Chapter 11

Lands and People of Southwest Asia

Lesson 1 Location and Landforms

Essential Questions

• What has contributed to the diverse cultures of Southwest Asia?

Lesson 1 Location and Landforms

Key Terms• Relief

• Strait

Lesson 1 Location and Landforms

Introduction• Today, as in ancient times, Southwest

Asia is an important region.

• It is the birth place of Judaism, Christianty, and Islam.

• It has the largest oil reserves in the world.

What is Southwest Asia

• Southwest Asia is not a separate continent but a corner of the enormous Asian continent

• It is surrounded by five bodies of water- the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, Arabian, and the Red Sea.

• Most people who live here are Muslim. • There are a few Christians and Jew that

live here.

What is Southwest Asia

• There are 15 countries that are apart of Southwest Asia- Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Republic of Cyprus.

What is Southwest Asia

• Southwest Asia links Europe, Africa and Asia together

• Trades crossed the region, spreading goods and ideas

• Invaders from all directions conquered it. Each group left its cultural “footprint.”

• Modern Southwest Asia is still a crossroads for trade

What is Southwest Asia

• A Strait is a narrow waterway that connects two larger bodies of water.

• The Red Sea and Suez Canal are important sea lanes

Landforms

• Many think of Southwest Asia as one large desert but in fact it as many different types of landforms.

• Turkey and Iran have the highest mountains.

• Mountains affect movement and communication

Landforms

• Mountains also affect the Southwest Asia’s environment

• Relief is the elevations of land surface

• Like mountains, deserts discourage the movement of people because of the lack of water

• Instead people took routes that they could find water

Landforms

• Lack of moisture has made fresh water, especially from rivers, enormously important to Southwest Asia

• The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers embrace a region that the ancient Greeks called Mesopotamia

• These rivers played a key role in the birth of some of the world’s earliest civilizations

The Three Subregions

• Southwest Asia has three subregions- the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Northern Tier of non-Arab nations

• The Middle East was a name first used first used by Europeans for lands lying in between Europe and distant parts of the world

The Three Subregions

The Middle East includes Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian National Authority

The second subregion is the Arabian Peninsula and it includes Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait

The third subregion is the Northern Tier and it includes Turkey, Iran, and Cyprus

Lesson 2 Climates and Resources

Essential Questions• What two natural resources have been

major forces in shaping Southwest Asia? How?

Lesson 2 Climates and Resources

Key Terms

• Aquifers

• Deforestation

• Depleted

• Wadis

Lesson 2 Climates and Resources

Introduction

• What is the most important resource of Southwest?

• Americans say Oil

• People of the region say Water

Varied Climates

• We often picture Southwest Asia as a hot, dry, region.

• Large areas are indeed dry, yet climates in the region vary greatly.

• Rainfall is partly controlled by wind patterns.

Varied Climates

• Deeper in Southwest Asia’s interior, the amount of moisture that will be carried by the winter winds is harder to predict

• One year may be good rain then the next few years there my be no or little rain

• Elevation, nearness to the sea, and wind patterns also affect climate.

Climate & Agriculture

• Today, and throughout history, rainfall has affected where people settled in Southwest Asia.

• Civilizations arose in river valleys that had ample water supply

• Agriculture thrived in moist areas along the rainy Mediterranean coast

Oil Wealth

• Much of the world’s supply is from Southwest Asia

• Most of these nations are located in the desert lands around the Persian Gulf

• The countries that have the most of oil are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, and Iran

• Modern Southwest Asia is largely divided between nations with and without oil

The Key Resource

• Because of the arid climate, water is a scarce and valuable resource in Southwest Asia

• There are a few fresh water springs in the area

• Wadis are dry streambeds found throughout desert region

Other Resources

• Many natural resources have been depleted.

• Depleted means exausted

• Deforestation is the removal of the forest from a area

• Minerals have been depleted too

Lesson 3 People and Their Environment

• Essential QuestionHow are the language and customs of the

people of Southwest Asia a gift from other civilization?

Lesson 3 People and Their Environment

Key Terms• Desalination• Fertigation• Holocaust• Sects

Who is an Arab?

• Almost 75 percent of the people in Southwest Asia are Arabs.

• Today, Arabs are people in different countries who share common culture and language.

• Some Arabs are Christian or Jews.

Diversity

• Migration and conquest contributed to the diversity of Southwest Asia.

• Iran and Turkey have the largest population but they are non-Arab countries

• Southwest Asia has less languages then Africa.

• There are around 25 different languages spoke in Southwest Asia

Religions

• About 90 percent of the people in Southwest Asia are Muslim

• They are divided into two main sects, or groups, Sunni and Shiite

• Some countries have Christians too.

• They are divided into different churches, like Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and various Protestant groups

Religions

• For centuries, Jews were persecuted in Europe

• During WW II, millions were killed in a mass murder, or Holocaust, carried out by Nazi Germany

• In 1948, Israel was formally established as a Jewish homeland in Palestine

Adapting to the Land

• Early on, the people of Southwest Asia adapted to the varying climates and Landforms

• Some of the land was not fit for humans and is still remains uninhabited

• They have two kinds of land, sown land and desert land

Village Farmers

• Sown land is found mostly in plains and river valleys, on mountainsides and upland, and where some rain falls

• Desalination involes changing salty sea water into freshwater that can be used for drinking and irrigation

• Fertigation is feeding water and fertilizer directly to the roots of crops