Chapter 23 Section 3 Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq
Dec 18, 2015
Syria Always been a prosperous land Damascus (Capital) Farmlands
• Cotton, wheat, fruit, and vegetables• Methods are OUTDATED
1/3 of country is irrigated Rainfall is unreliable People are moving to the cities and giving up farming
Government Response• Building Dams• Problems with Turkey and dams up river
Syria cont… 1970 General Hafez al-Assad takes
power• Makes ALL political and economic decisions
2000 his son Bashar Assad takes over• Begins to reform
Market-based economy system Pressure from the U.S. gets him to pull out from
Lebanon in 2005
Iraq Fertile Crescent and Civilization
• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers• Grow grains, fruits, and vegetables
Oil discovery in 1920’s• Spent billions of dollars to develop the
country• Airports, roads, schools, universities,
hospitals, dams, industry, and rebuilt ancient city of Baghdad
Iraq cont… Series of Conflicts
• Saddam Hussein• Iran-Iraq War, 1980
Both sides severely damaged – huge debt
• Persian Gulf War, 1991 Invasion of Kuwait for oil reserves
• Iraqi Freedom, 2003 Threat to “National Security” Removal of Saddam and start of Democracy