1. A Geographic Profile of
THE MIDDLE EAST AND
NORTH AFRICA
Chapter 6

2. 6.1 Area and Population
 Middle East and North Africa
 “Middle East” is Eurocentric
 21 Countries, Palestinian Territories of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, and the disputed Western Sahara
 Area of 5.6 million square miles
 Population of 503 million people (2011)
 Turkey, Iran & Egypt each have more than 70 million people
 People locate where water is abundant in this arid region
 Region on the whole is 62% urban
 High rate of population growth across region
 Many oil-rich countries of the Gulf region have
more foreigners than citizens living in them

3. Middle East and North Africa

5. Comparison in Area and Latitude
Middle East & North Africa vs. Conterminous U.S.

6. Population Distribution

7. Population Cartogram

8. 6.2 Physical Geography & Human Adaptations
 Margins of region are oceans, seas, high
mountains, and deserts
 Atlantic Ocean to the west
 Sahara to the south
 Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the north
 Hindu Kush and Baluchistan Desert to the east
 Land composed of arid plains and plateaus
 Large areas of rugged mountains
 Isolated “seas” of sand

9. 6.2.1 Region of Stark Geographic Contrasts
 Climate
 Aridity
 75 percent of region receives < 10” of annual precipitation
 Higher precipitation around Mediterranean or up at elevation
 Strategies of drought avoidance and drought endurance
 Temperature
 Large daily and seasonal ranges
 Very hot days and surprisingly cool nights
 Summer relocation of government in Saudi Arabia
 Tectonic Processes
 Collision zones have resulted in mountain building
 Frequent earthquakes for places like Turkey, Iran,
and Afghanistan

10. Climate Types

11. Biome Types

12. Great Sand Sea in Egypt

13. Land Use

14. The Treasury at Petra, Jordan

15. Pontic Mountains in Turkey

16. Jordan Rift Valley From Space

17. Taurus Mountains of Turkey

18. Solar Boat of King Cheops

19. 6.2.2 Villager, Pastoral Nomad, Urbanite
 Middle Eastern Ecological Trilogy
 Villagers
 Subsistence farmers of rural areas where dry farming
or irrigation is possible
 Pastoral Nomads
 Desert peoples who migrate through arid lands with
livestock, following rainfall and vegetation patterns
 Urbanites
 Inhabitants of large towns and cities, generally located
near bountiful water sources

20. The Ecological Trilogy

21. 6.2.3 The Village Way of Life
 Historically, agricultural villagers represented the
majority populations in the region
 Villages located near reliable water sources with cultivable
lands nearby
 Production and consumption focus on a staple grain
 Reliance on nomads for pastoral produce
 Effects of exposure to outside influence
 Introduction of cash crops
 Improved and expanded irrigation
 Modern technology
 Rural-to-Urban Migration

22. 6.2.4 The Pastoral Nomadic Way of Life
 Pastoral Nomadism
 Emerged as offshoot of village agricultural way of life
 Vertical Migration in mountainous areas
 Horizontal Migration in flatter expanses
 Sedentarization (settling down) is a recent trend
 Nomads in region number estimated 5 to 13 million
 Identified by their tribe, not be their nationality

23. 6.2.5 The Urban Way of Life
 The city was the final component to
emerge in the ecological trilogy
 Mesopotamia, 4000 B.C.E.
 Egypt, 3000 B.C.E.
 Medina (classic Islamic city)
 High defensive wall
 Congregational mosque
 Administrative and educational complex
 Bazaar or Suq (Commercial Zone)
 Residential areas based on ethnicity,
not income
 Rural-to-Urban Migration
 New modern urban development in
oil-rich countries

24. Model of the Medina

25. Bazaar in Cairo, Egypt

26. Artificial Islands in Dubai, UAE

27. 6.3 Cultural & Historical Geographies
 Egypt and Mesopotamia are among the
world’s great culture hearths
 Language Families
 Afro-Asiatic Family
 Examples: Semitic (Arabic & Hebrew), Berber, and Bedawi
 Altaic Family (Turkic)
 Caucasian Family
 Indo-European Family (Farsi and Kurdish)
 Nilo-Saharan Family
 Religious Hearth
 Monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity & Islam

