Textbook Notes:

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BRIEF OUTLINE / 4 CLASS THEMES Chapter 7 NORTH AFRICA/SOUTHWEST ASIA  DEFINING THE REALM 326 Dry World? An "Arab World"? An "Islamic World"? "Middle East"?   HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Hearths of Culture 327 Mesopotamia and the Nile 328 Decline and Decay 330 Stage of Islam 331 Muhammad the Prophet 331 The Arab-Islamic Empire 331 CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: Islam Divided 334 Religious Revivalism in the Realm 335 Regional Issue 336 Islam and Other Religions 337 The Ottoman Aftermath 337 Local Reaction, Global Impact 343 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY: The Power and Peril of Oil 338 Location and Dimensions of Known Reserves 338 A Foreign Invasion: The impact of Oil 340 REGIONS OF THE REALM 343 Egypt and the Lower Nile Basin 346 Egypt's Regional Geography 349 Divided Sudan 349 The Maghreb and the Neighbors 350 The Countries 351 The Middle East 352 Iraq 353 Syria 356 Jordan 357 Lebanon 357 Israel and the Palestinian Territories 357 The Arabian Peninsula 362 Saudi Arabia 362 On the Periphery 363 The Empire States 365 Turkey 365 Iran 369 Turkestan 370 The Five States of Former Soviet Central Asia 370 Afghanistan 374

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE REALM

• North Africa and Southwest Asia were the scene of several of the world's great ancient civilizations, based in its river valleys and basins.
• From this realm's culture hearths diffused ideas, innovations, and technologies that changed the world.
• The North Africa/Southwest Asia realm is the source of three world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
• Islam, the last of the major religions to arise in this realm, transformed, unified, and energized a vast domain extending from Europe to Southeast Asia and from Russia to East Africa.
• Drought and unreliable precipitation dominate natural environments in this realm. Population clusters exist where water supply is adequate to marginal.
• Certain countries of this realm have enormous reserves of oil and natural gas, creating great wealth for some but doing little to raise the living standards of the majority
• The boundaries of the North Africa/Southwest Asia realm consist of volatile transition zones in several places in Africa and Asia.
• Conflict over water sources and supplies is a constant threat in this realm, where population growth rates are high by world standards.
• The Middle East, as a region, lies at the heart of this realm; and Israel lies at the center of the Middle East conflict.
• Religious, ethnic, and cultural discord frequently cause instability and strife in this realm.

NAMING THE REALM

Popular labels:

• Dry World?
• Arab World?
• Islam World?
• Middle East?

Question: Why might it be inappropriate to characterize the whole realm with one of the following terms: Dry World? An "Arab World"? An "Islamic World"? "Middle East"?

THE DRY WORLD?

• Dry/arid climate prevails throughout the realm (Figure G-7, G-8)
• Exceptions:
  • Peripheral regions of Turkey
  • Mediterranean coast (southwest, east, northeast),
  • lower mountain slopes (northwestern section of Iran, Turkestan)
  • Oases
  • Several great river valleys (Nile, Tigris-Euphrates)
• WATER - A RENEWABLE OR FINITE RESOURCE?
  • Water is critical for life, food production, and industrial processes.
  • 9 out of 14 Southwest Asian states face water-short conditions (the most concentrated region of scarcity in the world).
  • The North African states all have rates of natural increase above 2.0%, increasing the stress on water sources.
• POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
  • The majority of the people in this realm live not in the dry arid regions, but around water resources.(Figure G-9)
    • The Nile river valley
    • near the Mediterranean Sea
    • Euphrates and Tigris Basin (Hydraulic Civilization)
    • Lower mountain slopes of Iran, south of the Caspian Sea

 

AN ARAB WORLD?

