Name:_____________________
North Africa and Southwest Asia
Directions: Read the National Geographic Regional Atlas focus on North Africa and Southwest Asia (p. 454 457) and use the maps, charts, & graphs (p. 457- 463) to answer the following questions.
1. What countries do the Atlas Mountains run through?
1.
2.
2. What mountain range is shared with Afghanistan and Pakistan?
3. What does Rub al’ Khali mean?
4. Which country on the Comparing Population chart has fewer than 20,000,000 people?
5. Which countries on the Comparing Population chart have fewer people than Algeria?
1.
2.
6. Which two cities have urban populations between three and four million?
1.
2.
7. Which country has nearly all of the population living in cities?
8. Which country has a larger percentage of its population living in rural areas than in urban areas?
9. Which country has the most automobiles and personal computers per 1,000 people?
10. Approximately how many people live in Egypt?
11. Which city has more people: Cairo, Egypt, or Tehran, Iran?
12. Which country has the fewest automobiles and personal computers per 1,000 people?
13. What is the world’s largest hot desert?
14. The lowest point on the earth is found in this region. Where is it?
15. How long is the Nile River?
16. What is the most precious resource in the Middle East? (Hint it is not a fossil fuel)
17. How many inches of rainfall do most North African and SW Asian countries receive each year?
18. What causes the standard of living to be very different amongst North African and SW Asian countries?
19. In what three location are largest reserves of oil found?
1.
2.
3.
20. Which country would have a lower standard of living, a country with an economy based on petroleum
products or a country with an economy based on agriculture?
21. What dictates where people settle in North Africa and Southwest Asia?
22. What challenges do rapidly growing cities like Cairo, Istanbul, and Tehran face?
23. What ethnic group are a majority of people in North Africa and SW Asia?
24. What two factors spark tension in this region?
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2.
25. What religion is most practiced in this region?
26. What other religions also began in this region?
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2.
27. How do mountains help create deserts across much of this region?
28. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and Qatar are located on what peninsula?
29. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are found in what country?
30. What two mountain ranges are found in Iran?
1.
2.
Use the country profiles to list each language(s) spoken in the following countries.
Country
Language(s)
Afghanistan
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
Saudia Arabia
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
31. What is the main language spoken in Southwest Asia?
32. Arabic and French are the main languages for which country?
33. Which countries have a significant Kurdish speaking population?
34. In which countries do a significant amount of the population speak Persian?