28. Languages of the Middle East & North Africa

29. Religions of the Middle East & North Africa

30. 6.3.1 The Promised Land of the Jews
 Judaism
 First significant monotheistic faith
 Practiced today by 14 million worldwide
 Torah is the Jewish holy scripture
 Unlike Christianity, Jesus not seen as a savior
 Ethnic, not proselytizing religion
 Western Wall (“Wailing Wall” to Jews) in Jerusalem
 The most sacred site in the world accessible to Jews

31. Holy Places in Jerusalem

32. 6.3.2 Christianity: Death & Resurrection in Jerusalem
 Christianity
 Offshoot of Judaism that emerged in Palestine
 Jesus Christ
 Born in Bethlehem around 4 B.C.E.
 His teachings denied validity of many Jewish
doctrines and protesters called for his death
 Jesus was put on trial, was found guilty of being a
claimant to Jewish kingship, and was crucified
 Christians believe Christ was resurrected from the
dead two days later and ascended into heaven
 Seldom has Christianity been majority religion in
the land where it was born
 Crusades (11th – 14th centuries)

33. Church of the Holy Sepulcher

34. 6.3.3 The Message of Islam
 Islam
 Monotheistic faith
 Dominant religion by far in Middle East & North Africa
 Prophet was Muhammad, who was from Mecca
 Qur’an is the holy book of Islam
 Five Pillars of Islam
 Profession of the faith
 Prayer five times daily toward Mecca
 Almsgiving
 Fasting during Ramadan
 Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca (Islam’s holiest city)

35. Great Mosque in Mecca

36. 6.4 Economic Geography
 Oil dominates the region’s economic geography
 Large reserves
 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
 Aim of taking joint action to demand higher profits
 Other resources include:
 Remittances
 Earned income sent home by guest workers
 Revenues from ship traffic through Suez Canal
 Exports of cotton, rice, and other commercial crops

37. 6.5 Geopolitical Issues
 Historically, region has been a geographic crossroads
 Geopolitical Interests
 Narrow Waterways
 Access to Oil
 Access to Freshwater
 Terrorism

38. 6.5.1 Chokepoints
 Chokepoints
 Strategic narrow passageways on land or sea that may
be easily closed off by force or even the threat of force
 Examples Links:
 Suez Canal Mediterranean & Red Seas
 Strait of Tiran Gulf of Aqaba & Red Sea
 Strait of Hormuz Persian Gulf & Arabian Sea
 Bab el-Mandeb Red Sea & Indian Ocean
 Bosporus Mediterranean & Black Seas
 Dardanelles Mediterranean & Black Seas
 Strait of Gibraltar Mediterranean Sea &
Atlantic Ocean

39. Chokepoints

40. History of War in the Suez Canal Zone

41. 6.5.2 Access to Oil
 Region’s oil is marketed primarily in western
Europe and Japan
 American Interest in Oil
 Support for Israel while courting Israel’s oil-rich enemies
 Carter Doctrine
 U.S. would use any means necessary to defend its vital
interests (i.e., Maintaining a secure supply of Gulf oil)
 Gulf War
 U.S. led coalition of Western and Arab allies against Iraq
 U.S. Invasion of Iraq in 2003
 About weapons of mass destruction or control of oil?

42. 6.5.3 Access to Freshwater
 Hydropolitics
 90 percent of usable freshwater in the region crosses
one or more international borders
 Role of water in Palestinian-Israeli conflict
 Water is a critical issue blocking a peace treaty
between Israel and Syria
 Nile Water Agreement
 Signed by 10 countries in 1926
 Guaranteed Egyptian access to water
 Many countries have defied the treaty in recent years
 Upstream country is usually able to maximize its
water use at expense of a downstream country

43. Water Developments in the Nile Basin

44. Waterfall on Tigris River in Turkey

45. 6.5.4 Terrorism
 Terrorists pursued by U.S. are Islamist militants
 Islamist Groups
 Hizbullah
 Hamas
 Islamic Salvation Front (FIS)
 Al-Qa’ida
 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
 2000 bombing of American destroyer U.S.S. Cole in Yemen
 September 11, 2001 - World Trade Center attacks
 Tiny minority of Muslims have carried out terrorist
actions that the great majority of Muslims
condemned

