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Middle East Geography

Middle East Geography . Crossroads to Africa, Asia, and Europe Cultural Diffusion / Diversity Strategic Location- Sea Routes, Oil Straits of Hormuz. Middle East Geography. Major Regions Northern Tier- Turkey, Iran and the Anatolian Plateau, Iranian Plateau

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Middle East Geography

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  1. Middle East Geography • Crossroads to Africa, Asia, and Europe • Cultural Diffusion / Diversity • Strategic Location- Sea Routes, Oil • Straits of Hormuz

  2. Middle East Geography • Major Regions • Northern Tier- Turkey, Iran and the Anatolian Plateau, Iranian Plateau • Arabian Peninsula- Oil, birthplace of Islam. • Fertile Crescent- Mesopotamia, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Iraq, • Nile Valley- Egypt • The Maghreb- North Africa

  3. Middle East Geography • Climate- Entire region is mostly desert • Very little water or rain. • Tons of oil.

  4. Middle East Geography • Peoples- • Languages- Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Greek, and Armenian • Ethnicities- Arab, Turks, Iranians (Persians), and Kurds

  5. Middle East People People live: • In small farming villages • As Nomads- Bedouins • They have conflicts between over water and grazing land.

  6. Middle East People • Family life important and patriarchal. Father has final say. • Marriages are arranged / Multiple wives / divorce was permitted • Women subordinate to men / “Men are the managers of the affairs of women”

  7. Middle East Geography • Religions- Islam, Christianity, Judaism

  8. Middle East History Highlights • The Code of Hammurabi- 1st law code • The Phoenician Alphabet- basis for English • The Persian Empire- largest and most benevolent • Zoroaster- 1st Single God concept

  9. Middle East History • Moses and the Jews flight from slavery in Egypt to Israel as God commanded…10 Commandments • Romans expel Jews from Palestine in70A.D. • Christianity and Jesus • Islam and Mohammad • Christian Crusades

  10. Middle East History WW1 Treaty of Versailles stripped Middle East from Ottoman Empire (who sided with Germany) - Britain and France get Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Trans-Jordan, Palestine.

  11. Middle East History • Turkey becomes a republic under Kemal Ataturk • Iran achieves independence under Reza Khan Pahlavi

  12. Middle East History • Iraq gets independence from Britain in 1932 • Lebanon and Syria from France in 1943 and 1946 respectively. • Conflict over Palestine intensifies.

  13. Middle East History • Zionist movement calls for establishment of Jewish State in Palestine…Encourage Jews from Europe to emigrate to Palestine • 1917 Balfour Agreement- British back Jewish state in Palestine • Arab Nationalists in Palestine feel betrayed by the British

  14. Middle East History • Muslims and Christians far outnumber Jews in Palestine • By 1930 many Jews are moving to Palestine because of Anti-Semitism by Hitler. • After WW2- Thousands of Jews (death camp survivors) left Europe for Palestine.

  15. Middle East History • Palestinian Arabs bitterly oppose this migration by Jews • 1947- U.N. partitions Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state- Israel is formed. • 1948- Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon attack Israel separately.

  16. Middle East History • Israel wins and seizes ½ the area the U.N. set aside for Arabs in Palestine. 500,000 Arabs forced to leave Palestine • Wars in 1956, 1968, and 1973 all led to territorial gains by Israel including the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, The Golan Heights for Syria, and the West and East Bank plus east Jerusalem from Jordan.

  17. Middle East History • Palestinians form PLO- Palestinian Liberation Organization. • PLO main objective is to create a Palestinian state for Muslims. • Yasser Arafat leads PLO and is moderately successful forcing Israel to turn over some of the west bank and Gaza Strip. • Conflict continues as both Israel and the Palestinian States seek to control Jerusalem and west bank.

  18. Middle East Today -OPEC- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations- Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African members. Sets per barrel export prices on “light sweet crude” Affect gasoline prices worldwide U.S. and Great Britain are not members OPEC has used supply issues as weapons against the West

  19. Middle East Today • Iraq- Operation Desert Storm- 109 nations respond to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. U.N. Resolution. Iraq ejected from Kuwait. Hussein survives. • Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hussein caught/executed. U.S.installs democracy and leaves this past year. 4,000 dead • Afghanistan- Invaded in 2001 in response to 9/11. Taliban is expelled and U.S. continues to try to stabilize the country. Schedule now calls for our exit on 2013.

  20. Middle East Today • Future Issues: • Independent Palestinian State • Nuclear Iran • Stable Iraq and Afghanistan • Trigger Happy Israel. • The Arab Spring

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