Geography 210 - The Middle East

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

9:58 AM

Middle East:

• The Region based on:

  • Physical Features

  • Cultures

• The Middle East has Arid climates - not all of it is desert.

• Islam is the cultural feature that is common through the area.

Arid Climates:

• Dominates the entire region

  • Evaporation greater than precipitation

  • World's hottest region

  • Lack of cloud cover at night

    • Heat of the Earth dissipates rapidly off of the surface

      • Therefore, clouds don't hold the heat in.

    • Little to no vegetation to hold the heat in.

    • Freezing nights in winter 

• Arid climates have irregular rainfall - drier the climate, more irregular the rainfall

  • Winter rains

    • North African Coast and East Mediterranean

Deserts:

• Ground cover

• Sahara Desert - largest desert in the world

  • Mainly gravel and rocks

  • Sand - only 1/4 or 25% (ON EXAM)

  • Located in North Africa

• Ground cover

• Arabian Desert:

  • Mainly sand

    • Some gravel and rocks

• There are Oases - plural of Oasis

  • Might be wells.

  • There is also Vegetation around the Oasis.

• Few plants in the desert

  • They are drought resistant

  • More vegetation in uplands due to precip.

    • There are higher precipitation in uplands - sides of mountains

• Climate Change

  • 5,000 years ago - much wetter climate in this area.

  • Drier climate forced people to:

    • River Valleys

    • Oases

• Water is the MOST VALUABLE Natural Resource in the Middle East (On Exam***)

Major Rivers:

• Nile River - flows from the South to the North

• Headwaters come/flow from:

  • Mountains of Ethiopia

  • Highlands of East Africa

• Egypt:

  • Settlement is mostly within 10 miles of the Nile River

  • Elsewhere, it is too arid.

• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers - both originate in the North of Saudi Arabia

• Snowmelt in Mountains of Turkey and Iran

• Main water source for Iraq and Syria - the Tigris/Euphrates

Water and Politics:

• Egypt and Sudan rely on Nile river water

• Other countries want to use more of THAT water.

  • Ethiopia - building a dam, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania

  • Lake Victoria

• Aswan High Dam - Egypt.

  • It finished filling in 1970.

  • 1970 = Dam produced 50% of electricity for Egypt.

Now = 15%

• Ethiopian Dam

  • Located on Nile River Headwaters

    • Mts. Of Ethiopia

    • In 20 largest dams in the world; largest in Africa.

• Egypt and Sudan:

  • Worried it will slow water flow to their countries

• Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee)

• Jordan River

• Dead Sea

  • Saltiest water body in the world. Things don't sink easily

  • It is also shrinking; less water coming down the Jordan River

• Aquifers are being used up in the Middle East

  • They are groundwater

  • Water is removed faster than rains can refill them

  • Countries clash over water

    • Israel

    • Jordan

    • West Bank

    • Gaza strip

  • Culture clashes included

Irrigation:

• Bring arid land into agricultural production

• Needs careful management

• Water - if you have irrigation:

  • Too little - crops do not grow

    • Evaporates quickly and draws salts to surface

  • If you put just enough water - crops grow

    • Flushes salts downward

    • Right amount of water depends on soil, where you are, etc.

  • Too much - crops grow

    • Waterlogs surface and draws salts to surface

    • Salinization - salt in soil

    • Cannot use land for agriculture if there are too much salt.

• Ancient Times

  • Tigris-Euphrates river lowlands

  • Poor water management in these rivers

  • Salinization of soil

    • Unusable for agriculture

    • Loss of farmland

  • Happening today in Middle East and many parts of the world

    • Where too much salt is put in the soil

Mesopotamia and Fertile Crescent:

• Major world culture hearth

  • The first place where agriculture and cities were found

  • 1st ancient civilization

• Mesopotamia

  • Means the "Land between the Rivers"

  • Rivers here refer to Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

• 10,000 - 5,000 BC (First agriculture)

• Urbanization - people moving into cities

  • Happens if there is enough food.

  • You need an agricultural surplus to have a civilization/city

• Domestication of Plants and Animals in Fertile Crescent

• Fertile Crescent - curves around the top of Saudi Arabia, to the eastern/western sides.

  • Mesopotamia

  • Eastern Mediterranean

  • Into Nile Valley.

• Agriculture - about 10,000 years ago

  • Wheat, Harley, Rhy, Oats, Grapes, Apples, Olives, etc.

    • Raisins are dried up grapes

    • Olives were used mainly for oil

• Many herd animals

  • Cattle, Pigs, Horses, Sheep, Goats

• Diffusion of crops and cattle into:

  • Africa

  • Europe

  • Central Asia

Petroleum (Oil):

• Persian Gulf States: - has the greatest oil concentration

  • Saudi Arabia

  • Iran

  • Kuwait

  • Qatar

  • UAE - an Emirate is ruled by an Emir (like a king).