• Relates to the Arabic language as a cultural feature of this realm (map)
• Arabic is the dominant language in 16 States of the realm.
• There are non-Arab States where indigenous languages dominate
  • Turkey - Turkish
  • Iran - Farsi
  • Israel - Hebrew
  • others

 

ISLAMIC WORLD? (Figure 7-2 )

• Muhammed born in Arabia (571- 632 AD)
• The diffusion of Islam (Figures 7-4, 7-5)
• There are non-Islamic areas in the realm
  • Israel
  • Christianity in Egypt and Lebanon
  • others
• Today: 1.3 billion followers of Islam in this realm a
• There are many Islamic areas outside of the realm:
  • Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
  • Indonesia (the world's largest number of Muslims)
  • Northern Nigeria
  • coasts of East Africa
  • Europe: Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia

MIDDLE EAST

• "East "of what?
  • east of Europe, but west of India
  • reflects a Eurocentric bias
• "Middle" of what
  • "near" east = Turkey
  • "far" east = Chaina and Japan
• Used in textbook as the name of a REGION within the REALM, not the whole realm (Figures 7-9, 7-12)

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

• Hearths of culture
  • Introduction
    • pivotal part of the world -- a crossroads
    • two ancient culture hearths: Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley
    • > million years ago traversed by human ancestors moving out of Africa
    • >100,000 years ago Homo sapiens crossed on way to Europe
    • > 10,000 years ago domestication of plants and animals resulting in enlarged settlements
      • wheat, rye, barley
      • peas, beans
      • grapes, apples, peaches
      • horses, pigs, sheep
    • other achievements include advances in the calendar, mathematics, astronomy, government, engineering, metallurgy,
    • 1,000 to 2000+ years ago Christ and Muhammad born in the realm
  • Culture Hearth: Mesopotamia (Figure 7-3)
    • early culture hearth
    • fertile crescent (Figure 7-3)
    • "land amidst the rivers" - Tigris and Euphrates (Figure 7-12)
    • in modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
    • domestication of plants and animals
    • irrigation
    • early cities and states
    • hydraulic civilization theory of early state survival
  • Culture Hearth: Nile River Valley
    • early culture hearth, maybe earlier than Mesopotamia (Figure 7-3)
    • focused on cataracts upstream from the delta on the Mediterranean
    • protected and isolated by deserts
  • Culture Hearth: Indus River Valley (Figure 7-3)
    • in Pakistan in the South Asian realm
    • ancient cultural and commercial ties to Mesopotamia
  • Decline and Decay
    • the role of climate change
    • Foreign Invasions
      • first the Persians, then the Greeks, later the Romans
      • the Arabian Peninsula lay remote, and virtually untouched by the foreigners

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

• Stage for Islam
  • Realm is the source of major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam, but only Islam remained dominant in the realm
  • Muhammad the Prophet
    • born in town of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula in 571 AD
    • according to Islam:
      • began to receive revelations from Allah (God) in 611 AD
      • chosen to be a prophet
      • Arab society in social and cultural disarray
      • began teaching Allah's lessons
      • forced out of Mecca by enemies in 622, fled to Medina, called the hehira (migration), Year 1 on the Islamic calendar
      • Islam brought the Arab world not only a unifying religious faith, but also a new set of values, a new way of life
        • forbade alcohol smoking, and gambling
        • tolerated polygamy, favored monogamy
        • recognize Moses and Jesus and prophets, but recongnizes Muhammad as the final and greatest prophet
    • Five Pillars of Islam
      • repeated expression of the basic creed
      • the daily prayer
      • a month each year of daytime fasting (Ramadan)
      • the giving of alms
      • at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in a Muslim's lifetime
  • the Arab-Islamic Empire
    • Figure 7-4
    • Figure 7-5
    • spatial diffusion
      • expansion diffusion to adjacent areas
      • relocation diffusion to South Asia, present day Indonesia, East Africa
    • Arab Empire
    • European Christian Crusades against the Arab Empire, 1095-1270
      • still resented today in realm
      • goal to end Islamic control over the city of Jerusalem and establish Christian rule in area
    • after the Crudades Islam spread even into Europe (Spain and Portugal, and the Balkan states of Southeast Europe
• Islam Divided (4 problems)
  • Sunni vs. Shia
    • division arose after Mohammad's death in 632 over who would be his successor
      • Shia: blood relative should be Mohammad's successor
        • wanted Muhammad's cousin Ali to be successor
        • became Shiites
        • minority of Muslims
        • Royal House of Persia (now Iran) adopted Shi'ism as only legal religion
        • today 15 %o f Muslims are Shiites mostly in Iran (Persia), Azerbaijan, western Afghanistan,, parts of Pakistan, and southern Iraq
      • Sunni: any devout follower can be Mohammad's successor
        • became Sunni's
        • majority of Muslims today - 85%
        • spread Sunni Islam about the world
    • Effects:
      • 1979 Iran became an Islamic (Shi'ite) state
      • 1980's war between Sunni lead Iraq and Shi'ite Iran
      • many states with Sunni majority are weary of the Shi'ite minority