46. 6.6.1 Regional Issues and Landscapes:
Israel and Palestine
 Israel and Palestine (Arab-Israeli Conflict)
 One of the world’s most intractable disputes
 Primarily a conflict over ownership of land, but has far-
reaching repercussions throughout the rest of the world
 According to the UN, this conflict is the largest force
behind global tensions
 Resolution of this conflict would probably result in a more
peaceful world

47. The Middle East and North Africa in 1920
The victorious allies of World War I carved up the Middle East
among themselves. Growing difficulties of administration
would drive them from the region within a few decades.

48. 6.6.1 Regional Issues and Landscapes:
Israel and Palestine (continued)
 The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Political Geography
 Modern state of Israel carved from lands that have been
undetermined since the end of WWI
 Area was divided between British and French after defeat
of Ottoman Turks in WWI
 British withdrew in 1947, leaving the
UN to determine the region’s future
 UN responded with a 2-state solution
 Arab State (Palestine)
 Jewish State (Israel)
 Plan was flawed, leaving each
side feeling vulnerable

49. 6.6.1 Regional Issues and Landscapes:
Israel and Palestine (continued)
 Israel
 Declared itself into existence in May 1948
 Surrounding areas mobilized vs. Israel, but were defeated
 Through the defeat, Israel acquired its pre-1967 borders
 Boundary separating Israel from the West Bank later
became known as the ”Green Line”
 Important wars between Israel and Palestine:
 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War
 The Six-Day War of 1967
 The 1973 Arab-Israeli War
 Camp David Accords returned Sinai to Egypt
 United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338:
 Called on Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Territories

50. Palestinian Refugee Movements in 1948 and 1967

51. Zones of Control

52. 6.6.1 Regional Issues and Landscapes:
Israel and Palestine (continued)
 On the Brink of Peace
 In 2000, President Clinton attempted to broker a historic
peace, to include:
 The creation of an independent Palestinian country
 A “land swap”
 Peace talks broke down over the following issues:
 The status of Palestinian refugees abroad
 Control of historic city of Jerusalem, holy sites held by each side
 Within weeks of the breakdown of these peace talks, the
sides were again engaged in a state of war

53. 6.6.2 The Arab Spring: Beginnings
 The Beginning of the Arab Spring
 In a city in Tunisia on December 17, 2010, a vegetable
vendor named Muhammad Bouazizi was shaken down
after refusing to pay a bribe to a city inspector
 He was denied entry to the local governor’s office
when he went to lodge a complaint
 Later that day he returned to the governor’s office
and set himself on fire in the street
 News of his death spread quickly, and touched a nerve
with Tunisia’s largely young and disaffected population
 Jasmine Revolution
 Tunisian President Ben Ali’s own generals turned against
him, and his family was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia

54. 6.6.3 The Arab Spring: Egypt
 Contributing factors to revolution in Egypt:
 “People overpopulation”
 Youth Bulge: 60 percent of population under 25
 Unemployment and Underemployment
 Government repression
 The wide gap between the rich and the poor
 Inspired by the events of the Jasmine Revolution, the
people of Egypt rioted in Spring 2011
 Egyptian President Mubarak fled from Cairo, but was soon
imprisoned and put on trial

55. 6.6.4 The Arab Spring: Libya
 Libya
 Had been led by Muammar Qaddafi
 He favored tribes on the central coast and in the center and west
 Showed no favor to tribes in the eastern region
 Treated ethnic Berber tribes as second-class citizens
 Inspired by the Arab Spring, the Berbers and eastern tribes
rose up against him
 Qaddafi was captured and executed in October 2011

56. 6.6.5 The Arab Spring: Syria
 Syria
 A minority Shiite group (7% of population) ruled the
Sunni majority (74%)
 In 1982, an army assault against an uprising resulted in
tens of thousands of deaths
 After the January 2011 uprising began, the leaders again
opted for violence
 At least 7000 people have died

