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The Middle East is a mostly dry area with many important physical features and natural resources. In the Middle East, water is very scarce and often polluted. Since water is so scarce, and necessary, it greatly influences where people live. The two main rivers in the Middle East are the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which flow through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq out to the Persian Gulf. Another key river is the Jordan River, which originates in the mountains of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. A couple other important waterways are the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea; it is known as the "crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, " because it allows trade between the three continents. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. It is a critically important shipping channel as much of the world's oil supply passes through it.
This region has a lot of one of the world's most important natural resource ~ oil. The region has the world's largest known oil reserves, with more than half of the world's oil reserves lying under South West Asia. Saudi Arabia (the largest country in South West Asia) has around 1/4 of all known oil reserves! Kuwait, a relatively small country, has 1/10 of all known oil reserves. Having oil has, for the most part, transformed and greatly improved life in South West Asia. The money from oil has allowed roads to be paved, modern buildings to be built, and medical care to be improved. This has resulted in life expectancy increasing by 15 years over the past 30 years. These are just some examples of how physical features and natural resources shape people's lives. |
Good sites to visit:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/middleeast/melnd.htm
http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/meast/megeo.html
http://teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu/foundations/geography/essay/essay-01.html
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/middleeast/melnd.htm
http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/meast/megeo.html
http://teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu/foundations/geography/essay/essay-01.html