  • Iraq

• 22% of total world oil production in Persian Gulf

  • Does not include North Africa

• Entire Middle East (including N. Africa)

  • About 68% of World's total reserves

Oil Resources:

• Uneven distribution - 25% of World's Proven Reserves

  • Venezuela - 25%

  • Saudi Arabia - 22%

  • Iran - 13%

  • Iraq - 12%

  • Kuwait - 8%

  • USA - 3%

• Some have little or no oil in the Middle East.

  • Morocco, Turkey, Israel, Jordan

• These countries are extremely dependent on Oil Exports

  • Few other natural resources

• 1970s - high oil prices

  • Oil-rich countries got real rich

  • Oil-poor countries went into debt importing oil

  • Poorer countries helped by richer countries

• Gulf War 1991 and military build-up - Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded Kuwait

  • Low oil prices

  • Drained most financial reserves

  • Aid to poorer countries decreased a lot

Religions

• Culture hearth to 3 major religions

  • Monotheistic - worship one god

• Judaism

  • Descendendants of Abraham

  • God of Abraham

  • The Torah is their sacred text.

  • Jews are waiting for the Messiah

    • Messiah for Jews: a liberator, savior, redeemer, and king.

  • 70 AD - war with Romans

    • The war starts the Jewish Diaspora: spread through Middle East and Europe

• Christianity

  • Began with Judaism

• God of Abraham - also worshipped by Christians

• Christians say Messiah showed up 2000 years ago

  • Jesus Christ is the Messiah

  • "Christ" - from Ancient Greek for "Messiah"; not last name.

• Christianity spread rapidly through the Roman Empire

  • Became official religion of the empire in 380 AD.

• Islam

  • "submission to the will of Allah"

  • Muslim

    • Those who practice Islam

    • The word means "those who submit to Allah"

• Allah

  • Arabic for "God"

    • Which "God"?

  • It is the God of Abraham

  • Same deity as Judaism and Christianity - does it through the descent of Issac

  • Maybe not what your church teaches, but it is what Muslims believe.

  • Islam does it through the descent of Ischmael.

• Islam

  • Prophet Muhammad

    • Year 610 - received word of Allah - Koran - later becomes the holy book of Islam.

    • Ultimate prophet in Islam

  • Earlier prophets in Islam

    • Adam, Moses, Jesus, etc. 

    • According to the Koran, Jesus was the Messiah, born to the Virgin Mary

    • Muhammad was the Last and Supreme Prophet.

  • Descended from Abraham

    • Through Ischmael, not Issac.

• Arabs rapidly adopted Islam

• Diffusion by:

  • Arab armies

    • North Africa and Spain

    • Eastward - Persia (Iran), Central Asia

  • Traders

    • Across Sahara to West and Central Africa

    • Indian Ocean, Malaysia, Indonesia

    • Phillipines was the only Asian nation that was majority Christian

• Muslim Golden Age: 700 - 1300

  • Saved much of Ancient Greek learning.

  • Added greatly to it:

    • Math

    • Geography

    • Astronomy

    • Medicine

    • Science, etc. 

  • Led to European Renaissance.

• 2 major divisions after death of Muhammad

  • Sunni Muslims (85% worldwide)

  • Shia Muslims

  • Subdivisions in both groups

Sunni Muslims

• 85% of Muslims worldwide

  • Koran - base for their way of life

  • Also cultural traditions

• Many are very moderate

  • Maintain traditional Islamic practices

  • With modern way of life

• Some very fundamentalist

• Wahhabism

  • Puritanical and Legalistic religious interpretations

  • Dominates Saudi Arabia and Taliban.

SHIA MUSLIM NOTES WRITTEIN ON PAPER. VERY LITTLE THOUGH.

2/13/25:

World War 1:

• British and French

  • Needed Arab help against fighting the Ottoman Turks (Empire)

    • Ottomans sided with the Germans in the war.

• Promised Arabs Independence after war, which was a lie.

  • Promised the same land to 2 different Arab groups

• Took control of most of the land for themselves - British got the best stuff.

• The war created many of today's problems in the Middle East    

Israel:

Very over-simplified

• Zionism

  • To fight increased Anti-Semitism

    • Found in Europe and Russia in 1800s

  • Zionism wanted a Jewish state

  • Up to 1914: 60,000 Jewish settlers moved to present-day Israel (old name Palestine)

  • Kibbutz

    • Communal farms

    • Schools, Social Institutions, taught Hebrew

    • Kibbutzim - plural of Kibbutz

• World War 1

  • Some Jews fought for Britain - Jews desired compensation

• Balfour Declaration

  • 1917, by Britain

  • Promisted Jewish homeland in Palestine

    • They didn't tell the Arabs. Arabs were angry after WW1

• Arabs angry after WW1

  • Only 1 independent Arab country after WW1

• 1930s - 1945 - Nazis persecution of Jews

• 350,000 more Jewish settlers

• WW2

  • Holocaust - 6 million Jews murdered

    • Millions of others, too

• 1945 and 1946: 1 million Jewish settlers move to Palestine

  • This was against the British law

  • Increased violence among Jews, Arabs, British

• 1947 - Britain gave up control of Palestine to United Nations

• 1947 UN Partition Plan

  • Some areas from this plan were for

    • Jews

    • Arabs

  • Few liked any of the plan

  • Some Arab areas had Jews, and vice versa

• 1948 - Declared Independence

  • Arab armies attacked

  • Israel defended

  • Argued that Isreael shouldn't exist until the Messiah

• 1949 - fighting ended; Some arabs fled, NOT all

  • Refugees in neighboring countries

  • 1st Palestinian refugees

• Fighting in 1950s

• British and France wanted control of Suez Canal, but refused due to US threats.

