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South West Asia and North Africa: An Introduction. Algeria. Oasis, Sinai Peninsula. Bedouin People, Lebanon. Qatar. Nile River at Aswan, Egypt photo: Mark Chickering. Medinet Habu Temple, Egypt Photo: Mark Chickering. Rub al Khali Desert, Yemen. Yemen. Photos by Amira Bakr.
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MedinetHabu Temple, Egypt Photo: Mark Chickering
Photos by Amira Bakr White Desert, Sahara, Egypt
Physiographic Regions • There are diverse features interspersed across the Middle East and North Africa: • Mountain Ranges • Coastal Lowlands • Highland Plateaus • Floodplains • Deserts • Two Crucial River Systems: • Tigris-Euphrates in Fertile Crescent • Nile (White Nile/Blue Nile) in North Africa
Climate • Variable • Orographic Rainfall • Largely Arid- consider it’s location around 20-30N
Rich Cultural Heritage Turkey Photo: HadiArslan, Trek Earth Domestication of plants and animals led to: Agricultural Mini-Systems Development of villages Extended family systems, reorganization of land, resources Specialization in non-agriculture crafts Trade Networks
Recent Empires in the Middle East • Ottoman • European Mandates and Colonies, 1914- post World War II
Colonial Regimes in 1914 Figure 6.11
Family • Importance of kinship and tribe • Family as physical space and functional group • Gendered architecture
Gender Roles and Gender Spaces • public vs private male vs female role of chador or veil Women at a mosque, Saudi Arabia Photo: Sherine Abdel Rassoul, Trek Earth
Restrictions on Women Figure 6.24
Contemporary Issues • Most contemporary problems stem from two things: • 1. Boundaries and borders created by colonial powers • Examples: Israel and Palestine • Iraq • Sudan – Darfur and South Sudan • 2. Strategic importance of region to political and economic interests of core countries • Israel and Palestine • Iraq, Iran
Case Study: Yemen and the Rise of Al-Qaeda North Yemen- independent of Ottoman Empire in 1918 South Yemen- independent of British in 1967 North and South join in 1990 after 2 decades of fighting Socioeconomic protests in 2008 and in 2011, fueled by ‘Arab Spring’ Elections in Feb 2012, Pres. Salih transferred power to his VP, Hadi
Yemen – Economic Information: • Low income country • Reliant on dwindling oil supplies • IMF grant to support economic and political reform • GDP – growth rate -2.5 (211 country in world) (2011) • GDP per cap PPP - $2500 (181 in world) • Unemployment: 35% • Poverty rate: 45.2% • Household income or consumption by percentage share: • lowest 10%: 2.9% • highest 10%: 30.8% (2005) Frontline Video: Al-Qaeda in Yemen http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/al-qaeda-in-yemen/