Chapter 19
Living in North Africa, Southwest
Asia, Central Asia Today
Chapter 19:1 Objectives
• 1. Discuss how physical geography affects
farming and fishing in North Africa,
Southwest Asia and Central Asia.
• 2. List the region’s important industries.
• 3. Explain how improvements in
transportation and communications are
changing life in the region.
Terms to Know
• arable
• commodity
• petrochemical
• gross domestic
product (GDP)
• hajj
• embargo
Drawing from Experience
• Would you say that your lifestyle depends
on the use of oil and oil products?
• Why or why not?
• Most of the world’s oil is found in North
Africa, Southwest Asia and Central Asia.
• This section focuses on the economic
activities, transportation, communications,
and interdependence of the region.
Introduction
• North Africa, Southwest Asia, Central Asia
hold great oil reserves. The oil industry is
important in the region’s economy.
• The regions improved transportation and
communications link it with the world.
• What industry is important in the region?
Meeting Food Needs
• The challenge is producing food for a
rapidly growing population.
• Poor soil and unreliable rain produce small
amounts of food.
• Rich oil-producing countries can import
food while,
• other countries like Afghanistan must grow
their own.
• Sometimes irrigation can be used.
• Not much land is suitable for farming but,
• a large part of the population is engaged in
agriculture.
• Citrus fruits, grapes and olives are major
crops in the Mediterranean climates.
• Grains, cotton and livestock grow on farms
in Central Asia.
• Fish are an important food source in
coastal areas of the region.
Industrial Growth
• The region has about 70% of the world’s
oil supply and 33% of the world’s natural
gas reserves.
• Petroleum and oil products are the main
export commodities, or economic goods
in the region.
• Other industries use petrochemicals –
products made from petroleum or natural
gas – to make fertilizers, medicines,
plastics, and paints.
• Copper and coal are mined in Central
Asia.
• In North Africa, Morocco is the world’s
largest exporter of phosphate used in
agricultural fertilizers.
Two Major Service Industries
• financial
• tourism
• Banking, real estate, and insurance
account for most of Bahrain’s gross
domestic produce (GDP).
• GDP is the value of goods and services
produced in a country in a year.
• Tourism is popular in North Africa and
Southwest Asia because of their historical
importance.
• Millions of visitors tour religious sites each
year.
• Christians and Jews tour Israel, Jordan
and other countries in the region.
• Muslims make a hajj, or yearly pilgrimage,
to Makkah (Mecca).
Petra, Jordan – tourist
destination
Petra Treasury
Royal Tombs
• AIRLINES connect countries within the region
and with the rest of the world.
• WATERWAYS and ports on the Black and
Mediterranean Seas allow ships to load and
unload cargo.
• Channels such as the Strait of Hormuz are
used by oil tankers to transport oil from the
region.
Transportation
• ROAD systems in Iran, Turkey and Egypt
connect major cities with oil fields and
seaports.
• RAILROADS connect cities with rural
areas.
• Mass transit systems have been built in
urban areas to ease traffic jams.
• The Suez Canal, a major human-made
waterway lying between the Sinai Peninsula and
the rest of Egypt, enables ships to pass from the
Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
• PIPELINES transport oil and natural gas
overland to ports on the Mediterranean and Red
Seas and the Persian Gulf.
Why is the Suez Canal
Important?
Suez Canal
Red Sea
Communications
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a. Television & radio
b. satellite technology
c. telephone
d. computer and internet
e. telecommunications cable was laid
along the Silk Road.
• This cable provides 20 countries with
communications services.
Interdependence
• Interdependence has increased as the
more developed countries help the less
developed.
OPEC
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Eight of the region’s countries:
Algeria
Libya
Iran
Iraq
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia and
UAE (United Arab Emirates)
• belong to the 11 member OPEC
organization,
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries.
• Because other countries depend heavily
on the region’s oil, OPEC countries have
considerable influence in the world.
Embargo
• Sometimes OPEC places an embargo, or
restriction, on oil shipped to industrialized
countries, causing oil prices to rise.
