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Geography of the Arabian Peninsula
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The Four Geographic Regions of the Arabian
Peninsula

• The Desert
• Oases
• Coastal Plain
• Mountains

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The Desert
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The Desert

• The desert climate is extreme.
• Rainfall is less than 10 inches per year.

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The Desert

• Summer temperatures can exceed 120 degrees in
  the shade.
• Winter temperatures can drop below freezing.

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The Desert

• Extremes prevent the development of a solid
  cover of vegetation.
• Winds create dunes reaching 500 feet high.

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The Desert

• Arabian deserts contain wells of salty water,
  low shrubs, and clumps of tough grass.
• This provides good grazing for camels, sheep,
  goats, and jackrabbits.

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The Desert

• Most of the land of the Arabian peninsula is
  desert.
• This provides a natural barrier from foreign
  conquest.

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An Oasis
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An Oasis

• An oasis is a fertile place in the desert where
  a spring or a well provides a water supply.

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An Oasis

• Main source of life-giving water and green
  pastures for camel herds and other grazing
  animals.
• Nomads travel from oasis to oasis seeking
  pastures for camels to graze.

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An Oasis

• Vegetation in oases consisted of date palms,
  orchard and ground crops such as myrrh and
  frankincense.
• Spices were used for religious, medicinal,
  sanitary and cosmetic purposes.

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Oases

• Also became trading centers.
• Nomads bought camel meat and milk.

• Also traded were spices, perfumes, precious
  metals, ivory and silk.
• Another thing that was traded was ideas.

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Coastal Plain
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Coastal Plain

• A coastal plain is level land extending along a
  coast.
• It separates a plateau from the sea.

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Coastal Plain

• The coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula is
  more humid than the interior due to its proximity
  to the sea.

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A City on the Coastal Plain

• The Arabian Peninsula has a few deep harbors to
  encourage seafaring but not one river to provide
  interior transport and communication.

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People of the Coastal Plain

• People living on the coastal plain became
  effective traders.
• Most of the trading cities are located along the
  coastal plain.

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Advantages of the Coastal Plain

• The coastal plain of Arabia has one major
  advantage over the other geographical areas
  RICH AGRICULTURE.
• This region contains most of the cultivated land
  of the peninsula.

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Advantages of the Coastal Plain

• Crops included coffee, grains, and fruits.
• This cultivation, along with trading, allowed
  people to develop complex civilizations.

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Mountains
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Mountains

• Mountains stretch along the coast of the Arabian
  Peninsula about 50 miles from the sea.

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Mountains

• This causes the climate to be different from the
  interior basin.
• During the rainy season, flash floods are common.

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A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• Annual rainfall is 20-30 inches.

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A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• Farmers created banks of earth called terraces
  to irrigate crops.
• They fertilized with manure and ashes from
  cooking fires.

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A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• This system of farming produced a number of
  crops such as dates and oranges.

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A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• Mountains tend to seal people off from the
  desert and beyond.
• People of the mountains can maintain their
  culture and traditions.

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A Mountain Settlement in Yemen

• Today, homes built of mud brick are decorated
  with bands of color.
• This is a tradition from ancient times.

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The end?
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Geography of the Arabian Peninsula

• Assignment
• Draw a picture and label each of the four types
  of geography of the Arabian Peninsula Desert,
  Oases,
• Coastal Plain, and Mountains
• Write one sentence about each and color