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PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 59:
Physical Features of Southwest Asia
(Middle East)
The landscape of Southwest Asia is dominated by two physical features.The northern part of this
region is very mountainous and is prone to earthquakes. This is particularly true of Turkey, Iran,
Georgia, and Armenia. The central and southern part of this region is one huge desert. There are
occasional oasessprinkled throughout thedesert regions.Anoasis isa fertile, greenspot in thedesert
made so by freshwater.
Another exception to thedesert conditions is theTigrisandEuphratesRiver plain.Both riversbegin
inTurkey and flow southeast through Iraq to thePersianGulf.
ACTIVITY 1:
Let’s learnmore about the physical features of Southwest Asia.Use your classroom school atlas and
the regionalmapon thenext page to complete labelingPartsAandB.Trace the riversand theborders
of water formswith blue crayons.
Part A – LabelingWater Forms
Part B = LabelingLandforms
Rivers
Deserts
T =Tigris River
SyrianDesert at D,3
E=EuphratesRiver
EmptyQuarter at E/F/G,5
J = JordanRiver
or Ar Rub’ al Khali
Seas
Peninsula
AegeanSea at A,2
ArabianPeninsula at D/E/F/G,4/5
ArabianSea at I/J,5
Sinai Peninsula at C, 3/4
Black Sea at B/C/D,1
CaspianSea at G,1/2
Plateaus
MediterraneanSea at A/B/C,3
Iran at G/H,3
RedSea at C/D,4/5/6
Najd at E/F,4
Sea of Marmara at B, 1
Mountains
Gulfs
ZagrosMountains at F/G,3
Gulf of Aden at F,6
Caucasus Range at D/E/F,1
PersianGulf at G,4
Gulf of Oman at I,4
Canal
SuezCanal at C,3
Straits
Bosporus at B,1
Dardanelles at A,1
Southwest Asia
