Southwest and Central Asia. The Birthplace of Civilization and 3 Major Religions

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1 Southwest and Central Asia The Birthplace of Civilization and 3 Major Religions

2 Asia is so large, that it is often divided into the different regions seen below. We are going to study them in the following way: 1. Southwest and Central Asia 2. Southern and Eastern Asia 3. Southeast Asia and Oceania

3 The Middle East is in Southwest Asia. The countries in the Caucasus Mountains are sometimes classified as European, and sometimes in the Middle East.

4 Stan is similar to the English words stay and stand, and is of Persian origin. Its use at the end of a country name stems from the manner in which the Persians referred to the homelands of various peoples. Its original meaning is something similar to "place of. Thus, Afghanistan, literally means, "place of the Afghani".

5 Some key physical features of Southwest Asia

6 Some Central Asian Physical Features

7 The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water in the world. It is nearly the size of the state of Montana.

8 The Aral Sea has shrunk to only about 10% of its original size

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11 The Dead Sea, at 1,385 feet below sea level, is the lowest spot on Earth s surface.

12 Some people feel bathing in the Dead Sea s waters or soaking in its mud provides healthy benefits. Because of its high salt content, which is 9 times more than the ocean, BUOYANCY is especially high.

13 Water is a scarce and precious resource in parts of the Middle East and Central Asia.

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15 The Tigris and Euphrates are the most important rivers in the Middle East.

16 Need For Water There is a strong need for more water resources. There have been contentions in the past over the water usage of the few rivers in the region. Underground water continues to be a major source, and efforts have been made toward DESALINATION of sea water.

17 Fresh Groundwater Sources

18 WADIS Natural Springs

19 Desalinization Factories

20 Water may be in short supply, but oil and natural gas are not.

21 The #1 export of each country in the region.

22 People of Southwest and Central Asia For centuries, this region has served as the crossroads for the people of Africa, Asia, and Europe, and has always been a place of ethnic diversity. Today, the Middle East has a population of almost 300 million, and Central Asia almost 100 million.

23 Languages in the Middle East

24 In Southwest Asia, Arabic is a major language although there are many people who speak it who do not have their roots in the Arabian Peninsula. Iraqi Women Saudi Men

25 Millions of Israelis speak Hebrew, and the majority are members of the Jewish faith. Turks are not Arabs, but a blend of many different people, and speak their own language. Israelis Turks

26 Iranians and Afghanis are also non- Arabs. Iranians speak Farsi, an Indo- European language distantly related to English. Iranians Afghanis

27 Armenians and Kurds are other ethnic groups in the region and have their own languages. Armenians Kurds

28 Religion in Southwest and Central Asia Islam is the dominant religion in most countries. The Jewish faith is dominant in Israel, while Christianity is commonly found in Georgia, Armenia, and Cyprus. There is also a significant Christian population in Lebanon.

29 The Islamic religion was started in the 7 th century by a man named Muhammed who was from Mecca. It spread rapidly, often by force, but sometimes through contact when traders introduced it. It was eventually repelled by Europeans, but spread further into Africa and Asia. It has two major sects: Sunni and Shia.

30 Here, Muslims are making a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city of the Islamic faith. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world.

31 For much of the 20 th century, five of the stan countries were part of the Soviet Union. They became independent in the early 1990s, and Russian is still being used there. People also speak a variety of Turkic languages.

32 As mentioned, Central Asia is quite rugged territory, and doesn t have a lot of good farmland. With no large body of water (an ocean) near, the climate of Central Asia experiences more extremes in terms of climate. There are very dry areas, but snow does fall in the mountains. Many of the people do make a living on the land that is suitable for farming. Manufacturing jobs do exist in some of the population centers. In recent years the production of petroleum and the natural gas reserves have been important to the region.

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34 People of Central Asia

35 Many of the nomadic people of the Central Asian steppes live in dwellings known as YURTS. They are portable wood lattice frames covered with felt.

36 ABOVE: Inside a Yurt Yurts have even become a popular idea in the Western world.

37 Jerusalem, Israel Tel Aviv, Israel

38 Damascus, Syria Beirut, Lebanon

39 Baghdad, Iraq Tehran, Iran

40 Kabul, Afghanistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan

41 Almaty, Kazakhstan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

42 Doha, Qatar

43 Dubai, U. A. E.

44 Turkey The Middle East is home to some of the earliest and greatest civilizations that ever developed. Syria Iran The area between and around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers is known as MESOPOTAMIA. Jordan Saudi Arabia Iraq

45 This area of the world has also been referred to as the FERTILE CRESCENT.

46 The Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians all developed civilizations in Southwest Asia, but the Sumerians were the first.

