Name________________________________________
Middle East Geography Test Study Guide
Know the locations of the following:
Tigris River
Euphrates River
Persian Gulf
Strait of Hormuz
Arabian Sea
Red Sea
Suez Canal
Jordan River
Afghanistan
Iran
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
Israel
Gaza Strip
Oman
Yemen
Jordan
U.A.E.
Lebanon
Kuwait
Qatar
Environmental Problems in the Middle East (Southwest Asia)
1) Where do most people live in SW Asia? ___NEAR RIVERS AND FERTILE SOIL_________________________________
2) Why do they live there rather than somewhere else? ___BECAUSE IT’S MOSTLY DESERT WHICH MAKES IT MORE
DIFFICULT TO GROW CROPS AND HAVE ACCESS TO FRESH WATER_______________________________
3) Describe the climate of the region as a whole. ___HOT AND DRY; ARID, SEMI-ARID___________________
4) Which parts of the region have a climate that is different from the rest? _TURKEY, AFGHANISTAN________________
5) What makes the climate there (#4) different from the rest? ____THEY GET MORE RAIN AND LESS EXTREME HIGH
TEMPERATURES
6) Why is the Suez Canal an important waterway? _IT CONNECTS THE RED SEA AND MEDITERRANEAN SEA WHICH
MAKES TRADE FROM SW ASIA TO EUROPE MUCH EASIER; SHORTER TRIP FOR EXPORTS TO AND FROM THE REGION
___________________________________________________________________________________________
7) What is the importance of the Strait of Hormuz? ___ALL PETROLEUM EXPORTS FROM SW ASIA, WHICH HAS APPX
2/3 OR THE WORLD’S OIL, MUST GO THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ TO BE EXPORTED___________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
8) Why are the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz called “choke points”? OIL EXPORTS COULD EASILY BE ‘CHOKED
OFF’ FROM THE MIDDLE EAST TO REST OF THE WORLD WHICH WOULD GREATLY IMPACT THE ECONOMIES OF THE
COUNTRIES WHO DEPEND ON OIL FROM SW ASIA.____________________________________
9) How has the system of dams that Turkey has built affected Syria and Iraq? ___IT HAS GREATLY IMPACTED THE
AMOUNT OF FRESH WATER DOWNSTREAM FROM TURKEY INTO THOSE COUNTRIES MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO
SURVIVE, DIFFICULT TO FARM (IRRIGATION) AND PROVIDE FOR THE DAILY WATER NEEDS OF THE CITIZENS WHO
LIVE THERE._____________________________________________________________________________________
Name________________________________________
10) List 3 contributors of water pollution in Southwest Asia. _INDUSTRIAL WASTE (OIL INDUSTRY) HOUSEHOLD AND
HUMAN WASTE DUE TO LACK OF WATER AND SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE, AGRICULTURAL RUN –OFF CONTAMINATES
THE GROUND WATER AND RIVER SYSTEMS, HOUSEHOLD WASTE (LACK OF A SYSTEM FOR DEALING WITH
HOUSEHOLD WASTE), OVER USE OF GROUND WATER SYSTEMS CAN CAUSE A BUILD UP OF SALT IN THE WATER AND
SOIL___________________________________________________________________________________________
11) How have chemical fertilizers affected water supplies in Southwest Asia? _RUN OFF FROM CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS
___________________________________________________________________________________________
12) Why doesn’t Southwest Asia use the desalinization process to gain access to more drinking water? _TOO
EXPENSIVE, LACK OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND CAPITAL GOODS IN MANY
COUNTRIES__________________________________________________________________________________
13) What are the two most valuable natural resources in Southwest Asia? ___WATER_& __OIL__________
14) Which resource is scarce and which resource is plentiful? _____WATER IS SCARCE AND OIL IS
PLENTIFUL__________________________________________________________________________
15) Describe the conflict that occurs due to damming rivers. _UPSTREAM COUNTRIES OFTEN BELIEVE THEY HAVE THE
RIGHT TO BUILD DAMS FOR RESERVIORS OR HYDROELECTRIC POWER WHICH DECREASES WATER FLOW
DOWNSTREAM_________________________________________________________________________________
16) What is drip irrigation? _WHEN CROPS ARE WATERED AT THE ROOT (ON THE GROUND) USUALLY THE CROPS ARE
MONITORED BY A COMPUTER SYSTEM WHICH ANALYSES HOW MUCH WATER THE PLANT NEEDS________________
17) Why is it especially useful in the Middle East? __IT REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT IS WASTED BY OVER
WATERING AND BECAUSE IT REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF WATER LOST TO EVAPORATION DUE TO THE VERY HOT DRY
