Geography of the Arabian Peninsula

The Four Geographic Regions of the Arabian

Peninsula

• The Desert• Oases• Coastal Plain• Mountains

The Desert

The Desert• The desert

climate is extreme.

• Rainfall is less than 10 inches per

year.

The Desert• Summer

temperatures can exceed 120 degrees in the

shade.

• Winter temperatures

can drop below freezing.

• Extremes prevent the

development of a solid cover of

vegetation.

• Winds create dunes reaching 500 feet high.

The Desert

The Desert• Arabian deserts

contain wells of salty water, low

shrubs, and clumps of tough

grass.

• This provides good grazing for camels,

sheep, goats, and jackrabbits.

• Most of the land of the

Arabian peninsula is

desert.

• This provides a natural barrier from foreign

conquest.

The Desert

An Oasis

An Oasis• An oasis is a

fertile place in the desert

where a spring or a

well provides a

water supply.

An Oasis• Main source of life-giving water

and green pastures for camel

herds and other grazing animals.

• Nomads travel from oasis to oasis seeking pastures

for camels to graze.

An Oasis• Vegetation in

oases consisted of date palms, orchard and

ground crops such as myrrh and frankincense.

• Spices were used for religious,

medicinal, sanitary and cosmetic

purposes.

Oases• Also became trading centers.

• Nomads bought camel meat and milk.

• Also traded were spices,

perfumes, precious

metals, ivory and silk.

•Another thing that was traded

was ideas.

Coastal Plain

Coastal Plain• A coastal plain is level

land extending

along a coast.

• It separates a plateau from

the sea.

Coastal Plain• The coastal plain of the

Arabian Peninsula is more humid

than the interior due

to its proximity to

the sea.

A City on the Coastal Plain• The Arabian Peninsula has a few

deep harbors to encourage seafaring but not one river to provide interior

transport and communication.

People of the Coastal Plain• People living

on the coastal plain became

effective traders.

• Most of the trading cities are located along the

coastal plain.

• The coastal plain of Arabia has one major

advantage over the other

geographical areas: RICH

AGRICULTURE.

• This region contains most of

the cultivated land of

the peninsula.

Advantages of the Coastal Plain

• Crops included: coffee, grains,

and fruits.

• This cultivation, along with

trading, allowed people to develop complex

civilizations.

Advantages of the Coastal Plain

Mountains

Mountains

• Mountains stretch

along the coast of the

Arabian Peninsula about 50

miles from the sea.

Mountains

• This causes the climate to be different from

the interior basin.

•During the rainy season, flash

floods are common.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen• Annual rainfall

is 20-30 inches.

• Farmers created banks of earth called

terraces to irrigate crops.

• They fertilized with manure

and ashes from cooking fires.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• This system

of farming produced a number of crops such as dates

and oranges.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• Mountains tend to seal

people off from the desert and

beyond.

• People of the mountains can maintain their

culture and traditions.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• Today, homes built of mud

brick are decorated with bands of color.

• This is a tradition from ancient times.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

The end?

Geography of the Arabian Peninsula

• Assignment :• Draw a picture and label each of the four

types of geography of the Arabian Peninsula: Desert, Oases,Coastal Plain, and Mountains

• Write one sentence about each and color