Chapter 7: Southwest A s ia and North Africa

1. Chapter 7: Southwest Asia and North Africa FIGURE 7.1

2. Learning Objectives • Learn about the historical roots of Southwest Asia and North Africa, including religious significance • Understand the role of Islam in shaping the history and current political situation in this region • Understand the role of oil and water in shaping this region • Become familiar with the physical, demographic, cultural, political, and economic characteristics of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SW Asia and N Africa) • Understand these concepts and models: • Exotic rivers • Hajj • Islamic fundamentalism • Monotheism • Ottoman Empire • OPEC • Levant and Maghreb • Pastoral Nomadism • Theocratic state • Transhumance

3. Setting the Boundaries • Sometimes called the Middle East (a European perspective) • Region is generally arid, Muslim, and rich in oil (but this is not true of all countries in the region) • This region is aculture hearth:cultural innovations that subsequently diffuse to other parts of world began here • Development of petroleum industry has had large impact on the region • OPEC(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries): member countries profoundly influence global prices and production targets for petroleum • Islamic fundamentalism:aspect of Islam that advocates return to more traditional practices, calls for merger of civil and religious authority, and challenges encroachment of global popular culture

4. Environmental Geography: Life in a Fragile World • A long history of human settlement in has left its mark on the environment in the region • Deforestation and overgrazing • Salinization of soils caused by centuries of irrigation FIGURE 7.5Socotra’s Dragon’s Blood Tree FIGURE 7.4Environmental Issues

5. Managing Water FIGURE 7.6Hydropolitics in Jordan River Basin FIGURE 7.7 Saudi Arabian Irrigation – Iran’s qanat system and Libya’s “Great Man-Made River” tap groundwater – Egypt’s Aswan High Dam generates electricity – Israel’s “Peace Corridor” will bring water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea Hydropolitics: interplay of water resource issues and politics

6. Regional Landforms – North Africa • Maghreb (“West Island”): Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia; the Atlas Mountains of Southwest Asia • Levant: eastern Mediterranean region of SW Asia mountains and highlands • Anatolia: peninsula of Turkey(“Asia Minor”), geologicallyactive plateau • Mesopotamia: in Iraq, betweenthe Tigris and Euphrates rivers • SW Asia is more mountainous than N Africa FIGURE 7.1Southwest Asia and North Africa

7. Patterns of Climate • Climate region is complex because of altitude and latitude • Large portions of region are arid • Deserts stretch from the Atlantic Coast across Africa, through Arabian Peninsula, into central and eastern Iran Arid Iran (Figure 7.12) FIGURE 7.12Arid Iran FIGURE 7.14Nile Valley

8. Patterns of Climate(cont.) – Mediterranean climates in the Atlas Mountains and the Levant coastline are caused by both altitude and latitude FIGURE 7.8Atlas Mountains FIGURE 7.11Climate Map

9. Population and Settlement: Patterns in an Arid Land – More than 400 million people in the region – Physiological densities are among the highest on Earth – Physiological density: the number of people per unitof arable (farm) land • The geography of population

10. Population and Settlement: Patterns in an Arid Land(cont.) – Dry areas are sparsely settled; moist lands may be overpopulated – Population clusters: (1) Maghreb: moister areas of Atlas Mountains and coastal regions (2) Nile Valley FIGURE 7.15Population FIGURE 7.13Algerian Orange Harvest

11. Water and Life: Rural Settlement Patterns • Domestication: plants and animals are selectively bred for desirable characteristics; domestication began in this region 10,000 years ago • Fertile Crescent: ecologically diverse zone from Levant through fertile hill country of northern Syria into Iraq • Pastoral nomadism • Traditional form of subsistence agriculture that depends on seasonal movement of livestock • Transhumance: seasonal movement of livestock from winter to summer pastures FIGURE 7.2 Man at Livestock Market, United Arab Emirates

12. Water and Life: Rural Settlement Patterns (cont.) • Oasis life • Areas where high groundwater or deep-water wells provide reliable moisture (small agricultural settlements or densely settled trade centers) • Exotic river: a river that comes from a humid area and flows into a dry area that otherwise lacks streams; used for irrigation • Kibbutz: collectively worked settlement that produces grain, vegetable, and orchard crops, irrigated by the Jordan River and feeder canals FIGURE 7.18 Oasis Agriculture in Morocco

13. Water and Life: Rural Settlement Patterns (cont.) – Depends on seasonal moisture, precipitation – Mostly in Mediterranean area (see map) – Crops: tree crops, livestock, grains, illegal hashish • The challenge of dryland agriculture FIGURE 7.17Agricultural Regions

14. Many-Layered Landscapes: Urban Imprint • Some of the world’s oldest urban areas are in this region • A long urban legacy • Earliest cities in Mesopotamia (Eridu and Ur, 3500 BCE) and Egypt (Memphis and Thebes, 3000 BCE) • Rise of trade centers around 2000 BCE • Centers of Islamic religious administration and education • Medina: the urban core of a traditional Islamic city has a centralmosque and bazaar • Colonialism left Europeaninfluence FIGURE 7.20 Fes, MoroccoShown is the commercial district.

