Section 2- Southwest Asia

Arabian Peninsula• Home of the “Empty Quarter”• Largest all-sand desert in the world• Almost nothing lives there

Arabian Peninsula

Topography of Southwest Asia

Dry Region Bordered By Water

• Rub’al-Khali desert

• Areas receive little rain

• Oasis- some support whole communities

• Deserts– Sand– Pebbles– Gravel– Boulders

Two Historic Rivers• Tigris & Euphrates• Flood and deposit valuable silt• Begin in Turkey and flow south through Iraq

Ancient Mesopotamia

• Existed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

• People raised plants and animals

• Relied on rich soil provided by the rivers floods

Mountains• Zagros Mountains- western Iran• Elburz Mountains- northern Iran

Seas & Gulfs• Red Sea

• Mediterranean Sea

• Black Sea

• Caspian Sea

• Persian Gulf

• Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is dying.

Seven times saltier than the ocean!

Red Sea, Persian Gulf

Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea

Caspian Sea, Black Sea

Climate

• Arid

• Semiarid

• <10 inches of rain per year

• Up to 125 degrees during the day

• As low as 40 degrees at night

• Some parts Mediterranean climate

Climate Map

Natural Resources• 2 main resources are:

– Petroleum– Water

Natural Resources

• Petroleum- an oily, flammable liquid formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals; non-renewable resource.

• Non-renewable resource- a natural resource that cannot be quickly replaced once it is used.

• Petroleum plays a key role in the world’s economy.

Natural Resources

• Oil increases the standard of living for Southwest Asia.

• Standard of Living- a measurement of a person’s or a group’s education, housing, health, and nutrition.

• Southwest Asia has more than ½ of the world’s oil reserves.

Water

• Irrigation is a MUST!

• This region has no permanent rivers

• Wadis- stream beds that hold water when seasonal rain falls but are dry much of the year

• People irrigate using deep underground wells

• Wells could run dry! OUCH!

drip irrigation

Using the land

• 3 major ways

• Nomadic herding– Bedouins- herd camels, goats and sheep– Today Bedouins- 10% of population

• Producing oil

• Agriculture

Agriculture• Turkey

– Wheat– Barley– Cotton– Sugar beets– Fruits– Olives– Corn

• Israel– Citrus fruits– Cotton– Peanuts– Sugar cane