FEBRUARY 2, 2017 Get out stuff for notes Physical Geography of the Middle East Notes Test Corrections available until Thursday 2/9

Middle East? OR Near East? OR Southwest Asia?

Mountains & Plateaus Caucasus Mts. Elburz Mts. Anatolian Plateau Taurus Mts. Iranian Plateau Zagros Mts. Atlas Mts. Hejaz Mts.

Anti-Taurus Mountains Pontic Mounatins Elburz Mountains

Mountains Zagros Hindu Kush Taurus Isolate Iran from the rest of the Middle East Hindu Kush Isolate the Middle east from Pakistan and India Taurus Separate Turkey from the rest of the Middle East

Mountain Ranges in Mid-East Elburz Mts., Iran Zagros Mts., Iran Lebanese Mts. Taurus Mts., Turkey

Bodies of Water Caspian Sea Black Sea Dardanelles Strait Atlantic Ocean Tigris River Mediterranean Sea Euphrates River Jordan River Suez Canal Strait of Hormuz Persian Gulf Nile River Gulf of Oman Red Sea Arabian Sea Gulf of Aden Indian Ocean

Egypt: The “Gift of the Nile” Nile Delta Annual Nile Flooding 95% of the Egyptian people live on 5% of the land!

Suez Canal Man made Connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea Completed by the British in 1869

Bosporus and Dardanelles Connects the Mediterranean to the interior of the continent City of Istanbul Controls trade and transportation to Russia and the interior of Asia

The Tigris & Euphrates River System Mesopotamia: ”Land Between the Two Rivers” -Sustained one of the earliest civilizations ever! -Great for agriculture

The Fertile Crescent

The Jordan River System Flows into the Dead Sea Border between Israel, Jordan, and Syria Source of water in arid region

Dead Sea: Lowest Point on Earth Highest Salt Content (33%) 2,300’ below sea level Highest Salt Content (33%) So salty that only bacteria can live here

Deserts Negev Desert Sinai Desert Libyan Desert Arabian Desert Rub al-Khali Sahara Desert

Desert Bedouins

Rub al-Khali: - “place where no one comes out” “The Empty Quarter”

Rub Al-Khali Road https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01vZoILfTw

Saudi Arabia’s Geographic Challenges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS4G0bvpwgc

Desert Oases: Water at a Premium! An area where vegetation is found because water is available

Fresh Groundwater Sources

Providing Water Many countries are creating dams, man-made lakes, and irrigation systems. Alters flow of rivers, floods up river side

Desalinization Plants Desalinization = removal of salt from ocean water Still relatively salty so it is used for sewage systems

Desalination in Israel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taMWUjda3fA

Middle East: Climate Regions

Middle East: Population Density

Cairo, Egypt: Most Populated City in the Middle East 17,000,000+ People!

The Middle East: Natural Vegetation

The Natural Resources of the Middle East

Resources Oil is most important resources Millions of years ago microscopic plants and animals lived and died in the waters. Their remains sank into the sand, and over time it turns into hydrocarbons Requires sophisticated equipment to extract and refine How oil is formed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YHsxXEVB1M Resources

Oil Continued…. Petroleum that has not been processed is called CRUDE OIL Must be sent through a refinery (convert it into useful products) Increasing demand due to industrialization

Risk of Transporting Oil Oil spills Cause pollution More dangerous to transport oil in water

World Oil Reserves

Persian Gulf Oil Exports (2003)

Saudi Oil Fields & Refineries

Kuwait: An Island Floating on a Sea of Oil Kuwait City

Leading U. S. Oil Suppliers The U. S. imports 30% of its oil needs from the Middle East.

Critical Thinking Questions Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of oil. Oil revenues make up 90-95 percent of the export earnings and around 35-40% of their GDP. The United States imported an average of 1.15 million barrels of crude oil per day from Saudi Arabia. Q1: Do you think the United States should protect Saudi Arabia in time of war in order to protect US oil interests? Q2: If more resources were devoted to alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar power, what might happen to Saudi Arabia’s economy? What would they need to do in order to maintain their economy?