The Geography of the Middle East

Mountains and Plateaus

Mountains & Plateaus

Atlas Mts.

Elburz

Mts.

Taurus Mts.

Zagros Mts.

Iranian Plateau

AnatolianPlateau

Caucasus Mts.

Hejaz Mts.

Physical Geography of Northern Africa & Southwest Asia

• Mountains– Atlas Mountains in

Northern Algeria and Morocco

– Thorus Mts in Southern Turkey

– Elburz & Zagros Mts. In Iran

– Golan Heights in Israel

Physical Geography

• Plateaus - Anatolian Highland

• Peninsulas - Saudi Arabian, Suez

Sinai Peninsula

located between

Egypt and the Arabian

Peninsula

Asia Minor and Cyprus:

• Pontic Mountains north of North Anatolian Transform Fault

• Slippage and earthquakes (August 1999)• Taurus Mountains on southern side of

Asia Minor

Iranian Plateau and Ranges:• Compression, subduction between

Arabian plate and Iranian sub-plate• Creation of Zagros Mountains• Makran Range farther SE as uplifted crust• Up folding of Elburz Mountains and

Kopet Mountains between Iranian sub-plate and Eurasian plate

• Connected tectonic activity and volcanoes

Atlas Mountains• The Atlas Mountains of North Africa, the

physiographic base of the settled Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), are also a part of the Alpine System.

• The Atlas Mountains receive an average rainfall of 750 mm (30 inches), something unusual for this region.

• The role of altitude is clear. • Even 240 km (150 miles) into the interior, the

slopes of the Atlas receive more than 250 mm (10 inches) of rainfall.

Atlas Mountains Continued Separates the

northern moist Mediterranean climate from the arid south.

Middle East Mountains• Taurus

• Spreads across Turkey• Runs east-west along the northern edge of Turkey• Highest Point- Mt. Ararat-16, 583 ft., Biblical

historians believe Noah’s Ark landed here.• Zagros

• Extends through southwestern Iran, and through northern Iraq

• Highest point- ZardKuh, 14, 921 ft.

Mountain Ranges in Mid-East

Elburz Mts., Iran Zagros Mts., Iran

Lebanese Mts. Taurus Mts., Turkey

Anti-Taurus Mountains Taurus Mountains

Pontic Mounatins Elburz Mountains

Anatolian Plateau

• Fertile soil• Conducive (helpful) for farming

Iranian Plateau

• Very dry• Sparsely populated

Deserts

Deserts

Sahara Desert

ArabianDesert

NegevDesert

SinaiDesertLibyan Desert

Rubal-Khali

Physical Geography of Northern Africa & Southwest Asia

• Deserts• The Sahara

Desert • The Saudi

Arabian Desert• The Libyan

Desert• Negev Desert

Where is the driest desert?

24

Sandy Deserts • Rub al-Khali—Arabian Peninsula desert, known as the

Empty Quarter – 250,000 square miles, with dunes as high as 800 feet – 10 years can pass without rain – Nearby An-Nafud Desert contains the occasional oasis

-desert area where underground spring water supports vegetation

• Syrian Desert is between Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and the Fertile Crescent

• Israel’s Negev Desert produces crops through irrigation

Two ways of life—nomadic and sedentary—developed in the desert.

• Nomadic life- people moved from place to place within tribes for protection, and as the seasons changed.

• Sedentary- people settled in oases, where they could farm. These settlements often became towns.

• Towns became centers of trade. Many had a souk, a market or bazaar, where goods were traded.

Nomadic Life: Bedouins

• Many people in North Africa and the Middle East still live a nomadic lifestyle. Nomads live on the Arabian Peninsula and in the Sahara Desert.

• The deserts have also led to a way of life that developed around the need to survive in such harsh surroundings.– These people are known as “Bedouins” or desert

nomads– They survive and make a living by

• Living in tent camps• Surviving as sheep and camel herders• Trading animals and handmade goods

Desert Bedouins

Rub al-Khali:“The Empty Quarter”

Rub Al-Khali– Size of Texas– One of largest sandy deserts in

world• It is the largest area of

continuous sand in the world.– Surface temps, can reach 150°– Very Arid

• 10 years may pass w/out rain• No permanent streams exist

• The Rub 'al-Khali, or "Empty Quarter" is a large desert in Saudi Arabia. It is the largest area of continuous sand in the world.

• The climate is extremely arid. Few places receive more than 7 inches of rain a year,

and no permanent streams exist. Summer temperatures reach as high as 130° F in

some areas.

