealth and Poverty
• The geography of fossil fuels– Oil unevenly distributed in the
area
• This region has 7 percent of the world’s population, 61 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves
• Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE, Libya, Algeria have much
• Israel, Jordan, Lebanon have none
FIGURE 7.37 Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas
Production and Reserves
3030© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Regional Economic Patterns
• Higher-income oil exporters– Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE– Not all benefit, e.g., rural Shiite Muslims and foreign
workers do not– Recent economic downturn caused oil prices to drop
• Lower-income oil exporters– Algeria: oil and natural gas are its top exports, but
political instability remains a problem– Iran: has huge oil reserves, but long war with Iraq
(1980–1990) and withdrawal from world trade lowered living standards
– Iraq struggling to get its oil industry back on track
3131© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Regional Economic Patterns (cont.)
• Prospering without oil– Israel has highest living standard in the region
– Turkey has a diversified economy; has seen growth; 35 percent still employed in agriculture
– Economic reforms in Tunisia
– Lebanon has potential for prosperity through tourism and telecommunications
FIGURE 7.38 Israeli High-Tech Industry
3232© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Regional Patterns of Poverty (cont.)
– Sudan’s economy ruined by civil war, political instability
– Egypt’s prospects unclear, with growth in 1990s, but many are still poor, with a large gap between rich and poor
• Brain drain: phenomenon in which some of brightest young people leave for better jobs in western Europe
– Yemen is poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, with marginal subsistence farming and widespread unemployment
– Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza: political disruptions discourage investment; Israel has destroyed infrastructure; two-thirds of Palestinians live in poverty; unemployment above 40 percent
3333© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Development Indicators
3434© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
A Woman’s Changing World
• World’s lowest female workforce participation; large gaps between male and female literacy
• More orthodox Islamic countries limit female participation– In Saudi Arabia, women are not permitted to drive– Women in Iran wear head scarves (but may also wear Western-style fashions)
• Educational opportunities for women are increasing – Some classrooms segregated by gender
FIGURE 7.40 Women in the Workforce in Algeria
3535© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Global Economic Relationships
• OPEC’s changing fortunes– OPEC no longer controls oil and gas prices globally but
still influences availability and cost– Saudi Arabia still dependent on oil and gas
• 90 percent of exports are crude oil shipments (70 percent) or refined petrochemical products (20 percent)
– Recession of 2008–2009 caused drop in oil prices• Regional and international linkages
– Turkey asks to join European Union, but the going is slow– Arab League formed in 1945– Greater Arab Free Trade Area (2005) to spur cooperation– Islamic Development Bank; Arab Fund for Economic and
Social Development
3636© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Global Economic Relationships (cont.)
• The geography of tourism– Ancient historical sites and globally significant
religious localities are a large draw
– Tourist hotels and condos on the Mediterranean
– Ecotourism
– Tourism is a large part of the regional economy in Turkey, Israel, and Egypt
– Impacts to visual landscape, physical environment, and archeological sites
3737© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
Summary
• Southwest Asia and North Africa have played a critical role in world history and globalization
• Important culture hearth and religious center• Oil plays world role• Political conflicts disrupt economic development• Tension between modern ways and fundamentalist
traditions