Southwest Asia
Chapters 19-20
The Persian Gulf and Interior
The Eastern Mediterranean
The Persian Gulf and Interior
The Arabian Peninsula is between the
Red Sea and the Persian Gulf and
includes the following countries:
 Saudi Arabia  The United Arab  Qatar
Emirates
 Bahrain
 Kuwait
 Oman
 Yemen
Red Sea (Saudi-Arabia in distance)
Iraq and Iran are also on the Persian Gulf.
Landlocked Afghanistan lies to the northeast of
Iran.
Tectonic activity that causes earthquakes
Mesopotamia
– Greek for “between rivers”
– Lies mostly in Iraq between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers
– Very fertile for crops by the rivers
– Exotic rivers are in humid regions and then
flow across dry areas.
Hot and dry climates dominate this region
Mesopotamia
Khezr Beach, Hormoz Island,
Persian Gulf, Iran
900 private
A Has
304-room
Armani
Tallest
building
residential
Burj
Khalifa,
Hotel, theapartments
first of four
in the
world
(which,
according
to the
Dubai,
United
by Armani,
occupies
2,722
ft out within
developer,
sold
Arab
Emirate
15 of the lower 39
eight hours of being on
floors
the market)
Kingdom Centre, Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia
The second floor of Kingdom
Centre is dedicated to a
Ladies' Kingdom, a private
shopping mall for women
that's said to have "almost
everything a female would
need" -- including a ladies'
bank and ladies' mosque.
Bahrain
world'sWorld
first windTrade
Center,
powered,
Manama,
megastructure
Bahrain
(13%)
produce about 25%hold
of the
world's
oil
nearly two-thirds
of the world's crude
oil reserves
35% of the world natural gas reserves
Bahrain
History and Culture
Fertile Crescent
– Area of fertile soil
– World’s first civilizations developed here
– Many of the plants and animals found in the
world today were first domesticated here.
3000 B.C. the Sumerians built the world’s first
known cities in southern Mesopotamia.
Rich resources of Mesopotamia have always
attracted invaders and the land has changed
hands from many empires and kingdoms.
Sumerian writing
Sumerian Ruins – City of Ur
Model Reconstruction – City of Ur
Islam
– Mohammad
• Founder who was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
• Lived in this area from about 570 to 632 A.D.
• Age 40 he reported that the angel Gabriel, sent
from Allah, had told him to preach Allah’s
word.
• Followers became known as Muslims and his
writing were collected into the Qur’an (Koran)
• Established a Muslim community center at
Medina
• After death, Arab armies spread Islam to
Morocco and Spain.
Mecca – holiest city for this religion;
Muslims are required to make a
pilgrimage to Mecca at least once.
One of the world’s most practiced
religions
Holy centers are called mosques
Mohammad
never
Mohammad
introduced a
was
descended
new God but
from
Abraham
instead spoke of
through
his
son
the God of
Ishmael
Abraham,
Jesus, and
Moses
Mecca
Mecca
The Great Mosque
Medina
Qur’an (Koran)
Mongols
– 1200’s
– Conquered what are now Afghanistan,
Iran and Iraq
Mongol Ruler – Genghis Khan
Cultural diffusion
Safavids
– Rulers who came into power in Iran in
early 1500s
– Caused a golden age in Persian culture,
literature, and architecture
– Dynasty ended in the mid 1700’s
Ottoman Turks
– 1500’s conquered much Mesopotamia
and the east and west coast of the
Arabian Peninsula
– Early 1900’s, lost control when the
British took it over
Ottoman Turk Empire
Iraq and Saudi Arabia emerged as
independent countries in 1932.
Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates, and Yemen became
independent from Britain in the 1960’s
and 1970’s.
Islam is the identifying culture of this
region.
Arabic is the dominant language.
‫قفز الثعلب البني السريع‬
‫فوق الكلب الكسول‬
There are over a million Arabs in
southern Iran, but there are also many
non-Arabic ethnic groups.