57. 6.6.6 The Arab Spring: Bahrain
 Bahrain
 Small oil-rich Gulf island linked to eastern Saudi Arabia
 Inspired by the Jasmine Revolution, the repressed Shiite
majority expressed a desire for democracy, public
participation, and justice to Sunni monarch
 King Khalifa ordered government forces to crush
rebellion, resulting in many casualties

58. 6.6.7 The Arab Spring: Yemen
 Yemen
 A beautiful but poor country located on Arabian Peninsula
 Loyalties are to clan and tribe, with no natural sense of
cohesion as a nation state
 Al-Qa’ida has a strong foothold
 Widespread revolt against ruler President Saleh inspired
by the Arab Spring
 After surviving assassination attempt, President Saleh
offered concessions to protestors and pleaded for them
to stop protesting
 The shabaab have ignored the president’s advice

59. 6.6.8 The Arab Spring:
Hallmarks of the Revolution
 Revolutions were much facilitated by social networking and
other social media
 The traditional geography of revolt in public spaces played a
prominent role
 Women had an unprecedented strong role in the Arab
Spring
 Traditional Islamic classification of sacred time played an
important part
 Religion and militant Islamism did not otherwise feature
prominently in the Arab Spring

60. 6.6.9 The Arab Spring: What Now?
 The “Arab Spring” has transitioned into an “autumn”,
a period of danger and uncertainty
 Concerns over what will replace the stability of the
region’s repressive, autocratic regimes
 Concerns over what will happen to countries yet to
overthrow their governments
 Divisiveness, polarization, and even violence based on
major faith, minority sect, and tribal affiliations

61. 6.6.10 The Arab Spring:
Involvement of the United States
 How much instability in this oil-rich region will the U.S.
tolerate without intervention?
 The U.S. has provided economic aid to countries such as
Egypt and Israel for some of the following reasons:
 To help maintain strategic and political interests
in the Middle East
 To prevent the ascendance of militant Islamists

62. 6.6.11 The Gulf Oil Region: Masdar
 Masdar (“The Source”)
 Futuristic city being planned in Abu Dhabi
 Goal of being “carbon-neutral”
 Energy to be provided by renewable resources
 Will be zero-waste, with everything recycled or reused
 Water provided by desalinization
 To be a “smart” city designed to attract scientists & visionaries
 GIS has been a very important tool in planning this city
 Global financial crisis has derailed construction schedule, but
tentative plan is that city will be open for settlement in 2015

63. 6.6.12 The Gulf Oil Region: Iraq and the US
 Iraq
 Known since ancient times
as Mesopotamia, “the land
between the rivers”
 Oil-rich country, but
has little coastline and
poor port facilities
 One reason behind wars
instigated by Iraq was a
desire to increase Gulf access
 Gulf War I
 Gulf War II

64. 6.6.13 The Gulf Oil Region: The Kurds
 The Kurds
 A mostly Sunni Muslim people of
Indo-European origin
 World’s largest ethnic group
without a country
 Largest non-Arab minority in Iraq
 Largest minority group in Turkey
 Turkish officials have long treated
the Kurds poorly
 Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)
 Largest Kurdish resistance
to Turkish rule

65. 6.6.14 The Gulf Oil Region: Iran
 The area of the Middle East
formerly known as Persia
 Tension between Iran and U.S.
escalated in 2005 when
Ahmadinejad became president
of Iran
 Historically, Iranians (Persians)
are also an enemy of Arabs
 Great deal of dislike between
Iran and neighbors Iraq and
Saudi Arabia

66. 6.6.15 Turkey
 Turkey
 Founder Mustafa Atatürk determined
to westernize Turkey, raising standard
of living and making it a strong and respected national state
 Only Muslim country in region to officially separate church and state
 Southeast Anatolia Project
 Agricultural effort to double the country’s irrigable farmland
 European or Great Middle Eastern Power?
 Is an “in-between” country, near line between MDCs and LDCs
 Culturally between traditional Islamic and secular European ways
of living, but aspires to become more European
 So far, Turkey has been blocked from membership in the EU
 Could seek alliances eastward in Russia, India, and China
 During Arab Spring of 2011, Turkey appealed to the U.S. to
recognize it, rather than Israel, as the best Middle Eastern ally