Geography Knowledge Map: Year 9: The Middle East
Mapping the Middle East
The Middle East and Oil
There are 14 countries in the Middle East.
The Middle East as a region is one of the world’s major exporters of
oil. 4 of the top 10 producers and exporters are located in the Middle
East.
Turkey
Lebanon
Israel
Syria
Jordan
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Oman
UAE
Qatar
Bahrain
Kuwait
Iraq
Iran
The state of Palestine is currently not
recognised as a country by the UN.
Physical Geography
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They are…
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Saudi Arabia
Iran
UAE
Kuwait
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Mountains – Mount Ararat (Turkey) according to legend the
landing place of Noah’s Ark, Mount Damavand (Iran) the
Middle East’s tallest mountain at 5671 metres.
Rivers – The Euphrates and Tigris rivers start in Turkey and
flow across several Middle Eastern countries into the Gulf.
Seas – Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden,
Persian/Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.
Deserts – Arabian desert
Natural Hazards – Earthquakes in Turkey and Iran. Red Sea
Volcanoes.
In total the Middle East produces approximately 31% of the entire
world’s oil. While 54% of the world’s known reserves sit under
countries in the Middle East.
The modern Middle East is located on the continent of Asia. It is on
the south west of Asia.
The Middle East will continue to dominate oil production for many
years to come.
The People of the Middle East (Human Geography)
The population of the Middle East is approximately 320.6 million
people. For comparison the population of the UK is approximately 64
million.
Iran is the most populous country at approximately 78.8 million
inhabitants and Bahrain is the smallest with approximately 1.8
million.
Ethnic groups…
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Arabs
Turks
Kurds
Persians
Religion…
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Islam
Christianity
Judaism
Israel and Palestine
The background
 Jewish people here from around 1250BC. The bible refers to
the land as promised by God.
 At the outbreak of WW1 the area was populated with 600 000
people, mainly Muslim Arabs.
After WW1
 The Ottoman Empire (rulers) was defeated by the British.
 Over 300 000 Jews arrived in the years after the war. The
Arabs resented this.
The State of Israel
 In 1947 the UN voted to divide Palestine into 2 states, 1 for
Jews (Israel) and 1 for Arabs (Palestine). 56% of land would be
for the Jews.
 The Arabs didn’t agree to the plan. The Jews did and in 1948
the state of Israel was set up. More Jews arrived after WW2.
The Conflict Continues.
 Other Arab countries sided with Palestinian Arabs.
 The day after Israel was set up it was invaded by forces from
Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.
 Israel won the war and had won lots more land.
 Six day war in 1967 which Israel also won.
Today.
 Palestinians ae now restricted to two areas, the Gaza Strip and
the West Bank.
 By 2015 350 000 Israeli’s had settled in the West Bank
 The conflict continues.
Syria
More than 250 000 Syrians have lost their lives and a 4 and a half year
armed conflict, which began with anti-government demonstrations
and escalated into a full blown civil war. More than 11 million others
have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as
well as jihadist militants from Islamic State.
The 8 stages of the Syrian conflict.
1.
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8.
Uprising turns violent.
Descent into civil war.
War crimes.
Chemical weapons.
Humanitarian crisis.
Rebels and the rise of Jihadists.
Peace efforts.
Proxy war.