How Does Geography Affect the Middle East?

HOW DOES GEOGRAPHY AFFECT THE MIDDLE EAST?

There are many aspects in which geography affects the Middle East. One of these is the incredible amount of cultural diversity in the area. There are many types of lifestyles in the Middle East, the most iconic, of course, being that of the nomads. Though this lifestyle is the most iconic to the Middle Eastern area, only a very small minority of those in that are actually nomadic peoples. There are, however, a slightly larger group of migratory people who move depending on the season. They are often mistaken for nomads. Other lifestyles include farming fishing, and more recently, large populations of urban dwellers. The majority of the rural farming industry in the Middle East is composed of very close farming villages rather than smaller, isolated farms run independently. Coastal communities generally rely on fishing, and parts of the Persian Gulf specialize in the pearl industry. In the late 20th century, large urban communities began to appear. Urban migration became increasingly enticing to the poor rural people, as it offered promise of a better life and commodities that were not available in the smaller fishing and farming villages. Another way that geography affects the Middle East is the incredible wealth of natural resources in the area. After WWII, many European countries gave up their imperialistic strategies, and instead of getting their oil from their Middle Eastern colonies, they now had to pay extra to have it imported from the now-independent countries. This has led to both prosperity and political tensions. While this region supplies about 55% of the world's oil, it almost completely devoid of water. This creates even more tension, as these countries have to import water very often. Importing such an important resource as water is not only impractical, but incredibly expensive. If one country that did contain water decided to cut off water supply to another, they could either completely destroy that country or start a huge war. There is also a very small region of fertile land, known as Mesopotamia or the "Fertile Crescent". This area is a very small portion of the land mass in the Middle East; however, all of the income that comes from farming in the Middle East comes from this region. For this reason, the majority of the income of the Middle Eastern nations does not, of course, come from agriculture. Seeing as a staggering 55% of the world's oil comes from the Middle East, it is one of the most highly contested regions in the world. Countries worldwide seek to control this area for it's wealth of oil. Any single nation that controls this area completely will effectively control every other country in the world. For this reason, almost every major country is racing to find alternative energy sources, so as not to depend entirely on such an incredibly unstable region of the world, that, at any point, could erupt into