15. Signatures of Globalization • Urban centers have become focal points of economic growth (Cairo, Algiers, Istanbul) • Oil wealth has added modern element to traditional cities (e.g., Dubai) FIGURE 7.21Modern Doha, Qatar

16. A Region on the Move • Migration streams • Rural-to-urban migration • Outmigration from Iraq because of war • 10 percent of population have left • Job-related migration within the region • More than 75 percent of Saudi Arabia’s workers are foreign • Immigration of low-wage workers from other regions • Emigration of workers from the region • 2.7 million Turkish guest workers went to Germany • Algerians and Moroccans went to France FIGURE 7.22 Labor Camp in Shariah City, United Arab Emirates Shown are South Asian workers.

17. Shifting Demographic Patterns • Population growth rates vary within the region • Women in are having fewer children • Causes: delayed marriage, family planning initiatives, greater urbanization; rising consumer orientation • Tunisia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt • High rates of natural increase in West Bank, Gaza, and Yemen • Increasing population strains cities, water supplies, public services, job availability FIGURE 7.23 Egypt’s Changing Population Shown are data for 2000 and 2050 (projected).

18. Cultural Coherence and Diversity: Signatures of Complexity • Patterns of religion • Hearth of the Judeo-Christian tradition • Jews and Christians trace their rootsto the eastern Mediterranean • Monotheism: belief in one God • The emergence of Islam • Originated in Southwest Asia in 622 CE • In the Judeo-Christian tradition: shares prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus • Qur'an (Koran); Islamic book of revelations received by Muhammad from Allah (God) • Islam means “submission to the will of God” FIGURE 7.25 Pilgrimage to Makkah

19. Patterns of Religion FIGURE 7.26Modern Religions • Schism in Islam • Shiite Muslims favored passing power within Muhammed’s family • Sunni Muslims favored passing power through established clergy; most Muslims are Sunni • Iran is an Islamic theocracy • Theocratic state:state where religious leaders (ayatollahs) guide policy

20. Patterns of Religion (cont.) • Modern religious diversity • Muslims are majority in region, except for Israel and Cyprus • Sunni (73 percent) • Shiites (23 percent); majority in Iran, southern Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Bahrain • Sufism (mystic form of Islam) in region’s margins • Druze (spin-off of Shi’a Islam) in Lebanon and Syria FIGURE 7.27Old Jerusalem

21. Patterns of Religion (cont.) FIGURE 7.24Diffusion of Islam – The expansion of the Ottoman Empire helped to spread Islam – Ottoman Empire:vast empire of Turks; it included most of Southwest Asia and North Africa, as well as southeastern Europe (circa 1453)

22. • Semites and Berbers – Arabic and Hebrew (Semite) – Berber in Atlas Mountains and Sahara • Persians and Kurds– Indo-European languages – Persian In Iran – Kurdish in northern Iraq, NW Iran, eastern Turkey • The Turkish imprint –Altaic language: more Turkic speakers in Central Asia (Chapter 10) Geographies of Language FIGURE 7.28Modern Languages

23. Regional Cultures in Global Context • Islamic internationalism • Islamic communities are well established in central China, European Russia, central Africa, southern Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, elsewhere • Muslim congregations are expanding in western Europe and North America • Globalization and cultural change • Global economy is having impact on traditional cultural values • Fundamentalism is a reaction • Access to satellite TV, cell phones, Internet bring global culture to theregion FIGURE 7.29 Kurdish Family in Eastern Turkey

24. Geopolitical Framework: Never-Ending Tensions • The colonial legacy • European colonialism after World War I • Dominance of Ottoman Empire (1550–1850) • Many political boundaries set by colonial powers • Imposing European power • French in Algeria since 1800, later in Tunisia, Morocco, Syria and Lebanon • Britain in Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf by 1900 • Suez Canal: British-engineered canal linking Mediterranean and Red seas in 1869 • European banks influenced Egyptian economy • British instrumental in establishing Saudi Arabia • Italians in Libya, Spanish in Morocco • Turkey, Iran (Persia) never occupied

