Middle East and SWANA Map Quiz Review

Mesopotamia

land between the rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)

Levant

The eastern Mediterranean region (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine)

Most crucial resource to the Arabian peninsula

Oil

Where is most of the population in North Africa?

By the Nile river and near the coast (Mediterranean sea and Atlantic Ocean)

When does rain primarily occur in the Middle East

In the winter, because summers are too hot

What is the land form of the Arabian Peninsula

Dry desert plains

How does the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf affect the Arabian Peninsula

Red Sea separates it form Northern Africa while the Persian Gulf separates it from Asia.

Wadis

Dry riverbeds that fill with water when it rains

Most Important Straight in the Middle East

Straight of Hormuz

Why is the straight of Hormuz so important

30% of worlds oil pass through here.

Suez Canal

A ship canal in northeastern Egypt linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea

Altitude of the Dead Sea

1350 ft below sea level (lowest elevation in the world)

Fertile Crescent

A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

Desalination

A process of removing salt from ocean water

Why is water so important in the Middle East

Since the Middle East is hot and dry and uses a lot of it's water on agriculture, they have to get imports and desalinize water from the Persian Gulf

Ways of getting water in the Middle East

Desalination, Mountain Water, Fossil Water, Imports

Fossil Water

water pumped from underground aquifers

How much of the worlds oil is found in Southwest Asia

1/2

Hindu Kush Mountains

A mountain range that is a barrier between India and Afghanistan. Is one of the highest mountain ranges in the world, but not as tall as the Himalayas.

Why are the Zagros mountains so important to Iran

It acts like a barrier between Iran and Iraq so it's harder to invade each other.

Where is the Black Sea?

North of Turkey

Why is Sudan split in half?

The North treated them badly so they voted for independence.

Nile River

The world's longest river, which flows northward through East Africa into the Mediterranean Sea

Anatolian Peninsula

In Southwest Asia between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

choke point

a strategic, narrow waterway between two larger bodies of water

What country controls the Suez Canal

Egypt

What are simooms?

Hot dry suffocating winds

What is black gold?

oil; it is called "black gold" because it is black, and it is worth a lot of money