• In 1999 OPEC forced oil prices to rise by
decreasing oil production. (supply &
demand)
Key Points
• Although North Africa, Southwest Asia and
Central Asia have limited arable land, a
relatively large percentage of the region’s
people work in agriculture.
• The oil-producing countries in the region
have experienced greater economic
growth than other countries in the region.
• Expanded and more advanced
transportation and communications
systems are helping connect the region’s
urban and economic centers with one
another and with the world.
• Interdependence is increasing among the
countries of the region, especially in
controlling oil production and prices.
Chapter 19:2 Objectives
• 1. Describe how the peoples in North
Africa, Southwest Asia and Central Asia
have dealt with scarce water resources.
• 2. Discuss the causes and effects of
environmental problems in the region.
Terms to Know
• aquifer
• desalination
Drawing From Experience
• Is freshwater in your area scarce?
• Why or why not?
• In the last section, you read about
economic activity in North Africa,
Southwest Asia and Central Asia.
• This section focuses on the environmental
challenges facing the region.
Introduction
• Human actions in North Africa, Southwest
Asia and Central Asia threaten the
environment.
• These actions include oil spills,
urbanization, and overuse of water
supplies.
The Need for Water
• Freshwater is scarce in the region.
• About 97% of the world’s water is
saltwater.
• 2% of the earth’s freshwater is frozen.
• That leaves 1% of the freshwater available
for human use.
• This region gets its water from rivers,
oases and underground aquifers.
Desalination
• a way to remove salt from seawater and
make it fresh
• Many countries depend on desalination for
their freshwater supply.
• It’s very expensive.
Libya’s Great Man-Made Lake
• While drilling for oil they discovered water!
• This underground aquifer was huge.
• Libya created a lake with the water that is
being pulled out.
• Some scientists are afraid these pipelines
will drain the aquifer.
• Some are afraid that pumping water from
the aquifers will draw in saltwater from the
sea and ruin the freshwater.
Libya’s Great Man-Made Lake
Gadhafi (former Libyan ruler) &
Obama
Question
• What are some solutions to the freshwater
scarcity in the region?
Environmental Concerns
• Environmental concerns have grown in the
region in recent decades because of new
technologies and destructive wars.
Aswan High Dam in Egypt
• In 1970 the Aswan High Dam was
completed.
• It controls the Nile River’s flood, irrigates 3
million acres of land and supplies almost
50% of Egypt’s electrical power.
• The dam has also created an artificial lake
to help the fishing industry.
• However, because of the dam the river no
longer deposits fertile soil along the
riverbanks.
• Instead, the dam traps the soil.
• To grow crops, farmers must now use
expensive fertilizers.
• Parasite-related diseases have increased
near the dam.
Aswan High Dam
New dam/old dam
Persian Gulf War (1990)
• The war had disastrous effects on the
environment.
• Iraqi troops set fire to oil wells, causing
smoke to pollute the area.
• The effects of the oil fires threatened
millions of birds.
• They also dumped millions of gallons of oil
into the Persia Gulf.
• This killed fish and other marine life.
1990 Bush vs. Hussein – Kuwait
oil fires
Old Soviet Era Problems
• Central Asia
• The Soviet regime polluted these
countries.
• They tested nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons in Kazakhstan.
• Severe radiation leaks occurred.
• Heavy industry in Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan polluted the air.
• Infant mortality has increased.
The Caspian Sea
• face severe pollution problems
• Pollution and overfishing in the Caspian
Sea are killing off sturgeon, an important
export in this region.
Caspian Sea
Sturgeon
Caviar
The Dead Sea -- Israel
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water level has dropped
desalination is one cause
used for irrigation
lowest spot on earth
1388 feet below sea level.
Dead Sea Salt Balls
The Aral Sea
• severe water level drop
• water has been drawn away from the
rivers that feed the Aral for irrigation
• fishing has been almost destroyed
• However, they are working hard to restore
the Aral.
Sec. 2 Key Points
• Countries in the region have modified their
environments to meet people’s needs for
water for drinking and irrigation.
• New technologies and destructive wars
have subjected the region’s environment
to stress.
• People are working to revive areas
damaged by past events.
Question
• What environmental problems does this
region face today?
End of Slide Show