Kristen Wilhite Middle East Fun Facts

Kristen Wilhite

Middle East Fun Facts • The Middle East is NOT a continent. • It’s a region with no clear boundaries. • It sits where Africa, Asia and Europe meets. • The countries of the Middle East are apart of Asia • The African Country of Egypt is thought to be in the Middle east, as well as the northern African countries around the Mediterranean sea.

The Middle East Today: Political Map 19 18 13 2 11 --> 8 --> 12 5 17 9 6 7 1 <--10 3 --> 16 > 5 -- 20 1 14 21

Bodies of Water Ca iter r a Se Med n ia Atlantic Ocean sp Black Sea Dardanelles Strait anea n Tigris Euphrates River Sea Jordan River Pe Suez Canal rs d Re Nile River ian Se Strait of Gu Hormuz lf Gulf of Oman a Arabian Sea Gulf of Aden Indian Ocean

The Mighty Nile River: “Longest River in the World”

Egypt: The “Gift of the Nile” Nile Delta Annual Nile Flooding 95% of the Egyptian people live on 5% of the land!

Aswan High Dam, Egypt Hydroelectric Power Plant

Suez Canal Completed by the British in 1869

The Tigris & Euphrates River System Mesopotamia: ”Land Between the Two Rivers” Marsh Arabs, So. Iraq

The Jordan River

Dead Sea: Lowest Point on Earth 2, 300’ below sea level Highest Salt Content (33%)

Wadis – Instant Springs

Mountains & Plateaus M ts . Caucasus Mts. Atlas Mts. El bu rz Anatolian Plateau us ur Ta ts. M Iranian Zagros Plateau Mts. jaz He s. Mt

Mountain Ranges in Mid-East Elburz Mts. , Iran Lebanese Mts. Zagros Mts. , Iran Taurus Mts. , Turkey

Other Land forms of the Middle East • • An Nafud Desert (Part fo the Arabian Desert)- Saudi Arabia, gigantic sand dunes, some over 100 ft. High Asir & Hejaz Mts. - running along Saudi Arabia’s Border with the red sea Dash-E Lut (Lout Desert)- North Central Iran, largest desert in the country, uninhabited wasteland covered with crusty salt ridges. Hadramawt- low mountain range of Yemen Hindu Kush- mountains border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, many snow capped peaks reaching over 22, 000 ft. Kara Kum Desert- south central Turkmenistan, large mass of sand known for its towering sand dunes Syrian desert- covers parts of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and western Iraq. Very little rain, lots of camels and cattle, oil pipelines and scattered oases.

Deserts Libyan Desert Sahara Desert Negev Sinai Desert Arabian Desert Rub al-Khali

Desert Bedouins

Swarms of Desert Locusts! Israel Hit By Worst Locust Plague Since the 1950 s! Locusts Swarm the Pyramids Complex at Giza!

Rub al-Khali: “The Empty Quarter”

Desert Oases: Water at a Premium!

Desalinization Plants

Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent

Completed Map ts . Ca Caucasus Mts. El a Atlantic Ocean Se bu rz n ia M sp Black Sea Dardanelles Strait Anatolian Plateau Med iter rane Tigris an S Euphrates us Iranian ea aur Jordan River T ts. Zagros Plateau Atlas Mts. Negev M River Sinai PMts. er Suez Canal Desert Strait of sia Deser n Arabian Gu Hormuz Libyan Nile t lf Gulf Desert River Rub of al-Khali Oman a jaz Se He d Re s. Mt Sahara Desert Arabian Sea Gulf of Aden Indian Ocean

Middle East: Climate Regions

Middle East: Population Density 1970 2001 2025 Annual renewa ble fresh h 2 o Algeria 13. 8 31 43. 2 14. 3 Bahrain . 2 . 07 1 0. 1 Egypt 35. 3 69. 8 96. 2 86. 8 Iran 28. 8 66. 1 88. 4 137. 5 Israel 3 6. 4 8. 9 2. 2 Jordan 1. 6 5. 2 8. 7 0. 9 Kuwait . 07 2. 3 4. 2 0. 02 Lebano n 2. 5 4. 3 5. 4 4. 8 Libya 2 5. 2 8. 3 0. 6 Morocc o 15. 3 29. 2 40. 5 30 Oman 0. 7 2. 4 4. 9 1. 0 Saudi Arabia 5. 7 21. 1 40. 9 2. 4 Syria 6. 3 17. 1 27. 1 46. 1 Tunisia 5. 1 9. 7 12. 5 4. 1 Turkey 35. 3 66. 3 85. 2 200. 7 UAE 0. 2 3. 3 4. 5 0. 2 Yemen 6. 3 18 39. 6 4. 1 By the Millions

Cairo, Egypt: Most Populated City in the Middle East 17, 000+ People!

The Middle East: Natural Vegetation

The Natural Resources of the Middle East

World Oil Reserves

Persian Gulf Oil Exports (2003)

Saudi Oil Fields & Refineries

Kuwait: An Island Floating on a Sea of Oil Kuwait City

Leading U. S. Oil Suppliers The U. S. imports 30% of its oil needs from the Middle East.