Southwest Asian Geography Chapter 11 Lesson 1 SW Asia’s Relative Location • Crossroads location – Links Europe, Africa, and Asia • Traders/Invaders spread their goods and ideas – Each group left cultural footprints • Language, religion SW and World Trade • Region controls vital sea and land routes – Bosporous and Dardanelles Straits link Black and Mediterranean Seas • Red Sea and Suez Canal are important sea lanes – Ships use to avoid long trips around Africa on way from Europe to Asia SW Asian Mountains • Mountains affect movement and communication – Must find way around or through them • Mountains influence SW Asia’s rainfall – Western and northern slopes receive more and block precipitation from reaching east and south • Shifts in mountains cause earthquakes SW Asian Plateaus • Anatolian Plateau suitable for growing grain – Continental climate • Iranian Plateau – Dry, has little plant life SW Asian Deserts • Deserts discourage movement of people – Very little or no water Importance of SW Asian Bodies of Water • Region surrounded by Black, Mediterranean, Caspian, Red, and Arabian Seas • Jordan River – Israel and Jordan struggle over control • Lack of moisture makes fresh water very important Importance of SW Asian Bodies of Water-continued • Tigris/Euphrates Rivers – Rise in Turkey, flow through Syria and Iraq, empty into Persian Gulf – Key to birth of world’s earliest civilizations – Supplies water for agriculture • Turkey dammed Euphrates and created reservoir – Downstream Syria and Iraq worry Turkey will use water for their people Importance of SW Asian Bodies of Water-continued • Persian Gulf – Important to world’s economy – Has oil below its surface – Busy shipping route Importance of SW Asian Bodies of Water-continued • Red Sea – Important shipping route – With opening of Suez Canal became link in world trade routes running between Europe and Asia • Suez Canal connects Mediterranean and Red Seas Subregions of SW Asia • Middle East – Name use for the subregion of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestinian Authority (PNA) – Forms a curving band of fairly well-watered land – Extends from Mediterranean coast to northern shores of Persian Gulf – Located in middle of far reaching Muslim world Subregions of SW Asia • Arabian Peninsula – Lies on most southwestern corner of Asia – Interior is mostly desert and has few people – Coasts have well-watered areas and oases – To Americans it is land of Bedouin (desert nomads) and oil – To Muslims it is homeland of Islam and prophet Mohammad Subregions of SW Asia • Northern Tier – Includes 3 non Arab countries in the North • Turkey, Iran, and Cyprus Key Vocabulary • Strait: narrow waterway that connects two larger bodies of water • Relief: differences in height or elevation • Deserts in SW Asia have little relief – Few hills and valleys to create differences in height Key Vocabulary • Fertile Crescent: arc of green land stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf – Key agricultural region • Mesopotamia – “Land between the rivers” • Tigris and Euphrates – Part of Fertile Crescent