• The Desert
• Oases
• Coastal Plain
• Mountains

The Desert
• The desert climate is extreme.
• Rainfall is less than 10 inches per year.

The Desert
• Summer temperatures can exceed 120 degrees in the shade.
• Winter temperatures can drop below freezing.

The Desert
• Extremes prevent the development of a solid cover of vegetation.
• Winds create dunes reaching 500 feet high.

The Desert
• Arabian deserts contain wells of salty water, low shrubs, and clumps of tough grass.
• This provides good grazing for camels, sheep, goats, and jackrabbits.

The Desert
• Most of the land of the Arabian peninsula is desert.
• This provides a natural barrier from foreign conquest.

An Oasis
• An oasis is a fertile place in the desert where a spring or a well provides a water supply.

An Oasis
• Main source of lifegiving water and green pastures for camel herds and other grazing animals.
• Nomads travel from oasis to oasis seeking pastures for camels to graze.

An Oasis
• Vegetation in oases consisted of date palms, orchard and ground crops such as myrrh and frankincense.
• Spices were used for religious, medicinal, sanitary and cosmetic purposes.

• Also became trading centers.
• Nomads bought camel meat and milk.
• Also traded were spices, perfumes, precious metals, ivory and silk.
• Another thing that was traded was ideas .

• A coastal plain is level land extending along a coast.
• It separates a plateau from the sea.

• The coastal plain of the Arabian
Peninsula is more humid than the interior due to its proximity to the sea.

• The Arabian Peninsula has a few deep harbors to encourage seafaring but not one river to provide interior transport and communication.

• People living on the coastal plain became effective traders.
• Most of the trading cities are located along the coastal plain.

• The coastal plain of
Arabia has one major advantage over the other geographical areas: RICH
AGRICULTURE.
• This region contains most of the cultivated land of the peninsula.

• Crops included: coffee, grains, and fruits.
• This cultivation, along with trading, allowed people to develop complex civilizations.

• Mountains stretch along the coast of the
Arabian Peninsula about 50 miles from the sea.

• This causes the climate to be different from the interior basin.
• During the rainy season, flash floods are common.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
• Annual rainfall is 20-
30 inches.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
• Farmers created banks of earth called terraces to irrigate crops.
• They fertilized with manure and ashes from cooking fires.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
• This system of farming produced a number of crops such as dates and oranges.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
• Mountains tend to seal people off from the desert and beyond.
• People of the mountains can maintain their culture and traditions.

A Mountain Settlement in Yemen
• Today, homes built of mud brick are decorated with bands of color.
• This is a tradition from ancient times.

Geography of the Arabian Peninsula
• Assignment :
• Draw a picture and label each of the four types of geography of the
Arabian Peninsula:
Desert , Oases ,
Coastal Plain , and
Mountains
• Write one sentence about each and color