2. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Man-Land
• Regional
• Spatial
Paradigm: The way in which
one views the world. Defines
acceptable questions and
answers for a discipline.
3. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Man-Land
• Human Environment
•Typical Questions:
• How does the climate of
•Turkey affect its economy?
• How has the Aswan Dam changed
the environment of Egypt?
4. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Regional
• Geography as an Integrative science
• Concept: by examining geomorphology,
climate, demography, economics, politics,
history, sociology, etc the “whole will be greater
than the sum of its parts”
5. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Regional
• Geography and Versailles Conference (1919)
• Advantage of Regional Knowledge
6. The Field of Geography
• GIS and Remote Sensing Produce New Ways of Looking at Regional
Geography
• www.gis.com www.esri.com
7. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Regional
• Recent interest due to:
• Globalization
• Reports of geographic illiteracy
• Fall of Soviet Union
8. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Regional
• Brian Berry’s
Matrix
9. The Field of Geography
Three Paradigms of Geography
• Spatial
• Typical Questions:
• Why are spatial distributions
structured the way they are? (Why are
things located where they are?)
• What is the best location for
something?
• The emphasis moves from where to why.
• Use of statistical, mathematical, and
computer methods
10. The Field of Geography
Answer Paradigms
• Determinism (Ellsworth Huntington)
• Probablism
• Possiblism
• Limit Free Will
• Free Will
11. Defining the Middle East
The “region” as a “mental construct.”
Use of term Middle East, Near East, Far East (ethnocentric terms)
We will try to define the Middle East as a “homogenous” region
13. Defining the Middle East
The Dry World (Arid)
The Arab World
The World of Islam
The World of Oil
14. THE DRY WORLD ?
Dry/arid climate prevails
throughout the realm
Exceptions:
Peripheral regions of
Turkey
Northwestern section
of Iran
Oases
Several great river
valleys
Dryness extends
beyond the region
Arid Plains Near the Tigris
15. POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
The majority of the population in this realm
lives not in the dry arid regions, but around
water resources.
- The Nile (Egypt – 70 million)
- Mediterranean Sea (Turkey 70 million)
- Euphrates and Tigris Basin (Iraq – 20
million)
- Lower mountain slopes of Iran, south of
the Caspian Sea (Iran 70 million)
16. AN ARAB REALM ?
Relates to language as a cultural feature of this realm
“Who is an Arab” problem
Arabic is the dominant language in 16 States of the realm,
but it is not one language.
In Non-Arab States, indigenous languages dominate.
- Turkey – Turkish (70 million) come from Central
Asia
- Kurds (20 million) half live in Turkey where they
are 20% of the population
- Iran – Farsi (70 million)
- Israel – Hebrew (5 million Jews, 1 million Arabs)
- Niger – French
- North Africa -Berber
19. ISLAMIC REALM?
Organization of the Islamic Conference – over one billion Muslims
Top 10 Islamic
Countries
•Indonesia
•Pakistan
•India
•Bangladesh
•Turkey
•Iran
•Egypt
•Nigeria
•Algeria
•Morocco
20. The Oil Industry
Two-thirds of the world’s oil reserves
Three areas with oil include North Africa,
Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea (see next maps)
Oil and Non-oil states (“haves” versus
“have-nots”)
Kuwait and Iraq with about same amount
of oil, but Iraq with 25 million and Kuwait
with 2.2 million
Much oil in states not in the Middle East
26. Various Definitions of the Middle East
Complicated by break up of USSR
Some definitions have included
parts of former Yugoslavia,
Greece, Kenya, Somalia, and
Bangladesh
No set definition
Text uses the 16 states on the
accompanying map (minus
Azerbaijan, Armenia, and
Georgia)
In covering the systematic
chapters, we will include
references to Morocco to Libya in
North Africa and Sudan
27. Transliteration
A mapping from one system of writing to
another
In a sense, we are changing alphabets
Often no hard and fast rules!
28. Subregions of the Middle East
SW Asia (Asian portion of ME)
North Africa (North African portion of ME)
Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) (“western island”)
Mashriq (the east, the lands east of Libya
Barbary Coast (named after the Berbers, name for
countries of North Africa, home of Barbary pirates)
29. Subregions of the Middle East
Levant (French word for rising
sun – it is in the east where
the sun rises over the
Mediterranean) (Israel,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon)
Palestine (Israel, Jordan,
Gaza, West Bank)
Fertile Crescent (refers to the
agricultural and pastoral land
in a semi-circle from the
Persian Gulf to the coast of
Israel)
30. Cold War-Related
Subregions of the Middle East
Northern Tier (southern
periphery of USSR (Turkey and
Iran)
CENTO (Central Treaty
Organization) (Baghdad Pact
1955) (Against USSR expansion,
like NATO) (Iran, Iraq, Turkey,
Pakistan, UK, US)
1958 Iraq out with overthrow of
government
1979 Shah falls and CENTO
becomes history
An example of Supranationalism
– 3 or more nations cooperate for
political, economic, or cultural
reasons
31. Subregions of the Middle East
Arabia (all the countries of
the Arabian Peninsula)
Asia Minor (Anatolian
Peninsula) (Turkey)
32. Subregions of the Middle East
Gulf Nations (all the
countries around the
Persian Gulf)
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,
UAE, Oman)
Gulf Cooperation Council
1981
Economic cooperation
Political cooperation
Not a big success
33. Subregions of the Middle East
Arab League
1945: Egypt, Iraq,
Lebanon, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, Jordan,
Yemen
Later: Algeria,
Bahrain, Comoros,
Djibouti, Kuwait,
Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Oman,
Qatar, Somalia,
Yemen, Sudan,
Tunisia, UAE
Egypt was out 1979-
1989
34. Opec Members
Former OPEC Members
Additional OAPEC Members
Subregions of the Middle East
OPEC
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries
35. The Stans
Formerly Soviet
Central Asia
Also called Turkistan
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan
Tajikistan (Persian)
Kyrgyzstan
Afghanistan (non-USSR)
36. Transcaucasia
Republics in the Russian Federation
Orange is Russia proper
Dagestan (Muslim)
Chechnya (Muslim)
Ingushetia (Muslim)
Etc.
Independent Countries
Armenia (Christian, also in Turkey
and Armenian quarter in Jerusalem
and elsewhere)
Azerbaijan (Shiite Muslim, ties to
Azeris in Iran, Turkic people)
Georgia (Christian)