Africa and SW Asia Notes 2/4

Africa and SW Asia Notes:

Atlas Mountains - Mountains begin at Morocco and stretch NE. Orographic effects strip rainfall from Algeria.

Maghreb - A region in Northwestern Africa that includes portions of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia

Continental Shelf - Rather than a shoreline and beach, shelves are a sudden drop to ocean depths. Africa has the narrowest shelf.

The Golan Heights - located with Jordan River and Sea of Galilee, main water sources for Israel. Stolen from Syria after battle.

Sinai Peninsula - A piece of land that is currently a part of Egypt but was a UN buffer zone from 1956-1966 and a part of Israel from 1967-1979

Demographic Transition Model - Based on a graph showing birth rates and death rates, countries are in one of 5 Stages

• Stage 1 = High Death / High Birth

• Stage 2 = Death rate falls rapidly / High Birth

• Stage 3 = Death rate falls slowly / Birth rate falls

• Stage 4 = Low Birth rate / Low Death rate (USA is here)

• Stage 5 Low death rate is now higher than very low Birth rate. Declining population (Japan is here)

Aswan High Dam - Dam across the Nile River in Egypt. Created ARTIFICIAL Lake Nassar and helps to create Zmore farmland. Controls flooding along the Nile River.

Darfur - Fur are the ethnic Sudan Africans, south Darfur converted to Islam. Lived among Arab herders and were blamed by Arabs for conspiring against Khartoum. Thousands have died because of this conflict.

Rift valley - Formed when huge parallel cracks appear in Earths crust; area between faults sinks or is pushed down forming linear valleys

Theocentric - God is the center of worship

Plateaus and Escarpment - Plateaus are areas of high grown level and flat, Escarpment are cliffs or steep slopes often marks the edge of a plateau

Islamic Taliban Movement - Controlled 90% of Afghanistan and Kubal, The northern Alliance and US forces successfully remove the taliban power in Fall of 2001

Iran Mountains:

• Elburz and Zangros - Zagros mountains to the west of Iran, Elburz to the north (highest peak in Iran elburz)

Iran Deserts:

• Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut

  • Kavir major desert in North Iran

  • Lut major desert in South Iran

Bekaa Valley - Area of Lebanon with climate perfect for agriculture. Valley thrives because of the Lebanon mountains (West) and Anti-Lebanon mountains (East)

Hamas vs Hezbollah vs Fatah

• Hamas - Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Palestinian Sunni Muslim Militant group, Labeled by many as a terrorist group, Stronghold in the Gaza Strip.

• Hezbollah - Shi'a Muslim political and paramilitant group, considered terrorist group, stronghold in southern Lebanon

• Fatah - Palestinian national liberation movement, strong hold is in the West Bank. Chairman Mahmoud Abbs, considered a center left in politics

Suez Canal - A canal in Egypt linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a vital trade route in the British Empire during imperialism, and continues to link North Africa and Europe to Asia today.

Epidemic and Pandemic - Epidemic is sudden outbreak at local, regional scale. Ex: African Sleeping Sickness. Pandemic is worldwide spread, Ex: COVID

Hindu Kush - Mountain range from central Afghanistan to northern Pakistan.

The Aral Sea - A body of water, located across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the aral sea has dried up (shrinking), locally grown food now unsafe, drinking water polluted, high infant mortality rate and cancer

The Arab Spring - Started in Tunisia, a bunch of public protests/strikes/rebellions in the arab countries that want fundamental government and economic reforms. Only successful Arab uprising

Polisario Front - The Polisario Front is composed largely of the indigenous nomadic inhabitants of the Western Sahara region, the Saharawis.

Atatürk Mustafa Kemal - President of Newly formed Turkish Republic. He had an aim of building a republican and secular nation-state. He made primary education free and compulsory, opening thousands of new schools all over the country.

Bosporus and Dardanelles - The dividing line between Europe and Asia. Link up between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Dardanelles is the entrance to the Sea of Marmara and Bosporus is the other side leading you to the Black Sea

Sahara / Kalahari / Namib

• Sahara - Northern Africa

• Kalahari - Southern Africa minus left side of south africa

• Namib - Left side of Southern Africa