1. Geography of the
Arabian Peninsula

2. The Four Geographic Regions of the Arabian Peninsula
The Desert
Oases
Coastal Plain
Mountains

3. The Desert

4. The Desert The desert climate is extreme.
Rainfall is less than 10 inches per year.

5. The Desert Summer temperatures can exceed 120 degrees in the shade.
Winter temperatures can drop below freezing.

6. The Desert
Extremes prevent the development of a solid cover of vegetation.
Winds create dunes reaching 500 feet high.

7. This provides good grazing for camels, sheep, goats, and jackrabbits.
The Desert
Arabian deserts contain wells of salty water, low shrubs, and clumps of tough grass.
This provides good grazing for camels, sheep, goats, and jackrabbits.

8. The Desert Most of the land of the Arabian peninsula is desert.
This provides a natural barrier from foreign conquest.

9. An Oasis

10. An Oasis
An oasis is a fertile place in the desert where a spring or a well provides a water supply.

11. An Oasis
Main source of life-giving water and green pastures for camel herds and other grazing animals.
Nomads travel from oasis to oasis seeking pastures for camels to graze.

12. An Oasis
Vegetation in oases consisted of date palms, orchard and ground crops such as myrrh and frankincense.
Spices were used for religious, medicinal, sanitary and cosmetic purposes.

13. Oases Also became trading centers. Nomads bought camel meat and milk.
Also traded were spices, perfumes, precious metals, ivory and silk.
Another thing that was traded was ideas.

15. Coastal Plain

16. Coastal Plain A coastal plain is level land extending along a coast.
It separates a plateau from the sea.

17. Coastal Plain
The coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula is more humid than the interior due to its proximity to the sea.

18. A City on the Coastal Plain
The Arabian Peninsula has a few deep harbors to encourage seafaring but not one river to provide interior transport and communication.

19. People of the Coastal Plain
People living on the coastal plain became effective traders.
Most of the trading cities are located along the coastal plain.

20. Advantages of the Coastal Plain
The coastal plain of Arabia has one major advantage over the other geographical areas: RICH AGRICULTURE.
This region contains most of the cultivated land of the peninsula.

21. Advantages of the Coastal Plain
Crops included: coffee, grains, and fruits.
This cultivation, along with trading, allowed people to develop complex civilizations.

22. Mountains

23. Mountains
Mountains stretch along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula about 50 miles from the sea.

24. Mountains
This causes the climate to be different from the interior basin.
During the rainy season, flash floods are common.

25. A Mountain Settlement in Yemen Annual rainfall is 20-30 inches.

26. A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
Farmers created banks of earth called terraces to irrigate crops.
They fertilized with manure and ashes from cooking fires.

27. A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
This system of farming produced a number of crops such as dates and oranges.

28. A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
Mountains tend to seal people off from the desert and beyond.
People of the mountains can maintain their culture and traditions.

29. A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
Today, homes built of mud brick are decorated with bands of color.
This is a tradition from ancient times.

30. The end?

31. Geography of the Arabian Peninsula
Assignment :
Draw a picture and label each of the four types of geography of the Arabian Peninsula: Desert, Oases,
Coastal Plain, and Mountains
Write one sentence about each and color