North Africa Southwest and Central Asia Today Chapter

North Africa, Southwest, and Central Asia Today Chapter 19, Section 1: The Economy

Important Vocabulary –Arable: land suitable for farming. –Commodity: economic goods. Ex: Petroleum and oil products. –Crude Oil: petroleum that has not yet been refined.

Vocabulary (Cont’d) –Petrochemical: products derived from petroleum or natural gas: fertilizers, medicines, plastics, and paints. –Landlocked: countries almost or entirely surrounded by land. –Embargo: ban on trade. Ex: Oil exports.

Agriculture & Fishing – Only small part of region has arable land, but large percentage work in agriculture. – Various crops grown in the region(s). – Fishing industry is important on the coasts; issues with overfishing.

Oil, Natural Gas, & Mining – Over 60% of the world’s petroleum and oil products. – It has about 50% of the world’s natural gas. – Large-scale crude oil exports. – Mining resources: coal and copper.

Service Industries – Banking, real estate, and insurance industries play important role. – North Africa and Central Asia are popular tourist destinations. – Tourism is discouraged in Iran, and conflicts have affected it in other places.

Roads, Railroads, & Airlines – Roads are unevenly distributed due to physical geography. – Rapid railway and subway systems being built to ease congestion. – Growth in air travel since WWII.

Waterways & Pipelines – Transportation of cargo on the Mediterranean and Black Seas is vital to economies. – Persian Gulf and Suez Canal also crucial for trade and waterway passage. – Pipelines used to transport oil and natural gas.

Communications – Expanding radio and TV broadcasting; many gov’ts control the media. – Satellites helping to improve communication. – Growing usage of computer and internet access.

Trade & Interdependence – Growing interdependence through aid, trade deals, and loans. – U. S. and Central Asian states created a trade council in 2004. – OPEC and 1973 embargo.

North Africa, Southwest, and Central Asia Today Chapter 19, Section 2: People and Environment

Important Vocabulary –Aquifer: underground layers of porous rock, gravel, or sand that contain water. –Desalination: process of removing salt from seawater.

Water Resources – Freshwater comes from aquifers, rivers, and oases. – Growing population increases demand for water. – Human-made canals are built to funnel freshwater.

Desalination – Limited water resources requires scientific development of desalination. – Building and maintaining these plants are costly for certain countries.

The Aswan High Dam – Built in 1970 in Egypt. – It controls the Nile’s floods, irrigates cropland, and provides hydroelectric power. – Negative impacts: loss of alluvial soil and diseases.

Impact of War – Iraqi forces set fire to 700 Kuwaiti oil wells in 1991, causing air pollution. – Iraqi troops also dumped 250 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf, damaging water quality. – Recent armed conflicts have brought damage through air strikes.

Three Troubled Seas – Caspian Sea: problems with pollution and overfishing. – Aral Sea: loss of water for irrigating croplands. – Dead Sea: loss of water for irrigation and hydroelectric power plants.

Nuclear & Chemical Dangers – The Central Asian states were sites for Soviet nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons tests. – Heavy industries caused air pollution. – Many illnesses and early deaths.