On the western subcontinent of Asia and is the dryest of the worlds major regions. More than 75% of the area gets less than 250mm (10") of rain per year, and is covered by deserts, semidesert or mountain steppe, yet 60% of it's people here rely on farming for a living. Economically oil dominates the region, having half of the world's proven reserves, producing 30% of the world's crude oil.
The term 'Middle East' was coined at the beginning of the 20th century to refer to the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. It is now used to cover a far wider area including the whole of SW Asia and Egypt. The region - up to 1914, was generally divided between the Ottoman Empire and the Persians. Today it consists of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine -and Israel, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsular, Iraq and Iran. Turkey and Persia is generally a mountainous plateau with few rivers, the climate is harsh, varying from torrid heat in the summer to extreme cold in the winter.
The most productive area in the ME is the Fertile Crescent -a name coined by desert Arabs and dating from the earliest Islamic invasions. It describes the great river valley of the Tigress and the Eurphates in Iraq, the foothills of the Turkish mountains skirting the Syrian Desert and Syria. It is the richest agricultural region and the most populous (2011) in the Middle East. More than 75% of the area gets less than 250mm (10") of rain per year, and is covered by deserts, semidesert
or mountain steppe, yet 60% of it's people here rely on farming for a living. Economically oil dominates the region, having half of the world's proven reserves, producing 30% of the world's crude oil. |