CLIMATE.____________________________________________________________________________________
18) How has the discovery of oil in Southwest Asia affected the economic development of this area? COUNTRIES THAT
HAVE OIL HAVE MORE MONEY TO SPEND ON DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION OF WORKERS
THEREFORE THEY SHOULD HAVE A HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING._________________________________
19) Which countries in Southwest Asia are the most oil-rich countries in Southwest Asia? _SAUDI ARABIA, IRAN, IRAQ,
KUWAIT, U.A.E. (THE COUNTRIES BORDERING THE PERSIAN GULF)________________________________
20) What is the role of OPEC? ___ORGANIZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES- THEY CONTROL THE
PRODUCTION, PRICE AND EXPORTATION OF OIL_______________
21) Describe Saudi Arabia’s GDP per capita in relation to their oil reserves. How does investment in human capital affect
it?__ BECAUSE SAUDI ARABIA HAS ABOUT 25% OF THE OIL RESERVES WORLDWIDE, THEIR GDP PER CAPITA IS
HIGHER THAN NON-OIL RICH COUNTRIES; THEY HAVE TO HAVE HIGHLY SKILLED WORKERS TO WORK IN THE OIL
INDUSTRY SO THEIR LEVEL OF AVAILABLE EDUCATION IS OFTEN BETTER THAN COUNTRIES WITHOUT A NEED FOR
SKILLED WORKERS____
Name________________________________________
22) List 3 characteristics of an ethnic group. _SAME HISTORY, CULTURE, LANGUAGE, ANCESTORS
23) List 3 characteristics of a religious group. _SAME BELIEFS, HOLY TEXT, PLACE OF WORSHIP, RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS_
24) Identify the following as ethnic or religious groups:
a. Christians __- RELIGIOUS______
b. Arabs __ETHNIC________
c. Judaism ___RELIGIOUS__
c. Persians _____ETHNIC_________ d. Islam ___RELIGIOUS
e. Kurds ___ETHNIC______
25) List 3 characteristics of the Arabs. __SPEAK ARABIC, HISTORY OF BEGINNING IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, MOSTLY
SUNNI MUSLIM________________
26) List 3 characteristics of the Persians. _SPEAK FARSI (PERSIAN) , BEING DESCENDED FROM THE PERSIAN EMPIRE,
MOSTLY SHIA MUSLIM______________________________________________________________
27) List 3 characteristics of the Kurds. _SPEAK KURDISH, SHARING A HISTORY OF BEING A PEOPLE WITHOUT A
HOMELAND, MOSTLY SUNNI MUSLIM________________________________________________________________
28) List 3 characteristics of Judaism. _BELIEF IN ONE GOD, FOUNDER IS ABRAHAM (AND HIS DESCENDANTS) HOLY TEXTTORAH/TALMUD, WORSHIP IN A SYNAGOGUE, FOLLOW THE 10 COMMANDMENTS & JEWISH LAW, OLDEST OF THE
MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS______________
29) List 3 characteristics of Christianity. BELIEF IN ONE GOD, FOUNDER IS JESUS, WORSHIP IN A CHURCH, HOLY TEXTHOLY BIBLE (OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS), BELIEF THAT JESUS WAS THE SON OF GOD AND THE SAVIOR OF MANKIND,
BEGAN WHEN JESUS DIED IN 33 CE/AD____________________________________________
30) List 3 characteristics of Islam. _BELIEF IN ONE GOD, ALLAH, FOLLOW THE 5 PILLARS OF ISLAM, MUHAMMAD IS THE
FOUNDER, BEGAN IN 632CE/AD, HOLY TEXT IS THE KORAN/QUR’AN___________________________________
31) How are Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike? __ALL MONOTHEISTIC, ALL BELIEVE IN THE HISTORY OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT, ALL BEGAN IN SW ASIA, ALL BELIEVE JESUS WAS A PERSON_________________________________
32) How are they different? HOLY BOOKS, PLACES OF WORSHIP, THEY HAVE DIFFERENT BELIEFS ABOUT WHO JESUS
WAS____________________________________________________________
33) How are the Arabs, Persians and Kurds alike? ALL ETHNIC GROUPS THAT BEGAN IN THE MIDDLE EAST WHOSE
MAJOR RELIGION IS ISLAM_______________________________________________________
34) How are they different? __DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, PERSIANS ARE MOSTLY SHIA MUSLIMS, ARABS & KURDS ARE
MOSTLY SUNNI, DIFFERENT HISTORY___________________________________________________________
35) How are the Sunni and Shia Muslims alike? _BOTH PRACTICE THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM AND BELIEVE MUHAMMAD
WAS THE PROPHET OF GOD____________ Different? WHEN MUHAMMAD DIED THEY DISAGREED ABOUT WHO SHOULD
Name________________________________________
TAKE HIS PLACE AS THE LEADER; SUNNI BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE A CAPABLE PERSON WHO WOULD LEAD LIKE
MUHAMMAD DID; SHIA BELIEVE THAT THE LEADER SHOULD BE DESCENDED FROM MUHAMMAD’S FAMILY________