Arabian Peninsula

• Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Yemen

• Small population• Lack of water BUT lots and lots of oil!!!• Birthplace of Islam• Very dry, sandy, & windy

– Wadis- riverbeds that remain dry except for the rainy season.

The Arabian Peninsula is primarily steep and has a desert climate

Salt Deserts • In Iran, high mountains block rain; dry winds increase

evaporation• Loss of moisture in soil leaves chemical salts, creates a salt

flat (a flat expanse of land covered in salt and other minerals; usually shines white under the sun)

• Iran’s salt flat deserts: • Dasht-e Kavir in central Iran• Dasht-e Lut in eastern Iran

• Land is salt-crusted, surrounded by salt marshes, it’s very hot

• Almost uninhabited, it’s a barrier to easy travel across Iran

Iranian Salt Flat

Sahara desert:

The Sahara• The Sahara is the world’s largest desert, stretching 3.5

million square miles.• Very dry, so very few people live there

• Averages less than five inches of rain each year. • Temperatures there can run to the extreme

• freezing at night • Can be more than 130 degrees Fahrenheit at the peak of

day. • Nearly every settlement in the Sahara is located near an

oasis, a wet and fertile area in a desert where a spring or well provides water.

• Common features in the Sahara include broad gravel plains, tall sand dunes, and dry streambeds.

Sahara Desert Location

• Atlantic Ocean on the west• Atlas Mountains and the

Mediterranean Sea on the north• Red Sea and Egypt on the east• Sudan and the valley of the Niger River on the south.

Breeding Areas of Desert Locusts

Swarms of Desert Locusts!

Locusts Swarm the Pyramids Complex at

Giza!

Israel Hit By Worst Locust Plague

Since the 1950s!

Sahel:

- Area separating the Sahara from the tropical rainforest of Africa.

Completed Map

TigrisRiver

Nile River

EuphratesRiverJordan

River Persian Gulf

ArabianSea

Mediterranean Sea

IndianOcean

Red Sea

Black Sea

Gulf of Aden

Strait ofHormuz

Suez Canal

Dardanelles Strait

AtlanticOcean

Gulf ofOman

Caspian Sea

ArabianDesert

NegevDesert

SinaiDesert

Rubal-Khali

Atlas Mts.

Elburz

Mts.

Taurus Mts.

Zagros Mts.

Iranian Plateau

AnatolianPlateau

Caucasus Mts.

Hejaz Mts.Sahara Desert

Libyan Desert

The Natural Resources of the

Middle East

Major Resources of the Middle East

• Petroleum• Water• Cotton• Natural Gas• Coal• Iron

Oil

Oil• Oil is certainly the most important resource of North Africa and

Southwest Asia.• Deposits are concentrated around the Persian Gulf. It is the most

economically important export of the realm.• Between 1994-1996, on average, these countries together produced

28.0 percent of the world’s total output. • Saudi Arabia ranked as the world’s leading producer with 13.1 percent

followed by: Iran with 5.8 percent; the United Arab Emirates with 3.6 percent; Kuwait with 3.3 percent; and Libya with 2.2 percent (Table 6.2).

• Additional detailed statistics on the world’s leading oil countries are shown in Table 6.3.

• In 1997, the world estimates in petroleum reserves were 1,160,069,500,000,000 barrels.

• These countries collectively account for 56.3 percent of the world's total reserves. Saudi Arabia has 22.6 percent, Iraq 9.7 percent, Kuwait 8.2 percent, Iran 7.8 percent, U.A.E. 5.5 percent, and Libya 2.5 percent.

Oil

• Petroleum- remains of plants & animals, formed from pressure & heat over millions of years.– Oil is not in big pools under

the ground, it is trapped in the pores of rocks.

– Taken out of ground by pressure

• Economy– oil dominated industry

• Crude Oil- unprocessed petroleum• Refinery- converts crude oil into

useful products like gasoline & kerosene

Oil Industries• Disputes over access to other natural resources, like

oil, also cause conflict. • The Persian Gulf has the largest source of oil in the

world.• The countries that border the Persian Gulf also have

a large oil industry.• Many wars have been fought over oil in Southwest

Asia. • These wars have had a major impact on the

environment.

Oil Reserves vs. Economy• The Southwest Asian countries with the largest reserves of

natural gas and oil are:– Saudi Arabia– Iran– Iraq – Kuwait

• These countries have seen tremendous growth in national wealth and an improved standard of living in the past 50 years.

• Some other countries have smaller reserves, especially around the Arabian Gulf.

