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Southwest Asia & North Africa

Southwest Asia & North Africa. Mesopotamia “The Fertile Crescent” . 3000 BCE Sumerians built first known cities in S. Mesopotamia. Over the years - civilizations repeatedly developed, collapsed & were replaced. 550 BCE Persians established an empire here where Iran is today. .

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Southwest Asia & North Africa

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  1. Southwest Asia & North Africa

  2. Mesopotamia “The Fertile Crescent” 3000 BCE Sumerians built first known cities in S. Mesopotamia. Over the years - civilizations repeatedly developed, collapsed & were replaced. 550 BCE Persians established an empire here where Iran is today.

  3. Jerusalem – The Holy City • Jerusalem - ancient city that has been fought over for thousands of years. • This is partly because it is a place of religious importance for Christians, Muslims & Jews.

  4. Arab/Israeli Conflict • After WWII Jewish people were escaping from Germany. • Many owned nothing and had stepped straight out from Hitler’s death camps. • They sought refuge in Israel, Holy Land for Jews as well as Muslims & Christians. • Both Jews and Arabs wanted control of this land. Both had claims and the have been fighting for control of this land since.

  5. Iran Revolution: 1979 • Shah (King): brutal & corrupt. • 1979 People were protesting for the Shahs removal. He fled the country. • Today Iran has a Constitutional Theocracy (Islamic religious law).

  6. 9/11 & The War in Afghanistan 2001 • On the morning of September 11, 2001 four US airplanes were hijacked by terrorists. • 2 planes were flown in to the World Trade Center buildings in NYC, 1 plane was flown into the Pentagon and the other was taken back over by the passengers & crash landed in a field killing all passengers onboard, but preventing the plane from flying into another building. • The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people (19 of which were the hijackers)

  7. World Trade Center Buildings

  8. 9/11 Attacks on the US Pentagon

  9. The Afghanistan War after 9/11 • The US invaded Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. • The US demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 attacks but the Taliban refused. • On May 2, 2011, US Navy Seals found & killed Osama bin Laden at his home in Pakistan.

  10. US Invasion of Iraq 2003 • 2003: US invaded Iraq "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's (their leader) support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.” 

  11. US Invasion of Iraq 2003 • 2005: CIA report - no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. • Nov 2006: Hussein found guilty by an Iraqi court of torture & murder crimes & sentenced to death by hanging. • Dec 2011: The last of the American troops out of Iraq – established a parliamentary democracy gov’t

  12. Economy • Middle East economies range from being very poor (Gaza, Yemen) to extremely wealthy (Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia). • Israel is the most technologically advanced of the Middle Eastern countries.

  13. Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) • Former British protectorate • Oil rich • Palm Islands & The “World”: Artificial peninsulas constructed of sand dredged from the Persian Gulf.

  14. Aswan High Dam Purpose: to control the floodwaters, & harness hydroelectric power. • Before: The Nile flooded annually. The flooding provided nutrients that enriched the soil making the Nile floodplain ideal for farming. • After: flooding was controlled, however, the farmers lost natural fertilizer brought by the flooding Nile.

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