       

  • Religious Revivalism in the Realm / al-Qaeda
    • another cause of conflict amoung the followers of Islam
    • religious fundamentalism / religious revivalism
    • revolution in Iran, 1979
    • traditional Islamic beliefs
    • disdain for Western culture
    • conflict between moderate and militant Muslims
    • 9/11 and other attacks
      • al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
      • leader: Usama bin Laden
      • one goal: to overthow the rulers of Saudi Arabia and make it a true Islamic state
      • Wahhabism: official and dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia

     

  • Islam and Other Religions
    • Levant
    • Christianity
      • 1/4 of Lebanon
      • Also in Israel, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan
      • the Crusades and their effects today
    • Judaism
      • Jewish state of Israel proclaimed in 1948
      • conflict with Islamic neighbors ever since
      • More when we study of the Middle East Region

       

  • The Ottoman Aftermath
    • Turkish Ottomans (Muslims) defeated part of the Roman Empire in 1453 controlling Turkey
    • also invaded Persia (Iran), Mesopotamia, and North Africa
    • later pushed into southeastern Europe
    • Ottoman Empire survived for more than 400 years
    • slowly lost territory (Figure 7-7)
    • WWI European victors took over Ottoman colonies in Syria, Lebanon Iraq, and Yemen establishing their own boundaries (geometric borders= straight lines)
    • Colonial borders led to conflict after independence

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY - THE POWER AND PERIL OF OIL (Figure 7-8)

• Location and Dimensions of Known reserves
  • 77% of world's know reserves in the realm
  • 5 countries in realm with significant reserves
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Iraq
    • United Arab Emirates
    • Kuwait
    • Iran
  • found in three zones (Figure 7-8)
    • Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf, Euphrates/Tigris valley, into Turkey
    • North Africa Algeria, Libya, Egypt into the Sinai Peninsula
    • NE corner of realm - Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea,
• A Foreign Invasion
• Impact of Oil - a "double-edged sword" - some good effects and some bad effects
  • High incomes (Figure G-11 and Table G-1)
    • but unequally distributed within countries and between countries
  • Modernization
    • modern cities
    • "western" ideas
    • cause of tensions within and between countries
  • Industrialization
    • oil revenues
    • preparation for post-oil economy?
  • Intra-Realm migration (within the realm)
    • from oil-poor countries to oil rich countries
  • Inter-Realm migration (between different realms)
    • from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, others
  • Regional disparities
    • within countries
    • between countries
    • remember the European established borders before oil reserves were known
  • Foreign investment
    • oil wealth from realm being invested elsewhere
    • also investment of companies from the "west" in the oil industry bringing a clash of cultures and cultural change

REGIONS OF THE REALM (Figure 7-9)

EGYPT AND THE LOWER NILE BASIN (Figure 7-10)

• Continuous civilization > 5,000 YEARS
• 95% of Egypt's 74.1 million people live within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the Nile River
• Basin irrigation
• Perennial irrigation - mid 1800s
• Aswan High Dam - 1968
  • increased agricultural l;nd by 50%
  • provides 40% of electricity
• Centrally located part in Asia, part in Africa
• Suez Canal
• Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser
  • 50% more irrigated land
  • 40% of country's electricity
  • problems:
    • more malaria
    • prevents flooding, therefore need for increase use of fertilizers
    • fewer fish do to fertilizers
    • delta is subsiding, fear of salt water invasion
• Egypt's Regional Geography
• Divided Sudan
  • Arab/Islamic north and African south (Figure 7-2)
  • oil found in 1990s (Figure 7-10)
    • close to rebellious southern provinces
    • Sudanese army drove villages form the oil area (100.000s)
    • oil revenues used to build military
  • civil war 1983-2005 ?
    • oil
    • Sharia law
    • peace agreement?
  • Darfur "genocide"

   

  • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/827425.stm

 

The Maghreb and its Neighbors (Figure 7-11)

