GEO1000 – TEST #4 MIDDLE EAST (AFRICA, ISRAEL, MIDDLE EAST) In 1,000 B.C.:One night a young Shepard was gazing at the stars in modern day Saudi Arabia when he saw a giant flaming meteor heading towards the earth. This massive black rock believed to be sent down by a greater power. This black rock began the major site of religious pilgrimage and worship for every individual. This created the practice of “religion”. This became known as the Kabba and this land became known as Mecca.KEY:Oceans, Seas, Rivers, Canals, Straits, EstuariesMountains, Landscapes, ValleysPlains, Archipelagos, Deserts, PlateausCities, Capitals, Important locationsEthics, Religion, CultureKabba• In Mecca• Built by Abraham to sacrifice his son• Giant Black Slab• Hasheno Sheriff to Meccao Takes care of Kabba• Mohammado To submit means “Islam”o One who submits means “Muslim”o People didn’t believe God talked to Mohammad like he prophesized so he was driven out of Mecca to Medinao In Medina, he creates the Quran (the religious text of Islam)o Still receives messages from GodFive Pillars of Islam:1. The saying – “There is only one God2. Pray – five times a day3. Alms – 20% to charity4. Fast – During the Holy Month of Ramadan5. Pilgrimage – To the Kabba in MeccaLeader and Succession in Islam• Mohammad dies in 632 AD• Leaves no son a successor• Alio Mohammad’s cousino Next male heir• Sunnio The majority o Rejected the succession of Alio Believed successor should be chosen by the Majority• Shiao The minority o Insisted Ali become successiono Shia believed successor should be related to Mohammad• Sunni vs Shia:o This creates a divide o Shia do not like the U.S.MIDDLE EAST• Social Construction• Five “……..stans”, Turkey, Africao Stan means “land of”o Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Named after the people that inhabit them• Unbroken lando No natural borders• Common geomorphologyo Land looks the same • Common political unito One expansive empire, French + English drew borders• Common history• Common Climateo Rarely rains• Common cultureo Islamo Alphabet (Arabic) But not always the same languageo Philosophyo Great sense of Tribalism• Economicso Rentier states  Resources they can sell, Ex. Oilo Resources Oil, Phosphate, strategic location Ex. Turkey : US Military, Israel : Strategic Rent, Egypt : Suez Canal• Colonialismo Every country was a colony of England• Conflict with the Westo Jesus Jihad a.k.a. The Crusades• Common Enemyo Israelo Western Colonialism• The French and English drew the boundariesGulf Cooperation Council (GCC)• Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E., Oman, Saldaya, BahrainYemen• Gets a good amount of rain, strong agriculture• Intensely Tribal• Weak central government• Sanaao Ancient city, walled cityo Home of the first skyscrapers Adeno Great Seaporto Bab el mandeb and the port of Africao British cityKuwait• 25% Kuwait, 70% foreign workers• Kuwait CityBahrain• Archipelago• Oil ran out• Now banking center and oil refinery from Saudi Arabia• Manamao Fleet of U.S. here• 85% Shia Muslim, 15% Sunni Muslim• Shia majority population that is underclass that are poor• Want equality, which the U.S. does not favorQatar• 90% desert• Dohao 95% of people in Qatar live thereo 70% not Qatarian• Al Jazeera created by liberal Emir of Qatar, a Muslim fundamentalist sympathetic of U.S.Saudi Arabia Mecca Medinao Where Muhammad created the Quran Jeddaho Primary access pointo Oldest city• Riyadh The Empty Quarter (Rub Al’Khali Desert)o One of the Largest deserts in the World• East side of Saudi Arabia, Along the Persian gulf o 40% of world’s oilAfghanistan (“Graveyard of Empires”) Kandaharo Headquarters of the Pashtuns Devotees of the Sunni Muslims• In the Middle East, Not South Asia• Patriarchal, family and tribe much more important than country• Home of Sunni and Shia• Most country covered by mountains• Kabul• Shite: Descendents of Mongols• Many different tribes: Pashtuns Tajiks Hazaras Uzbeks• Khyber Pass next to Kabul• The U.S. used a mobilization of Muslims to fight Russians in Afghanistan to defeat communism. Hindu Kush Mountainso Between central Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan Khyber PassTajikistan• Mostly Mountainso Tien Shen• Very pooro Biggest export is gold• DushanbeKyrgyzstan• BishkekKazakhstan• Mostly Steppe• Tien Shen mountains along border• Country is very rich in resources o Oil, Gold, Natural gases, Minerals• Potential for great wealth• Astanao People mostly Kazik, but huge Russian populationo Russia wanted to split up Kazakhstan, instead Kazakhstan agreed to give them Astana Almatyo Primeape cityo Business centero Along Tien Shen Aral Seao Filled by Amu Darya Rivero High degree of salto 25% the size of what it waso Chemically polluted Baikonur Cosmodromeo Only place to launch space shuttles o Russia’s number one space launch citeTurkey  Bosporus Straito Key Navigational Chokepoint Istanbulo On both sides of the Bosporus Strait• Ankarao Sits on Anatolian Plateauo Bunnies, cats, and cloth Mount Ararato Noah Oil Pipeline of Azerbaijan Oil Pipeline of Iraq Adanao Location where oil Pipeline of Azerbaijan and oil pipeline of Iraqo U.S. military hereo Major SeaportIraq (1923)• Northern part of Iraq Kurdish• Valley at the bottom of the plateau of Iran• Tigris and Euphrates make the valleyo Together they make an estuary called the shatt al Arab.o There is LOTS of oil here• 1923: o Western Europeans created Iraq, Because of oil Deposits• Kurds:o Considered a minority everywhere they live (Russia, Iraq, Iran)o Kurds argue for a country to call their owno Kurds are Sunni Muslims Mosulo City of Nineveho Arabic’s and Kurds live here Kirkuko Mostly Kurdisho Oil capital of Northern Iraq• Baghdado All racial groupso On Tigris river Basrao Mostly Shi’a Arabo Very old and pooro Largest seaportIran• North of Persian Gulf• Accompanied with U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait obtains half the worlds oil• Iranian Plateau, also known as the Persian Plateau• Iranian + Turkish Plateau dominated most of the Middle Easto Iranian Plateau = Persian Plateau, Turkish Plateau = Anatolia• Problems:o Tremendously split by race and religiono Kurds vs Sunni Arab vs Shi’a Arabo 1950: Iraq elected democratic Mohammad Mosaddegh. 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