25. Decolonization and Independence • Europeans began to withdraw before World War II • By 1950 most countries independent • Algeria independent in 1962 • Modern geopolitical issues • Across North Africa • Libya formerly a problem; since 2004 moving toward cooperation, including disarmament • Islamist movements in Algeria and Egypt • Sudan had north (Islamist) versus south (Christian and animist) war in 1990s; now has conflict between nomadic Arabs and black African sedentary farmers in the Darfur region

26. Modern Geopolitical Issues – Creation of Israel in 1948 – Three wars: 1956, 1967 (when Israel gained most land), 1973 – Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements (ongoing) • Israel’s construction of wall around settlements is a new source of tension; contributes to economic woes of Palestinians • The Arab–Israeli conflict FIGURE 7.33 West Bank FIGURE 7.32 Evolution of Israel

27. • Iraq’s political evolution • – Iraq was born in colonial era: • carved from British Empire, 1932 • – Multiethnic: Shi’a Arabs, Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Marsh Arabs • – U.S. troops in Iraq (since 2003) Modern Geopolitical Issues (cont.) FIGURE 7.36 Multicultural Iraq

28. Modern Geopolitical Issues(cont.) • • Instability in Saudi Arabia – Saud family (conservative monarchy) controls country – No democratic reforms – Home to radical Wahhabi Muslims (15 of 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi) – Foreign workers, U.S. military presence FIGURE 7.30 Geopolitical Issues • • Iranian geopolitics – Islamic Revolution 1978 – Supports other Shi’a Islamists – Oil and gas reserves – Nuclear development – Reformers among Iran’s educated middle class

29. Economic and Social Development: Lands of Wealth and Poverty • The geography of fossil fuels • – Oil unevenly distributed in the area • • This region has 7 percent of the world’s population, 61 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves • • Saudi Arabia, Iran, UAE, Libya, Algeria have much • • Israel, Jordan, Lebanon have none FIGURE 7.37Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas Production and Reserves

30. Regional Economic Patterns • Higher-income oil exporters • Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE • Not all benefit, e.g., rural Shiite Muslims and foreign workers do not • Recent economic downturn caused oil prices to drop • Lower-income oil exporters • Algeria: oil and natural gas are its top exports, but political instability remains a problem • Iran: has huge oil reserves, but long war with Iraq (1980–1990) and withdrawal from world trade lowered living standards • Iraq struggling to get its oil industry back on track

31. Regional Economic Patterns(cont.) • Prospering without oil • Israel has highest living standard in the region • Turkey has a diversified economy; has seen growth; 35 percent still employed in agriculture • Economic reforms in Tunisia • Lebanon has potential for prosperity through tourism and telecommunications FIGURE 7.38Israeli High-Tech Industry

32. Regional Patterns of Poverty(cont.) • Sudan’s economy ruined by civil war, political instability • Egypt’s prospects unclear, with growth in 1990s, but many are still poor, with a large gap between rich and poor • Brain drain: phenomenon in which some of brightest young people leave for better jobs in western Europe • Yemen is poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, with marginal subsistence farming and widespread unemployment • Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza: political disruptions discourage investment; Israel has destroyed infrastructure; two-thirds of Palestinians live in poverty; unemployment above 40 percent

33. Development Indicators

34. A Woman’s Changing World • World’s lowest female workforce participation; large gaps between male and female literacy • More orthodox Islamic countries limit female participation • In Saudi Arabia, women are not permitted to drive • Women in Iran wear head scarves (but may also wear Western-style fashions) • Educational opportunities for women are increasing – Some classrooms segregated by gender FIGURE 7.40Women in the Workforce in Algeria

35. Global Economic Relationships • OPEC’s changing fortunes • OPEC no longer controls oil and gas prices globally but still influences availability and cost • Saudi Arabia still dependent on oil and gas • 90 percent of exports are crude oil shipments (70 percent) or refined petrochemical products (20 percent) • Recession of 2008–2009 caused drop in oil prices • Regional and international linkages • Turkey asks to join European Union, but the going is slow • Arab League formed in 1945 • Greater Arab Free Trade Area (2005) to spur cooperation • Islamic Development Bank; Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development

36. Global Economic Relationships(cont.) • The geography of tourism • Ancient historical sites and globally significant religious localities are a large draw • Tourist hotels and condos on the Mediterranean • Ecotourism • Tourism is a large part of the regional economy in Turkey, Israel, and Egypt • Impacts to visual landscape, physical environment, and archeological sites

37. Summary • Southwest Asia and North Africa have played a critical role in world history and globalization • Important culture hearth and religious center • Oil plays world role • Political conflicts disrupt economic development • Tension between modern ways and fundamentalist traditions