1. Chapter 21 Harsh and Arid Lands
Section One
Landforms and Resources
Unit Seven - Southwest Asia

2. Looking into Israel from the
Golan Heights
Artillery shells and sniper fire rained down on the lands below a small plateau in southwestern Syria. Airplanes bombed the military positions on the plateau itself. Families in nearby villages huddled in their homes, hoping for the shelling to stop. Israeli Army engineers struggled to build a road to enable tanks to reach the top. Thousands died in the 1967 war when Syria and Israel fought for control of the Golan Heights, also called Al Jawlan, a hilly plateau over looking the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. This landform's strategic location has made it the site of conflict in Southwest Asia for decades. It is one of many landforms that divide the region.
Looking into Israel from the
Golan Heights.

3. Landforms Divide the Region
Southwest Asia forms a land bridge connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe.
People sometimes picture Southwest Asia as a region of rippling sand dunes and parched land occasionally interrupted with an oasis. But the lands of Southwest Asia actually range from green coastal plains to snow peaked mountains. Southwest Asia forms a land bridge connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe. The region is situated at the edge of a huge tectonic plate. Parts of the Arabian Peninsula are pulling away from Africa, and parts of the Anatolian Peninsula are sliding past parts of Asia. Still other plates are pushing up mountains in other areas of the Asian continent.

4. Peninsulas and Waterways
The most distinctive landform in Southwest Asia is the Arabian Peninsula, which is surrounded by the Red Sea on the southwest and the Persian Gulf on the east.
The most distinctive landform in Southwest Asia is the Arabian Peninsula, which is separated from the continent of Africa by the Red Sea on the southwest and from the rest of Asia by the Persian Gulf on the east. The Red Sea covers a rift valley created by the movement of the Arabian plate.

5. Peninsulas and Waterways
Also, on the southwest side of the Arabian Peninsula is a strategic opening to the Mediterranean Sea – the Suez Canal.
Suez Canal
On the southwest side of the Arabian Peninsula are the Red Sea and a strategic opening to the Mediterranean Sea—the Suez Canal. Goods from Asia flow through this canal to ports in Europe and North Africa.

6. Plains and Highlands
Most of the land on the Arabian Peninsula is barren with some low hills, ridges, and wadis, which are riverbeds that remain dry except during the rainy seasons.
Much of the Arabian Peninsula is covered by plains. Because of the dry, sandy, and windy conditions, few activities using the land take place here. Most of the land is barren with some low hills, ridges, and wadis. which are riverbeds that remain dry except during the rainy seasons.
Wadi Zen in Jordan

7. Plains and Highlands
The heart of Iran is a plateau surrounded by mountains.
The heart of Iran is a plateau surrounded by mountains. Isolated and very high, the land is a stony, salty, and sandy desert. The foothills surrounding the plateau are able to produce some crops.

8. Mountains
The Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan are linked with other ranges of mountains that frame southern Asia
Rugged mountains divide the land and countries. The Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan are linked with other ranges of mountains that frame southern Asia. Afghanistan is land­locked and mountainous, so contact with the outside world is difficult.
Hindu Kush Mnts.

9. Water Bodies
Euphrates River
Because much of Southwest Asia is arid, there are few rivers that flow the entire year. Two of the most important rivers – the Tigris and the Euphrates – supported several ancient river valley civilizations.
Southwest Asia is almost completely surrounded by bodies of water. They provide vital avenues for trade and access to other parts of the region and to the rest of the world. However, because much of the region is arid, there are few rivers that flow the entire year. Two of the most important rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates—supported several ancient river valley civilizations in an area called the Fertile Crescent. They included Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Chaldeans.
Today, the Tigris and Euphrates flow through parts of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The valleys are fertile, well watered, and good for agriculture. The two rivers flow almost parallel to each other for hundreds of miles before joining at a place called Shatt al Arab. They spread out into slow moving water and swamps, finally emptying into the Persian Gulf. .

10. Water Bodies
The Jordan River has no outlet to the sea, but its waters mingle with the salty waters of the Dead Sea, a landlocked salt lake.
Tumbling down from the mountains of Lebanon near Mt. Hennon, the Jordan River provides one of the most precious resources in the entire region—water. Farther south, the river serves as a natural boundary between Israel and Jordan. The Jordan River flows into the salty waters of the Dead Sea, a landlocked salt lake. The Dead Sea is so salty that only bacteria can live in the waters. Thousands of years ago the earth was heaved up on the south end of the area now controlled by-Israel. The outlet to the sea was blocked, creating the salt lake. The Dead Sea is 1,349 feet below sea level—the lowest place on the exposed crust of the earth.
Jordan River

11. An Oil-Rich Region
The most abundant resource in Southwest Asia is oil.
It is almost impossible to think about resources in Southwest Asia without including oil. It is the region's most abundant resource. Major oil fields are located in the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, and Iraq, with natural gas fields close by. Since these fossil fuels run cars and trucks, factories, and power plants all over the world, they provide the major portion of income for nations with petroleum reserves.
Today, about one-half all the world's oil reserves are found in Southwest Asia, along the coast of the Persian Gulf, and at offshore drilling sites in the Gulf itself. The presence of these large reserves has made the region important because so many countries, including the United States, depend on its oil.

12. Other Resources
In parts of Southwest Asia, water is a scarce resource that must be constantly guarded and carefully used.
The most valuable resource in parts of Southwest Asia is water. In mountainous lands such as Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, water is plentiful compared to the rest of the region. It can be harnessed for hydroelectric power. However, elsewhere, water is a scarce resource that must constantly be guarded and carefully used. Efforts to conserve water have been a part of the culture of the people living in the region for thousands of years.