47 The SUMERIAN Civilization, the world s oldest, developed in what is now southern Iraq over 6,000 years ago.

48 Historically, these lands have been fought over numerous times, mainly because of them being the link between Europe and countries of East Asia like China. The ancient Silk Route crossed through this region. (The desire for trade eventually led to Europeans exploring more of the world, and the eventual founding of the United States.) *You will study more about the other ancient cultures in your high school world civilization class.

49 The Silk Route (in red) was one of the key ancient trade routes linking the West and East.

50 The Arab/Israeli Conflict One of the biggest modern-day conflicts in the world Ever since being driven from Palestine (the Holy Land) by outsiders, Jews scattered throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia, had always dreamed of returning. After violent attacks against Russian Jews in the late 1800s, the ZIONIST (Jewish Nationalist) movement began.

51 Zionist leaders began to petition Britain, who controlled Palestine (the Holy Land), to create a Jewish homeland. In 1917, Britain supported the idea of creating a Jewish homeland. Many Jews interpreted this to mean that Britain supported unlimited migration and the creation of an independent state.

52 Palestinian Arabs HATED this, and resented the influx of Jews moving into Palestine. There was a lot of violence, and eventually Britain turned the problem over to the United Nations, the international organization founded after World War II.

53 Jerusalem was designated as an international city. Jews weren t totally happy with this plan, but overall accepted it. Arab Palestinians and the Arab League rejected it. In 1948, the state of Israel was created by the United Nations.

54 Since its creation, Israel has existed knowing that its neighbors would love to see its destruction. Everyone in Israel, including women, receives various degrees of military training. Major wars were fought in the region in 1948, 1956, 1967, and Tensions and conflicts continue to occur to this day.

55 Light Green=Arab League Dark Green=Have warred with Israel.

56 Many people and countries still refuse Israel s right to exist. This clip was made by a very pro-israel person. A pro- Palestinian person would simply argue there should be no Israel whatsoever-- end of story.

57 Why Do Southwest and Central Asia Matter to the U. S.? Since the 1970s, this region has dominated the attention of Americans. There was the oil crisis, partially caused by our friendship with Israel, and our continued dependence on oil from the region. From , we had the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Throughout the 1980s, we dealt with terrorism against our people in the region, even resorting to bombing the nation of Libya, whose leader was a supporter of terrorism.

58 Our nation led a coalition of international forces in to liberate the nation of Kuwait from Iraq who was led by Saddam Hussein. We led another coalition of nations in in removing the Taliban, a terrorist-harboring government in Afghanistan. Starting in 2003, we led the attack to remove Saddam Hussein from power, after it appeared he was not following agreements from the end of the first war.

59 To punish the U. S. for its support of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, several Arab countries with oil refused to sell to the U. S., causing shortages.

60 The Iran Hostage Crisis Until 1979, the U. S. had fairly good relations with the nation of Iran. After the Islamic revolution to rid the country of western influences, radical students seized the American embassy in the capital of Tehran. For 444 days, over 50 Americans were held hostage.

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62 For more than 30 years, the U. S. had supported this leader known as the Shah of Iran. Some of Iran s people felt that he was very corrupt, and he was eventually forced from power in In 1979 and Islamic religious revolution was led by a leader known as the Ayatollah Khomeini. He and his followers believed Iran was becoming to Westernized. When U. S. President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah to come to the U. S. for cancer treatments, the American embassy in Tehran was overrun, and many inside were held captive from November 1979 until January 1981 the last day of the Carter Presidency. We have had poor relations with them ever since.

63 The heavily mountainous nation of Afghanistan has been at almost constant war since 1979.

64 Between 1979 and 1989, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied the country, trying to insure a pro-communist government.

65 The Soviets had withdrawn from Afghanistan by Throughout the early and mid 1990s, several different FACTIONS fought for control of the country. By 1996, a group known as the TALIBAN seized control of the country. They were radical Islamists who imposed strict Islamic law on the whole country. There was a lot of suppression of the people, especially women.

