Adam Goldberg
5/5/97 Pd. 3
The Monkeys Smell Good
The Middle East is a region in Southwest Asia that includes the countries of Saudi
Arabia, Yemen, Oman, U.A.E., Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus,
Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. The aspects that make up all that is geography in the
Middle East include physical geography, economic geography, religion, and human
history. The Middle East is known for its physical geography, being the largest area of
dry climate in the world.
Southwest Asia is mostly desert and steppe climate because of subtropical high
pressure over the area which keeps the region dry and the air warm. Some places around
the Mediterranean Sea have a Mediterranean climate. Like all desert regions,
temperatures vary greatly between day and nighttime, with afternoon high reaching well
over 100 degrees, then dropping up to 30 degrees at night. Rain is very rare in the desert,
usually only occuring a few times a year. Surface water is virtually non-existant in the
driest areas. But people are able to survive in the desert, getting water from springs and
oases. Where there is no water, there are no people, and these arid regions between water
sources are only visited by the occasionalt migrating herder. There are some regions in
the Middle East, however, that receive some rain during the year, sometimes more than
50 inches, compared to the desert's 4 inch average. These areas are found mostly in NE
Iran and Afghanistan, though the rivers that drain these highlands provide water for the
valleys beneath. Rivers that flow from a humid climate region, through the desert, to the
sea are called exotic rivers. These rivers are what keep agriculture alive in the midst of
such arid environments.
Agriculture is a major occupation in the Middle East, despite the mostly dry
climate. Fertile soil for farming is found in the river valleys, on mountain plateaus, and in
some oases, where natural spring water seeps up throught the rocks, providing good
farming conditions. However, some of this farmland is being destroyed. Overgrazing has
led to soil erosion, and the few mt. forests have been cut down, but the countries in which
this is happening are taking action to try and save what they have left. Although there is
some land that ffarmers are able to grow on, the busness is mostly subsistence farming,
where the farmer grows only what he needs for himself and his family. Commercial
farming is found in a few places, mostly Israel, but is widespread only in Europe. In the
Middle East, they grow barley and wheat, citrus fruits, olves, figs, nuts, and grapes.
Livestock is also kept on these farms. On these private desert farms, the practice of
irrigation was first developed centuries ago.
What does one think of when the Middle East? The popular answer is "oil." Oil
is the region's richest mineral resource, and is found mainly along the shores of the
Persian Gulf, and in Iraq. Since a lot of the world's oil comes from this region, those
countries with abundant oil supplies joined together to create the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries to better control the world oil prices. But even with the
great oil economy in other countries, Israel is the only developed country in the Middle
East because of te lack of other resources in the area.
The historical geography of the Middle East is great, and here, in the wetter river
valleys of the region, called the Fertile Crescent, the world's first civilzations arose in the
area once known as Mesopatamia. The region has been known for many great
contributions to the modern world, including the domestication of many common farm
animals of today, writing, developed by ancient Sumerians, iron weapons from the
Hittites, the first trading networks were formed by Phoenician merchants along the Med.
shore. Control of the region has varied as well, going from one empire to another through
the years after 600 B.C. By A.D. 800, the area was mostly under Muslim rule, but soon
divided into many small empires. The Ottoman Empire was formed by a Turkish guy
named Osman in 1300, and Southwest Asia was included after 1453, when
Constantinople was captured. Today, most of the countries have broken off
independantly. Religion has a lot to do with the division.
Southwest Asia is known as the birthplace of three of the world's major religions.
A guy in Palestine name Abraham founded Judaism, the first religion centered around
monotheism, the belief of only one god. The holy book of the Jews is called the Torah,
and the one god is God. Then one day, this Jew named Jesus Christ deciedes that he
wants to be special and make his own religion. Christianity branched off from Judaism
and developed from the techings of Christ. Man, at least Abraham was original. He
wasn't so egotistical that he had to name his religion after himself :-). The holy book of
Christians is known as the Bible, and their god is recognized as a trinity of Jesus, God,
and some Holy Spirit. Then there was another creative guy in the Middle East named
Muhammud. He developed the religion of Islam around the holy book of Qur'an and
Allah, his god. Islam has branched into two mjor sects, the Sunni and the Shi'a. The
Sunni follow the original teachings of the Qur'an and personal prayer, while the Shi'a
follow imams, who are religious as well as political leaders. Sunni is the major branch,
with 90% of all Islam followers, known as Muslim. However, with different religions
and different people populating the region, many conflicts have arisen throughout history.
The Arab people dominate most of the region, excluding Turkey, Cyprus, Israel,
Iran, and Afghanistan. Today, most Arabs are Muslim, and non-Arab cultures in Turkey
and Iran also practice Islam. Israel is know to be occupied primarily by Jews. Many Jews
each engage in the idea known as zionism, and take a trip, if not move, to the Jewish
homeland in Israel. The conflicts today have arisen in that area with the Jews arguing
that ancient Palestine belonged to the Hebrews and therefore should belong to them.
After World War 1, Palestine was ruled as a British mandate by Great Britain. That
ended in 1947. Palestine was then divided into halves, with half going to the Arab
Palestinians, and the other half was given to the Jews, who believe that they should have
control over all of it. In 1948, Palestine was declared the Jewish State of Israel by the
U.N. There are conflicts in other areas of the Middle East, though. Non-Arabic Muslims
known as kurds are scattered throughout the mountains of Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Syria, and
Turkey. They don't have an independent country to call their own.