Southwest Asia

By: Marija Lucic

Physical Geography
Two most valuable resources? Natural Gas and
Oil.
Wadi- a valley, ravine, or channel that is dry
except in the rainy season.
Euphrates and Tigris river- greatriversystem of
Southwest Asia, comprising the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, which have their sources within
50 miles (80 km) of each other in eastern Turkey
and travel southeast through northern Syria and
Iraq to the head of the Persian Gulf.
Jordan- a country of southwest Asia in northwest
Arabia.

The Dead Sea

Salt lake on the border between Israel and Jordan.
Its shore, at approximately thirteen hundred feet
belowsealevel, is the lowest point of dry land on
Earth.
TheDead Seais 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest
hypersaline lake in the world.

Human-Environment
Interaction
Why is industry important in this region?
Petroleumandoilproducts are the main export
commodities, or economic goods, of North Africa,
Southwest Asia, and Central Asia. They are
dependent on the product and it puts them ahead
of other countries in exporting.

 Drip irrigation- saves water and fertilizer by

allowingwater to drip slowly to therootsof plants, either
onto thesoilsurface or directly onto theroot zone,
through a network ofvalves,pipes,tubing, andemitters.
Desalinization- any of several processes that remove
some amount of salt and other minerals from saline
water.
Crude oil- unrefined petroleum.
Refinery- an industrial installation where a substance is
refined.
OPEC- a cartel that aims to manage the supply of oil in
an effort to set the price of oil on the world market, in
order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the
economies of both producing and purchasing countries.

Religions
Israel is the birthplace of Judaism,Christianity, andIslam
Explain the differences and similarities between
universal and ethnic religions: Ethnic Religion usually
consists of beliefs, superstitions and rituals carried out
from generation to generation within a specific ethnicity
and culture. Universal religion is one that seeks out new
members. They welcome anyone and everyone.
Universal means applying to all, which is more
information. Universal religions consist of many
members, and these members are often of different
ethnic backgrounds (very diverse) hence the term
universal.
Ethnic background- Arabs

 Crusades- a medieval military expedition, one of a

series made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land
from the Muslims in the 11th, 12th, and 13th
centuries.
Arab- a member of a Semitic people, originally from
the Arabian peninsula and neighboring territories,
inhabiting much of the Middle East and North Africa.
Palestine- historic region on the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean Sea, comprising parts of modern
Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.
Mecca- the birthplace of Muhammad, and thus the
holiest city for Muslims.

Religions
Christianity- the religion based on the person and
teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and
practices.
Judaism- the monotheistic religion of the Jews.
Islam- the religion of the Muslims, a monotheistic
faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as
the Prophet of Allah.
Jerusalem- a holy city for Jews, Christians, and
Muslims; the capital of the ancient kingdom of Judah
and of the modern state of Israel.
Hinduism- a major religious and cultural tradition of
South Asia, developed from Vedic religion.

Religions
Buddhism-a path of practice and spiritual
development leading to Insight into the true
nature of reality.
Taoism- a Chinese philosophy based on the
writings of Lao-tzu advocating humility and
religious piety.
Shintoism- the indigenous religion of Japan
consisting chiefly in the cultic devotion to deities
of natural forces and veneration of the Emperor
as a descendant of the sun goddess.
Atheist- a person who disbelieves or lacks belief
in the existence of God or gods.

Important Countries

Israel
Egypt
Syria
Iraq
Saudi Arabia