Chapter 17

Map of the Middle East and North Africa

Section 1
1. Mountains and deserts dominate the landscape of North Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East. The main water sources are lush river valleys that wind their way across the kums and to the seas.

2. Much of the world is economically dependent on this area because of its natural resources - oil and natural gas. This region contains some 60% of the world's oil preserves under its deserts.

creative writing: I believe that the supply of water in North Africa, southwest Asia, and Central Asia is more critical to the region's security than the supply of oil. This is how I see it: every one needs water to stay alive, but no one needs oil to stay alive.

Section 2
1. The climates in North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia are made up of desert and steppe climates with little to no rain. But in the northern middle east, that is around Turkey and Syria, a Mediterranean climate brings rainy, cool winters and hot summers.

2. People like nomadic herders keep their livestock in steppe climates and feed them on short grasses that grow in these areas. The people that grow cereals and grains live next to rivers and use irrigation to water their fields.


Size of sand grains in the Middle East


creative writing: The steppe climate areas of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia, and the steppe climate in the Great Plains of the United States and Canada are similar. The farmers in both regions grow similar crops and livestock - grains, cereals, cattle, goats. But these areas and their farmers are different as well: most of the food produced in the great plains is widely commercial, while the food grown in Southwest & Central Asia, and North Africa is more locally use and eaten.