– Kurds
• Are Muslim but not Arabic
• Live in the borderlands of Iran,
Iraq, Syria and Turkey
• Desire for self rule is a source of
political tension throughout the
region
Arab
Kurds
Most of Iran’s people are Persians who
speak Farsi and they dominate the
important positions in the country.
The other ethnic groups have little say in
what goes on.
In Afghanistan the Pashtun make up the
largest ethnic group (they are actually a
number of tribes that speak the Pashtu
language.)
Sunni and Shia
Islam has split into two main branches:
Sunni and Shi’ism.
The difference centers on their choice of
leader or imam.
The Sunni Muslims choose their imams.
The Shia Muslims believe that only a
descendant from Mohammad can be an
imam.
The Shia also rely on imam to interpret
the Qur’an and the Sunni use them
mainly as prayer leaders.
About 90% of Muslims are Sunni and
10% are Shia.
Shi’ism is concentrated in Iran, southern
Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
The Region Today
The regions politics center around three
themes: oil, tradition, Islam
Islam prevent eating pork; no pigs are
raised in these areas.
Oil and gas production
– Central to the countries along the Persian
Gulf
– The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) influences oil prices
throughout the world by increasing or
decreasing production to regulate prices.
– Saudi Arabia
• 8.25 million barrels of oil a day
• Key member of OPEC.
• World’s largest oil exporter
• Special place in world affairs because other
places need more oil than what they can
produce
The Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Super tankers off the coast of
Kuwait
Saudi Oil Production
Persian Gulf must import food.
Nomadic herders known as Bedouins live
in the outlying dry lands.
Beduoins
Iran
Unstable politics
In 1979 there was a revolution that toppled
Iran’s monarchy.
The government became a theocracy (religion
based government) ran by ayatollahs (religious
leaders of high authority among Shia Muslims.)
Many leaders view western ideas as a threat.
Many Iranians are seeking more personal
freedoms.
Global concern – If they close off the Strait of
Hormez, it could cut off a large portion of the
world’s oil supply.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Iraq
Until 2003, Iraq was ruled by Dictator
Saddam Hussein who used the country’s
oil reserve to build a large military.
Under Saddam, Iraq invaded Iran in
1980 and Kuwait in 1990.
A group of countries led by the US
repelled the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in
1991 to keep stability in the region.
This became known as the Persian Gulf
War.
Iraq
Saddam Hussein
Ruled 1979 – 2003
Captured in 2003
Executed in 2006 for
having 148 Iraqi
Shi’ites killed in
1982
San Francisco
1991
To prevent this from happening again the
United Nations ordered Saddam to stop
producing weapons of mass destruction.
In 2003, after Iraq’s continued resistance
to UN inspectors and violations of UN
sanctions the United States led an
invasion of the country.
Iraq forces were defeated and Hussein
was captured and executed.
Instability in the region has led to the rise
of militant groups like ISIS (Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria)
Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s ethnic and political
conflicts have long plagued the country.
In the 1990’s Taliban came into power.
Extreme version of Sunni Islam
Established strict laws for the country
based on Sharia Law.
After the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, US
officials focused on the aid the terrorists
received from the Taliban government.
The US and allied forces attacked
terrorist camps and Taliban military
targets.
The Taliban regime soon collapsed.
Freed from the Taliban, Afghanistan
experienced new liberties though
instability still hurts the country.
Afghanistan
Eastern Mediterranean Countries
Eastern Mediterranean is part of the
Middle East and has six countries:
 Israel
 Jordan
 Lebanon
 Syria
 Turkey
 Cyprus
Eastern
Mediterranean
Turkey
– Lies in both Europe and Asia
– Has many faults and experiences
devastating earthquakes.
