SOUTHWEST ASIA

THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

01 TURKEY

02 ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

03 SYRIA, LEBANON, JORDAN

PHYSICAL FEATURES

• Turkey
• Lebanon
• Syria
• Jordan and Israel

Israel controls areas known as the Occcupied Territories.

These include:
• West Bank
• Gaza Strip
• Golan Heights
PHYSICAL FEATURES
On two continents:
The eastern Mediterranean region straddles two continents.

Hills, Valleys, and Plains.

River and Sea

Jordan River
Dead Sea
CLIMATE
Dry Climates
Mediterranean Climate
Desert Climate
Humid Subtropical Climate

RESOURCES
Unlike nearby countries in Southwest Asia, the countries of the eastern Mediterranean do
not have large oil reserves. The people of this region make their living from the land in
other ways.

• Limited Farming
• Mineral Resources
TURKEY

Part of the Hittite and Persian Empires. Alexander the Great

conquered Asia Minor. Later it became part of the Roman
Empire. Byzantium, renamed Constantinople, was one of
the most important cities of the empire. After the fall of
Rome, Constantinople became the capital of the Byzantine
Empire.

In the A.D. 1000’s the Seljuk Turks invaded Asia Minor. The
Ottoman Turks, captured the city of Constantinople. They
made it the capital of their Islamic empire.

Turkey, except for the small part that lies in Europe makes up a region called Asia Minor
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
During the 1500’s and 1600’s the Ottoman Empire was very
powerful. It controlled territory in North Africa, Southwest Asia,
and southeastern Europe. In the 1700’s and 1800’s the empire
gradually weakened.

In World War I the Ottoman Empire fought on the losing side.

Their leader was a war hero, Mustafa Kemal. He later adopted the
name Kemal Attatürk, which means “father of the Turks.” He
formally dissolved the Ottoman Empire and created the nation of
Turkey. He made the new country a democracy and moved the
capital to Ankara. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul in 1930.
MODERN TURKEY

Attatürk wanted to modernize Turkey. He believed that to be

strong Turkey had to westernize. He banned the fez, the
traditional hat of Turkish men, and required that they wear
European-style hats. The Latin alphabet replaced the Arabic one.
The European calendar and metric system replaced Islamic ones.
Women were encouraged to vote, work, and hold office. New laws
made it illegal for women to wear veils.
GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Turkey has a legislature called the National Assembly. A president

and a prime minister share executive power. The Turkish military has
taken over the government three times. However, each time it has
returned power to civilian hands.

Although most of its people are Muslim, Turkey is a secular state

Turkish economy includes modern factories as well as
village farming and craft making.
Turkish law a man is permitted to have just one wife. In recent
years Islamic political parties have attempted to increase Islam’s
Important industries are clothing, chemicals and oil
role in Turkish society.
processing. About 40 percent of Turkey’s labor force
works in agriculture. Grains, cotton, sugar beets, and
hazelnuts are major crops.

The Turkish economy has grown rapidly in recent years,

but inflation is a problem. Large numbers of Turks have
left Turkey in search of better jobs. By 2001, an
estimated 1.2 million Turks were working abroad to earn
higher wages.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
Turkey has more than 68 million people.
Ethnic Turks
80 percent of the population
Kurds
20 percent of the population
Kemal Attatürk’s changes created a cultural split between
Turkey’s urban middle class and rural villagers.
Most Turks, though, are more traditional. Islam
influences their attitudes on matter such as the role of
women.
Turkish cooking is much like that of the rest of the
Mediterranean region. It features olives, vegetables,
cheese, yogurt, and bread. Shish kebab – grilled meat on
a skewer – is a favorite Turkish dish.
 ISRAEL AND THE
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
 ANCIENT ISRAEL 02 During the era of Roman control, a Jewish man named Jesus
began preaching. Jesus taught that faith and love were more
important than Judaism’s man laws.

Christianity – Jesus’ teachings and the belief in his

resurrection – spread through the Roman Empire. In time,
Christianity became the most common religion of the
Mediterranean region.

01 The Hebrews, the ancestor of the Jews, first

established the kingdom of Israel about 3,000
years ago. It covered roughly the same area as
the modern State of Israel. In the 60’s B.C. the
Roman Empire conquered the region, which they Arabs conquered Palestine in the mid-600’s. From the 1000’s
called Palestine. to the 1200’s, European armies launched a series of invasions
called the Crusades.
From the 1500’s to World War I, Palestine was part of the
Ottoman Empire. At the end of the war, it became under British
control.
MODERN ISRAEL

In the late 1800’s a movement called Zionism began among

European Jews.

After World War II, the United Nations recommended dividing

Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.

Many Palestinians fled to other Arab states, particularly to Jordan

and Lebanon.
 GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY
Israel has a prime minister, and a parliament called Knesset. There
are two major political parties and many smaller parties.

Israel has built a strong military for protection from the Arab
countries around it. Terrorist attacks have also occurred. At age
18 most Israeli men and women must serve in the military.

