1. Monday, August 7th, 2017 Be seated. Be silent.
Read pages in the Geography Alive! textbook. Take notes on your own paper.
Be prepared for a short reading quiz.
Be brainstorming for your Middle East title page as you read.

2. Geography Alive Reading Quiz
Southwest Asia/Middle East is located at the intersection of ___________, __________, and _____________. (hint: 3 continents)
The largest peninsula in the world, the __________ Peninsula, is located in this region.
The ________ ______ is an inland sea located between Israel and Jordan that is nine times as salty as the ocean.
Most people in the Middle East practice the religion of ___________.

3. Geography Alive Reading Quiz, Cont.
Southwest Asia is known as the “cradle of ________________” because farming, cities, and three major world religions first developed here.
The three major world religions that originated in the Middle East are ____________,__________, and ____________. (hint: 3 monotheistic faiths)
____________, the capital of Israel, has holy sites for all three religions.
The two natural resources that shape economic activity in Southwest Asia are ________ and _________. (hint: they have an abundance of one and too little of the other)

4. Unit 2: Modern Middle East Table of Contents
Middle East Geography Notes
Middle East Reading Comprehension Quiz
Middle East Map

5. Page 1- Middle East Geography Notes

6. SS7G5 Locate selected features in Southwestern Asia (Middle East).
Locate: Euphrates River, Jordan River, Tigris River, Suez Canal, Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Arabian Sea, and Red Sea.
Locate the nations of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Locate the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories.

7. ME Countries Mnemonic Device
I was in Afghanistan, then I ran, through Iraq to get some Turkey. I had cereal in Syria on my way to Israel to see if it was real. I had to wait in Kuwait, and then I went to big, south Saudi Arabia.

9. Tigris River & Euphrates River: run through Iraq, river valley
Tigris River & Euphrates River: run through Iraq, river valley creates very fertile soil good for growing crops, region is called “Mesopotamia” or the “Fertile Crescent”, also referred to as the “birthplace of civilization”
Jordan River- forms the border between Israel and several other ME countries, nations have conflict over the limited fresh water supply Suez Canal- canal = man-made water feature, shortened shipping from Europe to Asia
Persian Gulf- half of the world’s oil is located here Strait of Hormuz- strait connects 2 bodies of water, pronounced like “horse” and “moose” put together (“hor-moose”), connects Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman/Arabian Sea Red Sea- located between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, shaped like a red crayon Gaza Strip & West Bank- small territories within Israel where Palestinian Arabs live, area of major conflict!

11. SW Asia/ Middle East- located where Africa, Asia, and Europe come together.
Region is mostly desert (arid climate), but has numerous seas (salt water, so it’s not useful for drinking or agriculture).
Mediterranean Sea- western border of the region
Red Sea- western border of the Arabian Peninsula (largest peninsula in the world)
Arabian Sea (major shipping route)- southern border of the region
Dead Sea (lowest point on Earth, 9x more salty than the ocean)- border between the West Bank and Jordan
Gulf- an arm of the sea that is partly surrounded by land (Persian Gulf)

13. Climate/Vegetation- arid (dry)- mostly desert- little vegetation- limited fresh water, Arabian Peninsula (being far from the coast leads to more temperature variation), coastlines have a Mediterranean climate (comfortable all year)
History- “cradle of civilization”, farming began here, first cities, birthplace of 3 major religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity), all are monotheistic- believe in only 1 god

14. Population- over 400 million in the ME, 10% of the world’s population, unequal population distribution, some high population density areas (primarily near oil and water resources), approx. half urban and half rural, one of the youngest regional populations in the world (due to war), most are Muslims (85-90% are Sunnis, 10-15% Shi’ites/Shias)
Economics OIL (world’s largest oil deposits- it is in great demand worldwide, oil = wealth in the ME) WATER (it is scarce= very little of it), lack of water limits agriculture in many areas Israel- growth in technology