N. Africa & SW Asia:
Regions of the Realm

Two Sets of Regions

It may be best to divide this realm into TWO SETS [2 Sets] of regions along a line running from the northern tip of the Persian gulf to the northeastern corner of the Mediterrean Sea.

Northeast of this line it is predominately non-Arab (Turkic and Persian) [lang], and Shi'ite Islam [relig]. Southwest of this line the predominate language is Arabic and the major religion is Sunni Islam.

Living along this line live a people [kurds] who significant different than the peoples on eith sides: the Kurds.

Regions of the Realm: [Regions]

Our author divides this large realm into seven regions (see below). Why? [What is a region?] [Why use regions?]

• The Mahgreb and Libya
• Egypt and the Lower Nile
• African Transition Zone
• Arabian Peninsula
• The Middle East
• The Empire States
• Turkestan

[The text of the following was written by Scott Girhard, San Antonio College from his online course GEOG 1301 World Geography. Used with permission.]

Egypt and the lower Nile [nwregegy] is the historic focus of the realm and one of the three most populous countries.  It is a major political and cultural force.  The Maghreb [nwregmag] is in Western North Africa.  Areas that border it are Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Chad, Niger, Mali and Mauritania.  African Transition Zone [nwregtra] is from southern Mauritania in the west to Somalia in the East.  People of African ethnicities have adopted the Muslim faith and Arabic language and traditions.

The Middle East [nwregmid] includes Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.  This crescent like zone of countries extends from eastern Mediterranean coast to the head of the Persian Gulf.  The Arabian Peninsula [nwregara] is dominated by the large territory of Saudi Arabia-also includes United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Yemen.  The source and focus of Islam with its holy city of Mecca [ nwmecca].  It is the source of the world’s greatest oil deposits.  The Empire States [nwregemp] include Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan.  Turkey is a secular Islamic republic and Iran is a fundamentalist one.  Both countries have an imperialistic history still felt in the region.  Turkestan [nwregtur] is located in an old Soviet central Asia where Islam is resurgent.  It includes Kazakhstan-the largest state, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. 

We should be able to apply the regional criteria [what criteria] to describe the characteristics of each region and to note their differences from adjacent regions. Let's now take a look at each region individually [Regions Menu].