• Six Day War - 1967

• Israel gained territory in:

  • Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt)

  • West Bank

  • Gaza strip

  • Golan Heights, Syria

• More Arab refugees

• Palestinians were:

  • In West Bank and Gaza Strip - 1.4 million displaced people

  • Jordan - 1.5 million

  • Lebanon and Syria - 600,000

• Many Arab countries will not take in Palestinians

  • 2023 and 2024 - nobody will take refugees from Gaza Strip.

  • Egypt built a big wall bordering Israel to prevent refugees from coming in.

• Yom Kippur War - 1973

  • Yom Kippur - holiest day in Jewish calendar

  • US missiles saved Israel

  • Decisive victory for Israel against Egypt and Syria

  • Many Arab countries became angry with the US.

OPEC:

• Oil Producing and Exporting Countries

• Mainly Middle East oil countries and Venezuela joined OPEC

• This is a Cartel

  • Organizations that coordinates the interests of producers of something.

    • OPEC - cartel for oil

    • Diamonds, Drugs, etc.    

      • Prices of diamonds plummeting now. Historically, diamonds couldn't be returned after purchase.

• Oil embargo on USA - 1973

  • Punishment for helping Israel during war

  • Oil prices tripled nearly overnight

  • Some gasoline shortages in parts of USA

• Cartel set minimum price they all would sell oil for.

• OPEC countries earned huge profits

  • Spent on:

    • Infrastructure and social programs

    • Food imports

    • Petrochemical industry - oil refined to gasoline and diesel fuel.

    • Military hardware

    • Luxury goods

• Corruption of government officials

• Often wasted

• Majority of oil imported by the US was NOT from the Persian Gulf. 

Diversification

• Use oil money to diversify the economy

  • Not rely only on oil

• United Arab Emirates (UAE) most successful at diversification

• More industries

  • Banking and financial services

  • Tourism

  • Transport

Other Oil Countries:

• Less successful in diversifying economies/countries

• Some trying harder than others

Fragile States

• Countries with:

  • Weak and ineffective central govt.

    • Little practical control over much of territory

  • Cannot provide regular public services

    • Electricity, health care, education, waste management, etc.

  • Widespread corruption and criminality

  • Involuntary movement of people - refugees

  • Sharp economic decline

• Fragile States

  • Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Sudan, Lebanon

Failed States:

• Countries with no power over people and territory

  • Inability to:

    • Provide public service

    • Implement public policies

• Civil liberties and human rights no longer protected

• Inability to interact with other states

• Residents have no physical, political, or economic security

• Failed States: Yemen, Syria, South Sudan

Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey:

• All are regional rivals

  • Muslim countries

  • Proud:

    • Historic pasts

    • Traditions

• Turkey and Iran

  • NOT ARAB.

Iran:

• Very mountainous, and arid - agriculture is a challenge

• Invasion is difficult

  • Expansion out of Iran is also difficult

• Iranian Revolutionary Guard

  • "Defend from foreign armies"

  • However - Mainly against Domestic Protesters

• Far too reliant on Oil

  • Little development of industry

• Low-quality products: textiles

  • Industrial

  • Agricultural

• Bad Economic Policies:

  • Mismanagement

  • Corruption

  • Sanctions

• Exported Shia Revolution

  • Some success

  • Few resources to follow up

  • And now losing the success they had before.

• Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz

  • Block oil exports from Persian Gulf

• Some Persian Gulf states can access some pipelines

  • Bypass Strait of Hormuz

  • But Iran cannot ship oil through it

Saudi Arabia:

• Large deserts to the North and South

  • Good for defense

• S.A. is a huge buyer of military equipment  from the US

  • Too much reliance on foreign fighters

  • S.A. and Iran hate each other

• Huge reliance on guest workers for labor

• SA exports religious militants

  • Promotes Sunni Islam

  • Support groups fighting Shia Muslims in Middle East

    • Proxy wars with Iran

  • Many religious militants later started:

    • Al-Qaeda and ISIS

• Historic Support from USA for regional leadership

  • Declining since 2016

  • USA disengaging from Persian Gulf - less than 2,000 troops in Middle East

Turkey:

• Stable, relatively young population

• Best agricultural land in Middle East

REMAINING VERY LITTLE NOTES ON PAPER.