The Cradle of Civilization

• Where a society of humans began

• Iraq more specifically

• Tigris and Euphrates run through

today’s Baghdad

The Fertile Crescent

The birthplace of civilization!!!

4 Geographical

Regions of Middle East:

• 1. North Africa

• 2. Arabian Peninsula

• 3. Eastern Mediterranean

• 4. Iran

Bodies of Water

Tigris River

Nile River

Euphrates River Jordan

River

Arabian Sea

Indian Ocean

Black Sea

Gulf of Aden

Strait of Hormuz

Suez Canal

Dardanelles Strait

Atlantic Ocean

Gulf of

Oman

The Mighty Nile River: “Longest River in the World”

Egypt: The “Gift of the Nile”

Annual Nile Flooding

Nile Delta

95% of the Egyptian

people live on 5% of the

land!

Aswan High Dam, Egypt

Hydroelectric

Power Plant

Help control

the Nile River

Suez Canal Completed by the British in 1869

Connects the Mediterranean Sea

to the Red Sea

The Tigris & Euphrates River System

Mesopotamia:

”Land Between the Two Rivers”

Marsh Arabs, So. Iraq

Dust Storms Along the Tigris-Euphrates Flood Plains

The Jordan River

System:

Israel & Jordan--A Fight Over

Water Rights?

Dead Sea: Lowest Point on Earth

Highest

Salt

Content

(33%)

1350’ below sea level

Wadis – Instant Springs

Mountains & Plateaus

Atlas Mts. Zagros Mts.

Iranian Plateau

Anatolian Plateau

Caucasus Mts.

Mountain Ranges in Mid-East

Elburz Mts., Iran Zagros Mts., Iran

Lebanese Mts. Taurus Mts., Turkey

Deserts

Sahara Desert

Arabian Desert

Negev Desert

Sinai Desert

Libyan Desert

Rub al-Khali

Desert Bedouins

Breeding Areas of Desert Locusts

Swarms of Desert Locusts!

Locusts Swarm the

Pyramids Complex at

Giza!

Israel Hit By Worst Locust

Plague Since the 1950s!

Rub al-Khali: “The Empty Quarter”

One of the driest regions

in world – mostly

uninhabited & unexplored

The Middle East: Natural Vegetation

The Natural Resources of the Middle East

Fresh Groundwater Sources

Desalinization Plants

Middle East: Climate Regions

Middle East: Population Density

• PCGDP - $31, 500

• Democratic

• Life Expectancy - 81

• Technology

• Exports

• Literacy Rate- 97%

Most Developed Nation in ME:

Israel

World Oil Reserves

75% of the world’s oil

reserves are in the Middle

East

Persian Gulf Oil Exports (2003)

Saudi Oil Fields & Refineries

Kuwait: An Island Floating on a Sea of Oil

Kuwait

City

• What does it do?

1. Controls worldwide oil prices

2. Adjusts oil prices & production

3. POWERFUL!!!!

4. Includes: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,

Qatar, UAE, Iran & Iraq

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)