Annotated Learning Objectives
Chapter Six
Having learned the regional geography of North Africa/Southwest Asia, you should be able to:
1. Appreciate the complexities involved in defining and naming this realm.
Pages 280-283
· A segment of the chapter (“Defining the Realm,” pages 280-282) is devoted to defining this realm.
· One way to characterize this realm is as the Islamic World. Figure 6.2 (pages 282-283) is a map showing the spatial distribution of the World's major religions.
2. Understand the realm’s basic cultural geography.
Pages 282-292
· The chapter segment “Hearths of Culture” (pages 282-286) places the culture of this realm in its historical perspective.
· Religion, in particular Islam, is crucial to understanding this realm's cultural geography. Read the sections pertaining to Islam on pages 286-292.
· Read the textbox “The Flowering of Islamic Culture” on page 288.
3. Describe the history of this realm, stressing its role in the development of many of the world's leading religions, particularly Islam.
Pages 286-289, 291-292
· The “Stage for Islam” section (pages 286-289) chronicles the development of Islam and the importance of the region to this realm.
· Also read the “Islam and Other Religions” subsection that begins on page 291.
· Figure 6.5 (page 289) reveals the areas that were once under Muslim rule.
4. Appreciate the significance of Islam for this realm as a whole, and the internal geographic variations of that faith.
Pages 289-292
· The section entitled “Islam Divided” (pages 289-292) introduces the divisions within Islam that still profoundly influence the geography of this realm.
· Read about the branches within Islam (pages 289-290), the rise of fundamentalism (pages 290-291), the results of the interaction between Islam and other religions (pages 291-292), and the aftermath of the Ottoman Empire (page 292).
· Figure 6.6 (page 291) shows the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire.
· Figure 6.7 (page 292) shows the areas of the Ottoman Empire that were later colonized by various groups.
5. Explain the major processes of spatial diffusion and be aware of the broad geographic patterns they shape.
Pages 284, 286, 287, 289, 291, 292
· Read about the basic processes of diffusion in the textbox on page 287.
· A good way to study the broad geographic patterns produced by diffusion is to pay attention to the maps provided in the text. The maps in Figures 6.3-6.7 (pages 284, 286, 289, 291, 292) all include arrows that indicate spatial diffusion.
6. Describe the production of oil in this realm, and the impact it has had on the development of countries that contain petroleum supplies.
Pages 293-296
· Read the section “The Power and Peril of Oil” on pages 293-296.
· Pay special attention to the summary listing of the impact of oil in exporting countries, which begins at the bottom of page 293.
· Figure 6.8 (pages 294-295) shows the location of oil and natural gas in this realm, as well as the level of production by each country.
7. Understand the major trends within each of this realm's regions, and why so many global political problems have arisen here.
Pages 296-333
· The “Regions of the Realm” chapter segment, which begins on page 296, identifies seven regional components that constitute this realm. Each region, and the countries they include, are discussed in some detail (pages 297-333).
· Figure 6.9 (pages 298-299) delineates the geographic regions and political units within the North Africa/Southwest Asia realm.
· “Egypt and the Lower Nile Basin” is the region introduced in the section that begins on page 297.
· Figure 6.10 (page 300) is a map of Egypt and the Sudan.
· The second region that is a part of this cultural realm is called “The Maghreb and Its Neighbors” (pages 303-306). Included in this region are the countries of northwestern Africa.
· Figure 6.11 (page 304) is a map of the Maghreb and Libya.
· “The African Transition Zone” is discussed in the section that begins on page 306. The countries that make up this region are located along the southern margin of the Sahara Desert.
· Figure 6.12 (page 307) provides a map of the African Transition Zone, and gives the percent of Muslim population in each country.
· “The Middle East” section begins on page 307. Five countries comprise this region: Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel.
· Read the textbox “The Palestinian Dilemma” on page 314.
· Figure 6.13 (page 308) is a map of the Middle East in the context of surrounding regions.
· Figure 6.14 (page 312) is a map entitled “Israel in the Middle East.” The map has a useful inset of the Golan Heights with the location of both Israeli settlements and Syrian villages indicated.
· Figure 6.15 (page 313) is a map of the West Bank with both Palestinian and Israeli settlement locations indicated.
· Figure 6.16 (page 315) is a map of Jerusalem with Arab and Jewish areas within the city delineated.
· The fifth region discussed is “The Arabian Peninsula” in the section on pages 317 through 320.
· Figure 6.17 (page 318) presents a map of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the location of oilfields.
· “The Empire States” comprise the sixth regional component of this realm. Read the section that begins on page 321. Turkey and Iran dominate this region.
· Figure 6.18 (pages 320-321) is a map of the Empire States.
· Read the textbox “Divided Cyprus” on page 324.
· “Turkestan” is a region that includes most or all of six states, several of which were part of the former Soviet Union. Read about this region in the section that spans pages 326 to 333.
· Figure 6.19 (page 327) provides a map of the Turkestan region.
· Figure 6.20 (page 328) is a map showing the complex ethnolinguistic geography of Turkestan and surrounding areas.
· Take a look at the interesting pair of photographs on page 330. These photographs show the dramatic shrinkage of the Aral Sea.
8. Locate the major physical, cultural, and economic-spatial features of the realm on an outline map.
Pages 278-333
· You must integrate information from throughout the chapter to fulfill this objective.
· You may find the map at the beginning of the chapter helpful (Figure 6.1, pages 278-279).