Indonesia is in Southeast Asia but is northwest of Australia. California is west of Europe but east of China. Historically, this perhaps awkwardly named region of North Africa and Southwest Asia was commonly called the вЂњMiddle East.вЂќ This begs the question, though, what is it in the middle of? What is it east of? On a globe, east and west are relative terms.

Figure 7.1: Map of North Africa and Southwest Asia (CIA World Factbook, Public Domain) In fact, North Africa has much more in common in terms of its physical and religious landscape with the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia than some of its continental neighbors to the south (see Figure 7.1). But Sub-Saharan Africa is physiographically, culturally, and linguistically distinct from the African countries north of the Sahara. Africa, for instance, is almost entirely surrounded by water except for a small land connection with Asia at EgyptвЂ™s Sinai Peninsula. Have a big chunk of land might be mostly surrounded by water? LetвЂ™s make it a region! Sometimes, though, making these sorts of divisions is more difficult. When geographers divide the world into regions, we often do so using landmasses.

North Africa and Southwest AsiaвЂ™s Key Geographic Features

Describe the current areas of religious conflict within North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Explain how the history of North Africa and Southwest Asia impacted its cultural landscape.

Describe the geography of the major religious groups found in North Africa and Southwest Asia.

Identify the key geographic features of North Africa and Southwest Asia.

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