SW Asia Live, Work, and Trade DT#4 Re-performance Lesson

The most common landform in Southwest Asia (Middle East) is desert.​There are 2.8 million miles of land in the Middle East, and more than half of it is covered by large desert areas.

​The desert areas are not a favorable place to live due to the extremely hot and arid climate.

​Food and water is very difficult to find; however, oases provide a temporary water source.

​-People travel across the desert in camel caravans.

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-Some even use All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) to maneuver across the sand.

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The Great Syrian Desert is located between Syria and Iraq.

​The Rub al-Khali (or “empty quarter”) is in southern Saudi Arabia.

•Bedouins (desert nomads) have called the desert home for thousands of years. They live in tent camps and in huts. Many are sheep, camel, and goat herders.​

​Many Bedoins are sheep, camel, and goat herders.

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-They trade animals and hand-made goods with people who live in towns along the desert’s edge.

​Most nomadic people have left the desert behind and have moved to cities to find work (usually in the oil industry) and to get away from the harsh conditions from living in the deserts.

​Cities are built on or near rivers to take advantage of the scarce water sources in Southwest Asia. Access to water for bathing and drinking make the area much easier to live in.

• ​The Tigris River runs through Turkey and Iraq and joins with the Euphrates to become the Shatt al Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf.

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• The Euphrates River runs through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.

​The Jordan River forms part of the border for Syria, Jordan, and Israel.

The Middle East is a trade hub between Asia, Africa, and Europe. Therefor, the rivers in this region provide important routes for transportation. Southwest Asia’s waterways are important to national economies because they have helped make the region a center for shipping and trade for hundreds of years.

​Rivers are also important trade routes for people living in nearby cities to help ship goods to other merchants. Cities and towns located on rivers have become major hubs of industry.

​Most people in the cities make a living working in industrial factories (example: oil industry related jobs).

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Farmers grow crops by rivers and in river valleys because they provide a source of irrigation.

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Fishing is also an important area of income for people who live near rivers.

​In countries that have a deep-sea harbor, the population increases around port cities. Here, there are employment opportunities in transportation, shipbuilding, and repair.

​•Turkey has major port cities along the Aegean, Black, and Mediterranean Seas.

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​•Saudi Arabia has port cities along the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.