• THE MAGHREB - DOMINATED BY THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS
• MOROCCO - LAST OF THE NORTH AFRICAN KINGDOMS
  • conflict with the Western Sahara - former Spanish dependency
• ALGERIA - A SECULAR REPUBLIC WITH RELIGIOUS-POLITICAL PROBLEMS
• TUNISIA -
  • SMALLEST AND MOST WESTERNIZED OF THE MAGHREBS
  • repression of Muslim radicals
• LIBYA -
  • OIL RICH DESERT STATE WITH A COASTAL ORIENTATION
  • Muammar Gadhafi - dictator
• ATLAS MOUNTAINS almost 13,000
  • FERTILE COASTLINE
  • RAIN SHADOW EFFECT (Figure G-7)
  • Skiing in Africa? - http://www.goski.com/rmor/ouk.htm
• FRENCH COLONIALISM

 

THE MIDDLE EAST (Figure 7-12)

• "MIDDLE" OF THE ISLAMIC REALM
• IRAQ, SYRIA, JORDAN, ISRAEL, LEBANON
• CENTER OF CONFLICT BETWEEN CHRISTIANS, JEWS, AND MUSLIMS
• SUNNI - SHI'ITE CONFLICT (WITHIN IRAQ AND THROUGHOUT THE REGION)
• A FUTURE KURDISTAN?
• FERTILE CRESCENT
• CULTURE HEARTH
• OIL
• CULTURAL CONFLICT
• Five countries:
  • Iraq (Figure 7-13)
    • 1980s war with Iran
    • 1991 Gulf War (Kuwait)
    • axis of evil
    • WMD
    • March 2003 to ???? - war
    •  
    • oil, natural gas, gold agricultural land, resources
    • multination state
      • Sunni
        • north and northwest of Baghdad
        • Sunni triangle (Baghdad, Ramadi, Tikrit) Hearth of the Iraqi Sunni nation
        • 22 % of Iraq's population
        • Saddam Hussein
        • controlled Iraq before current war
        • major oil fields
      • Kurds - mountains of Turkey/Iranian border
        • stateless nation
        • Sunni Islam
        • 16% of Iraq's population
        • 25 million in Turkey (14) , Iran (8) , Iraq (4) , Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan (Figure 7-12)
        • 300 years
        • repressed by Turkey, Saddam Hussein in Iraq,
        • internal rivalries
        • Saddam Hussein used poisonous gas against the Kurds
      • Shia
        • south of Baghdad to Persian Gulf
        • largest nation in Iraq - 60%
        • oil fields and Persian Gulf waterfront
        • Shi'ite Arabs also extend into Iran (which is mostly Shi'ite Persians)
        • politically repressed by Saddam Hussein
        • Uprising after the Gulf War 1991 - ruthlessly put down by Saddam Hussein
  • Syria
    • ruled by a minority (like Iraq was)
    • 75% Sunni
    • Rulers come from a smaller Islamic sect - Alawites
    • authoritarian rule / ruthless suppression of dissent
    • densely populated coastal zone
    • was involved in Lebanon
    • lost Golan Heights to Israel
  • Jordan
    • kingdom
    • product of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
    • Palestinian refugees
    • no oil
  • Lebanon
    • advantages:
      • Mediterranean coast
      • modern capital city
      • oil terminals
      • fertile agricultural land
      • Beirut - "Paris of the Middle East"
    • But:
      • civil war began in 1975
      • Muslim with large Christian Minority
    • current political change
      • Syrian troops forced to leave
      • elections
  • Israel (Figure 7-14)
    • Be able to locate the following on the map:
      • the UN partition of Palestine (Israel and Palestine)
      • Territory gained in 1948-1949
      • the West Bank (Figure 7-15
      • the Gaza Strip (Figure 7-14)
      • Jerusalem (Figure 7-16)
      • the Golan Heights (Figure 7-14)
    • Online Lecture - How the map changed
      http://www.harpercollege.edu/mhealy/g101ilec/nafswas/nwc/nwisrl/nwisrfr.htm
      • After WWI
      • Division of the Mandate
      • UN Plan
      • After 1948 war
      • After 1967 "six day" war gained:
        • Sinai and the Gaza Strip from Egypt,
        • Golan Heights from Syria,
        • and the West Bank from Jordan
      • After 1982 Camp David Accord
        • Sinai returned to Egypt
      • 1993 "secret talks and the "Handshake" / devolution of power in the West Bank (figure 7-15) and Gaza
      • 2003 Roadmap to Peace / potential statehood for the Palestinians
      • Currently Israel plans unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip later this year ????

