RED SEA Africa and Arabia were once joined Tectonic movement created a rift valley That valley filled wwater Bam Red Sea ARABIAN PENINSULA Know def of peninsula Surrounded by Gulf of Aden Arabian Sea Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf ID: 571239
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Slide1
THE ARABIAN PENINSULASlide2
RED SEA
Africa and Arabia were once joined
Tectonic movement created a rift valley
That valley filled w/waterBam! Red SeaSlide3
ARABIAN PENINSULA
(Know def. of peninsula)
Surrounded by Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf
Israel, Jordan, and Iraq make up northern borderSlide4
ARABIAN SHIELD
Creates a mountain range in northwest Saudi Arabia
Steep escarpment on western edge
Many extinct volcanoesSlide5
NAJD
The central plateau of the Arabian Peninsula
Slopes very gently from east to west (unusual for a plateau)Slide6
DESERT
Peninsula is mostly unsuitable for human settlement
Arabian Desert has 2 parts:
1) An Nafud: reddish, crescent shaped dunes—covers 25,000 sq. mi.
2)
Rub’al
-Khali: “The Empty Quarter—10X the size of An Nafud; world’s largest uninterrupted area of sand; one of the driest regions on earthSlide7
WINDS AND NATURAL RESOURCESSlide8
WINDS
MONSOON
: a seasonal
WIND
that brings warm air from the oceans in the summer and cooler, dry air from inland in winter
Creates intense contrast with desert climate
Dense fog and humidity on coastal areasSlide9
WINDS CONT
SIMOOM
: dry, suffocating wind from the Arabian Peninsula
Last c. 20 minutesDestroys plant and animal life (simoom translates to “poison”)Slide10
MORE WIND
SHAMAL
: northwesterly wind in the Persian Gulf area
Occur midwinter and early summer
Carries millions of tons of sand and silt into the Rub’ al-KhaliSlide11
NATURAL RESOURCES
Arabian Peninsula has at least 25% of world’s proven oil reserves
Only Bahrain does not have significant oil
Most crucial resource is fresh waterSlide12
SECTION 2: HUMAN GEOGRAPHYSlide13
HISTORY
Tribal—social groups based on family relationships
SHEIKDOM
: territory ruled by an Arab tribal leader
Bedouins controlled most of AP
Nomadic and pastoral
No formal governmentSlide14
GOVERNMENT TODAY
Majority on AP are monarchies
Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar are absolute monarchies
Bahrain and Kuwait are constitutional monarchiesUAE is a federation of emirates, states ruled by emirs (Arab rulers)
Yemen is a republic Slide15
SECTS OF ISLAM
Death of Muhammad caused conflict among Muslim leaders (who would succeed him?)
Islam broke into 2 branches:
1)
SUNNI
: regards 1
st
4 successors of Muhammad as the rightful leaders
2)
SHIA
: regards Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali and the imams as his rightful successorSlide16
SECTS OF ISLAM
IBADHISM
: conservative form of Islam (Oman)
WAHHABISM: strictly orthodox Sunni Muslim
sect;
advocates a return to the early Islam of the Koran and Sunna, rejecting later
innovations (Saudi Arabia)Slide17
GEOPOLITICS
Def: government policy as it is influenced by physical, human, and economic activity
Unrest in oil producing countries is a real concern