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67 Osama bin Laden a Saudi-born terrorist, was allowed by the Taliban to live in Afghanistan, where terrorist training camps were established. Osama was believed to be a major financier and planner of the 9/11 attacks on the U. S.

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69 The Taliban regime refused to hand over bin Laden to the U. S. In October of 2001, the U. S. and some of our allies in NATO, (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) began military operations to remove the Taliban from power and to seek out bin Laden. The Taliban government collapsed within weeks, with many of its members fleeing to the mountainous, rugged areas of the country. Although the U. S. came close to capturing Osama bin Laden, he was able to escape, until he was killed in 2011.

70 Political Cartoon Propaganda Leaflet

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72 U. S. Special Forces on the ground Special Forces working with anti-taliban Afghanis

73 Fire bombing in the mountainous Tora Bora region This young soldier was awaken from a nap, and went right to fighting in his flip flops and pink boxers that said, I Love NY

74 The U. S. still has troops stationed there. The cost in lives and money has made many Americans weary of the war. Some people fear that as soon as America leaves, Taliban members and leaders will come out of the mountains and take over again.

75 Issues With Iraq From 1980 until 1988, the nations of Iran and Iraq fought a bitter war over border disputes, and differences over Sunni and Shia Islam. Both sides wanted to be the dominant country of the Persian Gulf region. It was a gruesome war with hundreds of thousands being killed. Use of chemical weapons which are a type of WMD (weapon of mass destruction) took place.

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77 The Persian Gulf War We had actually given support to Iraq in their war with Iran. On August 2, 1990, forces from Iraq invaded the Persian Gulf nation of Kuwait. Iraqi dictator Saddam claimed Kuwait had historically been part of Iraq, plus he was angry that Kuwait was selling oil cheaply, helping to hurt Iraq s economy.

78 The U. S. and other nations became concerned with Iraq s growing power, and the threat it posed to Saudi Arabia, the world s largest oil producer. During the Fall of 1990, the U. S. led by the first President Bush, organized a coalition of some 35 countries to expel Saddam from Kuwait and liberate the country.

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80 The air war began in January of 1991, followed by a 100 hour ground war in February. Saddam s forces were routed and Kuwait was liberated. Some people said we should have went on to Baghdad and removed Saddam, while others said we should stay with our stated mission of liberating Kuwait.

81 The Highway of Death back to Baghdad

82 Kuwaiti oil wells set on fire by retreating Iraqis.

83 Politically, the U. S. may have looked like a bully had we gone further into Iraq. The Soviet Union was just breaking up, and our further presence may have caused some serious political issues. We thought Saddam would be overthrown by his own people, but he was strong enough to hold on. As part of the cease fire agreement, a southern and northern no-fly zone was set up, and Iraq had to allow nuclear inspectors to look at their facilities.

84 Son-in- Law Son Daughter Son Daughter Daughterin-Law Son-in- Law The Husseins Probably the 1980s Daughter

85 Saddam and sons - Uday and Qusay ruthlessly ruled Iraq for the next twelve years. Saddam frequently refused to cooperate with weapons inspectors.

86 In 2003, after defying agreements made in 1991, and fearing that Saddam had, or was in the process of making WMDs, another U. S. led coalition attacked Iraq, and captured Baghdad within 3 weeks. Saddam was later captured, and eventually executed by his own people in December 2006 for war crimes he had committed while he was the dictator.

87 Uday and Qusay were killed in a fight with coalition forces in July Saddam was captured later that year, and executed in 2006.

88 Was It Worth Several Trillion $? American forces were involved in the conflict from March 2003, until December 2011, suffering nearly 5,000 combat deaths, and having tens of thousands of wounded soldiers go home. A monster was removed from power, and free elections were established for the Iraqi people but for how long? It is hoped that Iraq will now be a country friendly to the U.S., and can act as a counter balance to the growing threat of a nuclear Iran. * No matter your opinions about warfare, the men and women who serve our country should always be respected!

89 Other Critical Concerns: Continued military and political unrest in Egypt the largest Arab country in the Middle East. The disturbing Civil War taking place in Syria. Ongoing suicide bombings and attacks by Palestinians in Israel. The desire by the Iranian leadership to develop nuclear weapons and make good on their threat to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.