Israel, Lebanon and Syria lie in the
coastal plain region
Dead Sea
– The Jordan River flows into it
– 1,312 feet below sea level
– Once part of the Mediterranean Sea,
but it no longer has an outlet
– It is so salty nothing can live in it and
anyone can easily float in it.
Jordan River
Dead Sea
Dead Sea
Arid, Semiarid and Mediterranean
climates cover this region.
Lebanon used to be famous for its many
cedar trees but most have been
deforested over the last 2,000 years.
In about 1,000 BC the Hebrew people set
up a kingdom between the Jordan River
and the Mediterranean Sea.
Hebrews practice Judaism, which is
dominant in Israel.
Judaism
The Romans conquered the Eastern
Mediterranean between 200BC and AD
106.
Roman Empire
Jesus was born at the beginning of the
first century in Bethlehem, Israel. His
ministry throughout the Jerusalem area
changed this region.
In the first century AD, Christianity
began to spread throughout this region.
By the late 300’s, Christianity was the
official religion of the Roman Empire.
Jesus Christ
The spread of Christianity
In the 400’s AD, the Roman Empire
became divided, the eastern part became
known as the Byzantine Empire.
The Eastern Orthodox Church also
became divided from the Roman Catholic
Church at this time.
In 1077 Arab Muslims took over
Jerusalem which started a 200 year war
between Christians and Muslims known
as the Crusades.
Temple Mount
Judaism regards the Temple Mount as the place
where God chose the Divine Presence to rest; it was
from here the world expanded into its present form
and where God gathered the dust used to create the
first man, Adam. The site is the location of
Islam:
thirdbinding
holiest
in and
Islam.
Location
Abraham's
ofsite
Isaac,
of two
Jewish
where
Muhammad's
journey
to Jerusalem
and
Temples.
Place where the
Bible mandates
the Holy
ascended
heaven.
Temple into
be rebuilt.
In the 1300’s the Ottoman Turks took over
this area and controlled access to eastern
Mediterranean Sea for their trading empire
By the 1600’s the Ottoman Empire included
most of Southwest Asia.
During World War I the Ottoman Empire
fought on the losing side.
The former territories of the empire became
mandates of Great Britain and France.
After WWII these mandates became
independent.
The Ottoman Empire
In the 1800’s European Jews began a
movement called Zionism which called
for Jews to set up their own homeland in
Palestine.
After WWI thousands of Jews moved to
the area.
During WWII, Germany’s Nazis
murdered millions of Jews in what
became known as the Holocaust.
This greatly increased the Jewish move to
Palestine.
Holocaust
Holocaust
Today 80% of Israel’s population is
Jewish.
In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine
into Jewish and Arab states, the next
year the Jewish leadership declared itself
independent.
There have been a series of wars between
Arabs and Israelis. (1956, 1967, 1973,
1982, and 2006)
Six Day War – 1967
Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish are the
most common languages.
Jewish, Christian, and Muslim are the
major religions of the area.
Traditions and customs revolve mainly
around religion.
Many factors have slowed economic
development in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
– Earthquakes in Turkey
– Political problems in different
countries.
– Hostile relations between Israel and its
neighbors.
– The economics of Syria and Jordan are
underdeveloped and suffer high
unemployment.
Damascus, Syria
Israel is the most technologically
advanced country of the eastern
Mediterranean.
– Invented irrigation system that takes
water directly to the plants’ roots
Tourism is also important to Cyprus,
Turkey, and Israel.
Many cities are ancient but the urban
population is growing.
Open air markets called souks are
common.
Most of the pressing issues of the region are
political.
– The Gaza Strip in Israel (Israelis vs. Arabs
about who is in control of the land)
– Kurds in Turkey complain of unfair
treatment and thousands have been killed as
result of this struggle.
– Islamic fundamentalists want the secular
governments to be more Islamic.
– Refugees from wars of various countries in
the area are flooding into Jordan and they
now make up a slight majority.
The most pressing environmental concern is
lack of water.