The Middle East
Overview
■ Physical geography• Aridity; very dry with little moisture in the air• Oil; the world’s most valuable resource.
■ Cultural geography• Culture Hearths (cradle of civilization; Mesopotamia,
Egypt, Persia).• World Religions.• Religious conflicts.
■ Population geography• Clustered population around infrequent water sources.• Fast growth rate (young population).
■ Political geography• Fragmented due to European and Asian colonialism.• Oil and Non-oil states (“haves” versus “have-nots”).
■ Resource wars• Conflicts over water:
• Regional / national issue.• Conflicts over oil:
• Global issue.
■ Popular Labels• Dry World.• Arab World (ethnic identity)• Islamic World (religious identity)• Middle East.
■ Dry world• Dry/arid climate prevails throughout the realm.• Much of the land is unsuitable for cultivation:• Exceptions:
• Oases (infrequent watering holes with lots of vegetation)
• Several great river valleys.
■ Water• Critical for life, food production, and industrial
processes.• Increasing stress on water resources:
• Water diversion (Nile, Jordan, Tigris / Euphrates).■ Population distribution
• Around water resources:• The Nile.• Mediterranean Sea.• Euphrates and Tigris Basin
■ Arab Realm• Relates to language as a cultural feature of this realm.• Arabic is the dominant language in 16 States of the
realm.
■ Islamic Realm• Monotheistic religion:
• Meaning “submission to God”.• Emerged in Saudi Arabia in the 7th century (Mecca).• A Muslim is a “believer”.
• Word of Allah contained in the Koran
■ Division of the faith• Two branches, Orthodox Sunnis (85%) and Shiites
(15%).• Sunni:
• Orthodox branch of Islam.• Succession from Muhammad did not depend on
hereditary decent from his son-in-law Ali.• Shiite:
• Muhammad’s genuine successors descended from his son-in-law Ali.
The Oil Curse
■ The “Resource Curse”• Prone to harsh 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
Global Oil Reserves, 2003
Barrels (2003)
Less than 5 billion
5 to 25 billions
25 to 50 billions
50 to 150 billions
More than 150 billions
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
NorthAmerica
Central & S.America
WesternEurope
EasternEurope &
FSU
Middle East Africa Asia &Oceania
ReservesProduction
Shipping Lanes and Strategic Passages in the Middle East
IranIraq
Saudi ArabiaEgypt
Turkey
Indian Ocean
Hormuz
Bosporus
Bab el-Mandab
Suez
Oman
Yemen
Red Sea
PG
PG: Persian Gulf
15.5
3.3
3.8
3.0
1.0Oil transited (millions ofbarrels per day)Black Sea
2002-2003 figures
Mediterranean
Sudan
Oil Exports for the Persian Gulf by Outlet, 2002
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Strait of Hormuz
Pipeline to Yanbu
Pipeline to Ceyhan
Pipeline through Syria
Millions of barrels per day
TrafficAdditional Capacity
World Annual Oil Production (1900-2004) and Estimated Resources (1900-2100)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100
Bill
ions
of b
arre
ls
Actual
Predicted
Regions of the Realm
■ Egypt• Continuous civilization > 5,000 years.• 95% of Egypt's 74.1 million people live within 12 miles
(20 kms) of the Nile.• Basin irrigation.• Aswan high dam (1968):
• Increased agricultural land by 50%.• Provides 40% of electricity.
■ The Maghreb• Dominated by the Atlas mountains.• Morocco - last of the north African kingdoms.• Algeria - a secular republic with religious-political
problems.• Tunisia - smallest and most westernized of the
Maghreb.• Libya - oil rich desert state with a coastal orientation.• Fertile Coastline.• French Colonialism.
■ African Transition Zone • Sahel - Arabic word for border or margin.• A zone where people are ethnically African but culturally
Arab.• Desertification - principal environmental problem.• Cultural and political instability.• North versus south - Muslim versus non-Muslim
patterns.• Cultural Conflict; Muslim – Christian.• Nomadism.
Regions of the Realm
■ “Middle” of the Islamic realm• Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon. • Center of conflict between Christians, Jews, and
Muslims.• Sunni - Shiite conflict (within Iraq and throughout the
region).
■ Jerusalem• Holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims• Judaism:
• Capital of Jewish kingdom 3000 years BCE.• Faith took form in the first temple; destroyed by
Babylonians in 586 BCE.• Rebuilt as second temple; destroyed by Romans in 70 CE.
• Islam:• Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven 7th century
CE.• Christianity:
• Based on the teachings of Jesus Christ; crucifixion & ascent.
■ Arabian Peninsula• Oil-rich countries of the Gulf area:
• 5 small: Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain.
• 1 larger: Saudi Arabia; 25.4 million people with the world’s greatest oil reserves.
• Capital-rich but labor-poor (rent economies).• Oil revenues.• Begun to invest heavily in their own development.• Creation of several jobs in government, services and
industry.
■ Population and labor issues in the Gulf States• A significant share of the labor is foreign:
• Small populations.• Low labor force participation of women.
• Heavy reliance upon foreign labor.
• The national population:• Little incentive for nationals to get educated.• Supported by oil revenues from the state and have
little need to work.• Diminishes incentive to upgrade skill levels which
might mean that foreign labor is continually needed• Political instability is a potential threat.• The fall of oil prices in the 1990s:
• Created unemployment problems among the nationals.
• Triggered Islamic nationalistic movements.
Regions of the Realm
■ The Empire States• Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan.• Imperial heritage.• Arab ethnicity gives way but Islamic culture continues.• High mountains and plateaus vs. rocky and sandy
desert.
Turkey
■ Turkish ottoman empire• Nomadic peoples from the steppes and forests of
Siberia.• 6th century- established an empire stretching from
Mongolia to the black sea.• Spread the Turkic language far and wide.• Decline in the early 20th century.
■ Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk)• Father of modern turkey.• Moved capital from Constantinople to Ankara.• Westernized turkey and broke free from the Arab world.
Turkey
■ Westernization• Islam lost official status.• Roman alphabet replaced Arabic.• Islamic law replaced by western code.• Women gained rights.• Turkey separated from Arab world.• Hope of joining the European Union.