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Middle East (Southwest Asia) - Physical Features
Directions: Use page 479 in the World Geography textbook or page 84 in the World Atlas to complete your physical map of the Middle East (Southwest Asia). Label all of the features listed below on your map and check the box
on this sheet when you have marked it on your map. The descriptions below will help you find the features.
q Syrian Desert - a combination of steppe and true desert that is located in parts of the nations of Syria,
Jordan, and Iraq.
q Mediterranean Sea - a sea of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land: on the north
by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia.
q Red Sea - an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia.
q Plateau of Iran - a region of elevated land where the country of Iran is located.
q Persian Gulf - an extension of the Gulf of Oman located between Iran (Persia) and the Arabian
Peninsula.
q Gulf of Oman - a gulf that connects the Arabian Sea with the Persian Gulf; it is generally included as a
branch of the Persian Gulf, not as an arm of the Arabian Sea.
q Gulf of Aden - a body of water located in the Indian Ocean between Yemen on the south coast of the
Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in Africa. It connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.
q Black Sea - an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Anatolia that is actually a distant arm of the
Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterranean Sea.
q Caspian Sea - the largest lake on Earth by area, located between Russia and Iran.
q Zagros Mountains - the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. The range runs 1,500 km from the
northern part of Iraq to the southern part of the Persian Gulf.
q Pontic Mountains - a range of mountains in northern Turkey, whose eastern end extends into southeastern Georgia. The range runs roughly east-west, parallel and close to the southern coast of the Black Sea.
q Euphrates River - the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, in what is present-day
Iraq.
q Tigris River - the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq.
q Elburz Mountains - a mountain range in northern Iran stretching from the borders of Armenia in the
northwest to the southern end of the Caspian Sea, and ending in the east at the borders of Turkmenistan and
Afghanistan.
q Arabian Sea - a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and
Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula.
q Indian Ocean - the third largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earth's water
surface. It is bounded on the north by Southern Asia (including the Indian subcontinent, after which it is
named); on the west by the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
q Rub al-Khali - which translates as “Empty Quarter” in English, and also known as the Great Sandy
Desert, is one of the largest sand deserts in the world. It covers most of the southern third of the Arabian
Peninsula, including southern Saudi Arabia, and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
q An-Nafud - is a desert area in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
q Arabian Peninsula - a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert
q Najd - a plateau in the center of the Arabian Peninsula ranging from 762 m to 1,525 m in height and sloping downwards from west to east. It is between the Nefud desert to the north and the Rub al-Khali to the south.
Middle East – Countries and Capitals
Directions: Use page 481 in the World Geography textbook or page 80 in the World Atlas to complete your
political map of the Middle East. First, take a pen or marker and go over the borders of each country so that you
can tell the borders apart from the rivers. You can go over the borders in color, if you want. Label all of the countries and capitals listed below on your map and check the box on this sheet when you have marked it on your
map. Color in each country so that a viewer can easily tell them apart. Make sure to mark the capital with a dot
or a star and put it as close as you can to where it actually is.
Country - Capital
Country - Capital
qAfghanistan - Kabul
qLebanon - Beirut
qBahrain - Manama
qOman - Muscat
qCyprus - Nicosia
qQatar - Doha
qIran - Tehran
qSaudi Arabia - Riyadh
qIraq - Baghdad
qSyria - Damascus
qIsrael - Jerusalem
qTurkey - Ankara
qJordan - Amman
qUnited Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi
qKuwait - Kuwait
qYemen - Sanaa