Israel has a modern, diverse economy. High-technology equipment

and cut diamonds are important exports.

Tourism is a major industry.

Using highly efficient irrigation, Israel has successfully increased

food production.

Imports grain but exports citrus fruits and eggs.

LANGUAGES & DIVERSITY

Israel’s population includes Jews from all parts of the world. Both
Hebrew and Arabic are official languages.

About 82 percent of Israel’s population is Jewish. The rest of it is

mostly Arab. About three fourths of these are Muslim. The rest
are Christian.
FOOD AND FESTIVALS

Israeli food is influenced by Jewish religious laws.

Eastern European dishes are popular.

For Jews, Saturday is a holy day. Yon Kippur, the most important
Jewish holiday.

Passover, in the spring

THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
In 1967 Israel captured the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank.
These are sometimes called the Occupied Territories.

Disputed Land

The Gaza Strip is a small, crowded

piece of coastal land.
The Palestinians consider this an invasion of their land.
The Golan Heights is a hilly area on This has caused tension and violence between Arabs and
the Syrian border. Israelis.

The West Bank is the largest of the Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980. The Israeli
occupied areas, with a population of government had moved the capital from Tel Aviv to
about 2.2 million Jerusalem.The Palestinians still claim East Jerusalem as
their rightful capital.

Control of Jerusalem is a difficult and often emotional

question for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The city
contains sites that are holy to all three religions.
THE FUTURE OF THE TERRITORIES

In the 1990’s Israel agreed to turn over parts of the Occupied

Territories to the Palestinians. In return, the Palestinian
leadership – the Palestinian Authority – agreed to work for
peace.

Some Palestinian groups have continued to commit acts of

terrorism.
SYRIA
The capital of Syria, Damascus, is believed
to be the oldest continually inhabited city in
the world.

Syria became part of the Ottoman Empire in

the 1500’s. After World War I, France
controlled Syria as a mandate.

Syria finally became independent in the

1940’s.
POLITICS AND ECONOMY

From 1971 to 2000, the Syrian government was led by hafiz

al-Assad. Assad increased the size of Syria’s military.

Syria’s government owns the country’s oil refineries, larger

electrical plants, railroads, and some factories. Syria’s key
manufactured goods are textiles, food products, and
chemicals. Agriculture remains important.
 PEOPLE
Syria’s population of more than 17 million is about 90 percent
Arab. The other 10 percent includes Kurds and Armenian.
About 74 percent of Syrians are Sunni Muslim. Another 16
percent are Alawites and Druze, members of small branches of
Islam. About 10 percent of Syrians are Christian. There are
also small Jewish communities in some cities.
LEBANON

Lebanon is a small, mountainous country of the Mediterranean

coast
HISTORY & PEOPLE

During the Ottoman period many religious and ethnic minority groups
settled in Lebanon. After World War I, Lebanon, along with Syria,
became a French mandate. Lebanon finally gained independence in
the 1940’s.

The Lebanese are overwhelmingly Arab, but they are divided by

religion. Most Lebanese are either Muslim or Christian.

Muslims are divided into Sunni, Shia, and Druze. The Maronites are
the largest of the Christian groups in Lebanon.
CIVIL WAR
For some decades after independence, Christian and Muslim politicians
managed to share power. A complex system assigned certain government
positions to different religious groups

Adding to the divisions between Lebanese was the

presence of hundreds of thousands Palestinians
refugees living in Lebanon. Warfare between Lebanese
groups lasted until 1990. Tens of thousands people died,
and the capital Beirut, was badly damaged.
During the 1990’s Lebanon’s economy slowly recovered from the civil war.
The refining crude oil brought in by pipeline is a leading industry. Other
industries include food processing, textiles, cement, chemicals, and
jewelry making. Lebanese farmers produce tobacco, fruit grains, and
vegetables.
JORDAN

Jordan’s short history has been full of conflict. Great Britain drew its
borders, and Jordan’s royal family is actually from Arabia.
 HISTORY & GOVERNMENT

The country of Jordan (called Transjordan until 1949) was

created from Ottoman territory following World War I. The
British controlled the area as mandate. They established an
Arabian prince named Abdullah as the monarch of the new
country.

After the creation of Israel and the war of 1948, Jordan

annexed the Arab lands of the West Bank.

Warfare between Lebanese groups lasted until 1990. Tens

of thousands people died, and the capital Beirut, was badly
damaged.
ECONOMY AND RESOURCES

Jordan is a poor country with limited resources. The country does

produce phosphates, cement and potash. Tourism and banking are
becoming important industries. Jordan depends on economic aid from
the oil-rich Arab nations and the United States. Amman, the capital, is
Jordan’s only large city.

Jordanian farmers raise fruits and vegetables in the Jordan River valley,
using irrigation. Some highland areas never received enough winter
rainfall to grow grains. Raising sheep and goats is an important source
of income. However, overgrazing has caused soil erosion. A crucial
resource issue for Jordan is its shortage of water.
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