QUESTION: On a map of Israel and the Palestinian territories label the following: UN sponsored Israel Israel after 1949 war Israel with territory gained 1967 West Bank Golan Heights Gaza Strip

• Palestinians
  • stateless nation
  • 1 million as Israeli citizens
  • 2.3 million in the West Bank
  • 1.3 million in the Gaza Strip
  • 2.7 million in Jordan
  • 300,000 to 500,000 each in Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia
  • many still in refugee camps
• Roadblocks on the "Roadmap to Peace" and statehood
  • Jewish settlements
    • 200,000 Israelis have settled in the West bank
    • small Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip
  • Jerusalem
    • UN Plan - International City
    • 1949 Israel held the western part of the city
    • 1950 declared Jerusalem as the Israeli capital (forward capital)
    • 1967 war - Israel conquered all of Jerusalem
    • Jewish settlements built in East Jerusalem
  • Golan Heights

•  

• ISRAEL
  • ZIONISM
    • POLITICAL MOVEMENT
    • FOUNDED BY THEODOR HERZL (1897)
    • OBJECTIVE: SECURE A HOMELAND FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE
  • BALFOUR DECLARATION (1917)
    • SUPPORTS THE CONCEPT OF A JEWISH HOMELAND
  • JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO PALESTINE
  • 1922 - BRITISH MANDATE TO GOVERN PALESTINE
  • RISING CONFLICT BETWEEN ARABS AND JEWS
  • UN PARTITION PLAN FOR PALESTINE
    • DIVISION INTO JEWISH AND ARAB AREAS
    • BRITISH EVACUATE PALESTINE IN 1948
    • PROCLAMATION OF ISRAEL AS A STATE (14 MAY 1948)
  • 1948: ARAB INVASION (WAR OF INDEPENDENCE)
    • EGYPTIAN, IRAQI, JORDANIAN, & SYRIAN FORCES
    • ISRAEL SEIZES MORE LAND THAN PRESCRIBED UNDER UN MANDATE
  • ARMISTICE (1949)
    • 900,000 PALESTINIAN REFUGEES

     

  • ARAB - ISRAELI CONFLICT
    • 1956: SUEZ WAR
    • 1967: SIX-DAY WAR - ISRAEL GAINS CONTROL OF:
      • GAZA STRIP
      • SINAI PENINSULA
      • WEST BANK OF THE RIVER JORDAN
      • EAST SECTOR OF JERUSALEM
      • GOLAN HEIGHTS IN SYRIA
    • 1973: YOM KIPPUR WAR
    • THE GOLAN HEIGHTS - RETURN TO SYRIA?
    • THE SECURITY ZONE - RETURN TO LEBANON?
    • JERUSALEM - HOLY CITY FOR WHO?
    • THE WEST BANK - PALESTINIAN HOMELAND?
    • THE PALESTINIANS- REFUGEE PROBLEM
    • ARAB/ISLAMIC DISRUPTION- IMPACT OF EXTREMIST GROUPS

 

• STRUGGLE FOR JERUSALEM
  • HOLY TO JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS
  • JUDAISM: CAPITAL OF JEWISH KINGDOM 3000 YEARS BP; FAITH TOOK FORM IN THE FIRST TEMPLE-DESTROYED BY BABYLONIANS IN 586 BC; REBUILT AS SECOND TEMPLE; DESTROYED BY ROMANS IN AD 70
  • ISLAM: PROPHET MUHAMMAD ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN -7TH CENTURY AD
  • CHRISTIANITY: BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST; CRUCIFIXION AND ASCENT
  • 1947 - UNITED NATIONS DID NOT INCLUDE JERUSALEM AS PART OF ISRAEL
  • 1947 - PALESTINE PARTITION RESOLUTION DESIGNATED JERUSALEM AS AN "OPEN CITY"
  • 1948-49 - WAR AND TRANSFER OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM
  • 1967 - WAR AND AFTERMATH CHANGED BOUNDARIES AGAIN
  • 1980 - JERUSALEM REAFFIRMED AS THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL

 

• ARABIAN PENINSULA (figure 7-17)
  • SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT, BAHRAIN, QATAR, UAE, OMAN, YEMEM
  • OIL, DESERT, AND STRATEGIC LOCATION
  • SAUDI ARABIA- 25.4 MILLION PEOPLE WITH THE WORLD'S GREATEST OIL RESERVES
  • DESERT
  • OIL
  • ISLAM

   

  • Saudi Arabia (figure 7-17)
    • 25.4 million people
    • world's largest reserves of crude oil (figure 7-8)
    • Kingdom
    • economic "waist
    • nomadic periphery
    • 3-4 million foreign laborers
    • rapid population growth (2.9%)
    • 9-11 aftermath
  • On the Periphery
    • 5 of 6 are monarchies
    • oil

 

THE EMPIRE STATES (figure 7-18)

• TURKEY, IRAN, CYPRUS, AZERBAIJAN
• IMPERIAL HERITAGE
• ARAB ETHNICITY GIVES WAY BUT ISLAMIC CULTURE CONTINUES
• HIGH MOUNTAINS AND PLATEAUS VERSUS ROCKY AND SANDY DESERT
• THE EMPIRE STATES (MAP)

 

TURKEY

• TURKISH OTTOMAN EMPIRE
  • NOMADIC PEOPLES FROM THE STEPPES AND FORESTS OF SIBERIA
  • 6TH CENTURY- ESTABLISHED AN EMPIRE STRETCHING FROM MONGOLIA TO THE BLACK SEA
  • SPREAD THE TURKIC LANGUAGE FAR AND WIDE
  • DECLINED IN EARLY 1900s
  • MAXIMUM EXTENT OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (MAP)
• MUSTAFA KEMAL (ATATURK)
  • FATHER OF MODERN TURKEY
  • MOVED CAPITAL FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO ANKARA
  • WESTERNIZED TURKEY AND BROKE FREE FROM THE ARAB WORLD
• WESTERNIZATION
  • ISLAM LOST OFFICIAL STATUS
  • ROMAN ALPHABET REPLACED ARABIC
  • ISLAMIC LAW REPLACED BY WESTERN CODE
  • MONOGAMY BECAME LAW
  • WOMEN GAINED RIGHTS
  • TURKEY SEPARATED FROM ARAB WORLD
• KURDISH POPULATION
  • 14 MILLION- 1/5 OF TURKEY'S 70 MILLION
  • SOUTHEAST TURKEY (IRAQ) - 3,000 BP; RECENTLY - ISTANBUL
  • ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM

CYPRUS

• POPULATION OF 900,000
• PREDOMINANTLY GREEK SINCE ANCIENT TIMES
• CONQUERED IN 1571 BY TURKS
• 1878 - BRITISH TOOK CONTROL
• AFTER WW II, INDEPENDENCE OR UNION WITH GREECE OR TURKEY?
• 1960- GRANTED INDEPENDENCE
• 1974- CIVIL WAR
• 1983- TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS SECEDED; 2 DE FACTO STATES EXIST
• Divided between two realms (figure 7-9)

 

IRAN

• A COUNTRY OF MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS
• POPULATION OF 67.1 MILLION
• 66% URBANIZED
• NOMADISM
• CULTURAL TIES TO IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, AZERBAIJAN
• OIL RESERVES
• 1980-1990 WAR WITH IRAQ

 

TURKESTAN (Figure 7-19)

• CHARACTERISTICS OF TURKESTAN
  • MOUNTAINS
  • DESERTS
  • OIL, COTTON
  • PASTORALISM
  • DIPLOMATIC REALIGNMENT
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

 

• 5 STATES OF THE FORMER USSR
  • KAZAKHSTAN
  • UZBEKISTAN
  • TURKMENISTAN
  • KRGYSTAN
  • TAJIKSTAN

 

• ETHNIC DIVERSITY (Figure 7-20)

 

• AFGHANISTAN
  • BUFFER STATE
  • MUJAHEDEEN
  • TALIBAN ERA
  • CURRENT MILITARY OPERATIONS
  • PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE?