Annotated Resource Set (ARS)
Title / Content Area:
Location, Management, and Distribution of Resources in Iraq
Developed by:
LaTonya Amboree, Secondary Social Studies Helping Teacher, Fort Bend Independent School
District (TX)
Grade Level:
9th Grade World Geography
Essential Question:
How has the location, distribution, and management of oil and natural gas affected the
movement of products and people in Iraq?
Contextual Paragraph:
Since the discovery of oil in the Middle East in 1908, Western powers have sought dominance
over the region's resources. Iraq has the largest reserves of oil in the world, but as a result of
military occupation and civil unrest, much of Iraqi oil wells are run down and unkempt.
Repairs to the wells and oil facilities should make far more oil available economically from the
same deposits. After more than a decade of sanctions and two Gulf Wars, Iraq’s oil
infrastructure needs modernization and investment. Another challenge to Iraq's development
of the oil sector is that resources are not evenly divided across sectarian lines. Most known
resources are in the Shiite areas of the south and the Kurdish north, with few resources in
control of the Sunni population in the center.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
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Resource Set
Middle East oil and gas
map refineries, oil- and
gas-fields, and pipelines
Iraq's Petroleum and
Gas Infrastructure
Iraq Oil Fields and
Drilling Towers
Iraq Country Profile
Oil wells and camp of
Iraq Petroleum
Company
Oil wells and camp of
the Iraq Petroleum
Company
Shows oil and gas fields,
pipelines, tanker
terminals, and refineries
on an oil and gas on the
Middle East map.
Includes inset of the
Persian Gulf.
Shows oil and gas fields
and pipelines,
exploration blocks,
crude oil processing
plants, pump stations,
refineries, and tanker
terminals in Iraq.
Image shows oil wells of
the Iraq Petroleum
Company dating back to
the 1930s.
Various maps depicting
the petroleum, ethnic
groups, religion,
population density, land
use, Kurds, and physical
geography of Iraq.
A river of crude oil,
result of an
uncontrolled gusher.
Center of the oil
activities showing Baba
Gurka on the left.
http://www.loc.gov/ite
m/2007631392
http://www.loc.gov/ite
m/2007629280
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/mpc2005007
756/PP/
http://www.loc.gov/ite
m/2003629031
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/item/mpc2010001
746/PP/
http://www.loc.gov/pict
ures/resource/matpc.16
255/
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
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Oil Reserves and
Production in Iraq
Southwest Asia Rail
Routes and Nuclear
Energy Projects
Kurdistan and Oil
Iraq population and Oil
The Energy (Oil and
Ethnic Groups)
Diagram from the
Financial Times that
shows Iraq’s oil reserves
and production.
Map depicting major rail
routes and nuclear
energy projects in the
Middle East.
Map shows the location
of Iraqi oil fields in
“Kurdistan.”
Map depicts the
population density of
Iraq and the location of
oil fields throughout the
country.
Map depicting the
location of oil fields and
the placement of
various pipelines used
for transporting and
distributing oil
http://blogs.ft.com/ene
rgy-source/2009/06/
http://www.schillerinsti
tute.org/economy/maps
/maps3.html#Southwes
t%20Asia
http://www.economist.
com/node/13743328
http://www.worldology.
com/Iraq/iraq_war_200
9.htm
http://temi.repubblica.it
/limes-heartland/theenergy-iraqs/1118
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
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Foundations Annotations
Curriculum Connections
This Annotated Resource Set can be used in a unit on Southwest Asia.
Curriculum Standards
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for World Geography
12A: analyze how the creation, distribution, and management of key natural resources affects the location and patterns of movement of products, money, and
people.
19A: evaluate the significance of major technological innovations in the areas of transportation and energy that have been used to modify the physical
environment.
Content & Thinking Objectives
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for World Geography
21A: analyze and evaluate the validity and utility of multiple sources of geographic information such as primary and secondary sources, aerial photographs, and
maps.
21B: locate places of contemporary geopolitical significance on a map.
21C: create and interpret different types of maps to answer geographic questions, infer relationships, and analyze change.
22B: generate summaries, generalizations, and thesis statements supported by evidence.
23C: use problem-solving and decision-making processes to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and
disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
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