• Those countries without the reserves have had a much harder time improving living conditions for their people.

• This difference has lead to much conflict.

World Oil Reserves

Oil Transport

How are oil and gas transported?

Saudi Pipeline

Oil Tanker (Knock Nevis)

OPEC• In 1960, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia

founded OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) in an effort to dictate oil prices.

• Later additions included Algeria, Ecuador, Nigeria, Gabon, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Libya.

• This 13-member cartel was designed to control world pricing and production of a single commodity, oil.

• Currently, OPEC has 11 members after the withdrawal of Ecuador and Gabon.

OPEC

Problems with unequal oil distribution:

• Oil producing country (OPEC) can raise prices, and cut off oil supply

• Oil spills

These 12 countries (from 3 different continents) produce 1/3 the world’s oil and set the price of oil

Members:Algeria Iran IraqKuwait Qatar Saudi ArabiaLibya Nigeria United Arab EmiratesEcuador Venezuela Angola

Top five oil producing countries:-Saudi Arabia-Iraq-Kuwait-Iran-United Arab Emirates

Top Oil Consuming Countries

-United States -Russia-Japan -Germany

-China

Importance of Oil• Oil is one of the most important and valuable natural

resources in the Middle East.• Oil and natural gas are considered fossil fuels which means

they were created centuries ago.• They are also non-renewable natural resources which means

they cannot be replaced• Most of the world’s industrial nations depend on a steady

supply of both resources• The US imports over half of its supply, almost 18 million

barrels every day.

Importance of Oil• For this reason, countries in the Middle East have a

steady market for all the oil and natural gas they produce.– Saudi Arabia and Iran are two of the world’s

largest suppliers / producers of oil. • Over half of the world’s known supply comes

from them.– Israel has very few natural resources and

practically no oil. • They have a high industrial economy, so the

world price of oil has a huge impact on their economy.

Oil in War• During the first Gulf War, Iraq used pollution

as a strategy for fighting. • Iraqi soldiers dumped over 300 gallons of oil

into the Persian Gulf. • They also burned hundreds of oil wells in

order to keep the U.S. from taking control of their oil industry.

Persian Gulf War Over Oil• Much of the oil refining machinery in Iraq was badly

damaged in the Persian Gulf War, in 1991. • The Iraqi government did not repair the equipment

that makes refining oil safer for the environment. • For years, pollution from Iraqi oil refineries leaked

into the water supply and in the air. • Today, the Iraqi oil industry is not productive because

of the current war in Iraq. • However, many of Iraq’s oil refineries were destroyed

and burned during the war, so that the air was polluted.

Where America gets Oil

Saudi Arabia• Have a proven 200 year

reserve.• The Saudi Government

could purchase the entire National Football League (contracts, salaries, stadiums, etc.) with 6 weeks of their oil reserves.

Reserves• Until the Gulf War, Kuwait had a 21 billion-

barrel proven reserve.• Iraq has a 7 billion barrel proven reserve.

THE IMPACT OF OIL

• HIGH INCOMES

• MODERNIZATION

• INDUSTRIALIZATION

• REGIONAL DISPARITIES

• FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Oil Pollution• Oil is the basis of most of the economy of the Middle

East, but pollution from the oil industry is one of the biggest threats to its environment.

• This pollution endangers the water supply in particular.

• Since there is not much fresh water in the region, these environmental problems directly affect the lives of Middle Easterners.

Oil Pollution• For years, pollution from Iraqi oil refineries

leaked into the water supply and in the air. • Today, the Iraqi oil industry is not productive

because of the current war in Iraq. • However, many of Iraq’s oil refineries were

destroyed and burned during the war, so that the air was polluted.

• Oil Spills are a risk when transporting oil in narrow straits or around reefs– Largest in U.S. History is the

Exxon Valdez spill in 1989

INCOME LEVELS

The Oil Curse• The “Resource Curse”

– Prone to authoritarian rule, slow growth, corruption and conflict.– Resources used to finance armies, corruption and patronage.– Oil is a good example.

• Modernization– High incomes.– Industrialization.– Regional and national disparities (oil wealth distribution).

• Migration– Brought populations from outside the realm.

• Foreign incursions

What is done with Oil Wealth?• Oil rich nations typically provide healthcare and improved

schooling.• However those segments of the population not employed in

the oil industry tend to have lower standards of living.

Girls school in Saudi Arabia Bedouin in

S.Arabia

Saudi Oil Fields & Refineries

Kuwait: An Island Floating on a Sea of Oil

Kuwait

City