Middle East Prep Packet 1: Chapter 24 – Oil in SW Asia. How “Black Gold” Has Shaped a Region

Please label the following countries on the map

You will be required to know where the countries in bold are located on a map quiz

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Countries:

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  1. Turkey
  2. Morocco
  3. Algeria
  4. Tunisia
  5. Libya
  6. Egypt
  7. Jordan
  8. Syria
  9. Lebanon
  10. Israel
  11. Saudi Arabia
  12. Iraq
  13. Iran
  14. Kuwait
  15. Yemen
  16. Oman
  17. Bahrain
  18. Qatar
  19. United Arab Emirates
  20. Pakistan
  21. Afghanistan

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Brainstorm and answer the following

How does a country make money? What do countries use that money for?

Vocabulary: Read section 24.2 and complete the first 4 vocab words.

Crude Oil
24.2
Nonrenewable Resources
24.2
Oil Reserves
24.2
Renewable Resource
24.2
GDP and GDP Per Capita
24.4
Human Development Index
24.4
Infant Mortality Rate
24.4
OPEC
24.4 / Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

Answer the following:

  1. What might be the relationship between a country’s sizeand the amount of its oil reserves?
  1. What might be the relationship between a country’s population and the amount of its oil reserves?

  1. Based on that information, which set of countries do you think has the largest oil reserves? Why? Be ready to justify your group’s choice to the class.

The Geology and Geography of Oil

On the map, rank each of Southwest Asia’s oil countries according to the size of its proven oil reserves. Label them from 1 (largest reserve) to 10 (smallest reserve). Answer the question below.

Are oil reserves distributed equally among the countries of Southwest Asia? Explain.

Gross Domestic Product

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the value of all the goods and services produced in a country in a year. The table lists the GDP of each of 10 oil countries in Southwest Asia, from highest to lowest.

Which country has the highest GDP?
Which has the lowest?
What might be the relationship between a country’s GDP and the well-being of its people?

Analyze the table, and answer these questions:

Per capita GDP is a country’s total GDP divided by its population. The next table lists the per capita GDP of these 10 oil countries, from highest to lowest. Analyze the table and answer the following questions in your group:

Which oil countries have the highest per capita GDP? Which have the lowest?
Are the rankings on this table the same as on the GDP table above? Why or why not?
Which type of information—GDP or per capita GDP—do you think might give better information about the well-being of a country’s people? Why?
Identify the country that ranks first on the list of Southwest Asia oil reserves. Compare that rank with its ranking on the per capita GDP table. Discuss why you think the rankings are not the same.

One way to measure people’s well-being is through the Human Development Index, or HDI.

This index is used by the United Nations. It combines a variety of information, including per capita GDP, life expectancy, literacy, and level of education.

Think about what you’ve discovered about the GDP and per capita GDP of these 10 oilcountries. Based on that information, which set of countries below do you think would rank the highest in the Human Development Index? Why? Be ready to justify your group’s choice to the class.

Oil Wealth and People’s Well-Being

Read Section 4. Then, on the map, rank each of Southwest Asia’s oil countries according to its

Human Development Index (HDI) rank. Label them from 1 (highest rank) to 10 (lowest rank).

Answer these questions:

How has oil made the people of Southwest Asia better off?
Why isn’t per capita GDP always an accurate reflection of people’s wealth? Why do countries that are extremely rich have large numbers of people in poverty?
What are some examples of why some oil countries haven’t been able to end poverty?
Identify the country that ranks last in Southwest Asia oil reserves (page 4). Compare that rank with its ranking on the HDI table. Discuss what the HDI ranking shows and why you think the two rankings are not the same.

World Oil Reserves

The bar graph below highlights the countries around the world with the largest known oil reserves. The length of the bars show the size of each country’s reserves.

Closely examine the graph, and answer these questions in your group:

Which countries have the largest oil reserves?
Why might countries with large oil reserves be interested in controlling the price and supply of oil?
The US is the largest consumer of oil, Why might countries that consume a lot of oil be interested in controlling the price and supply of oil?

In 1960, several oil-producing countries around the world decided to join together to better control the price and supply of oil. These countries founded the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. The majority of oil countries in Southwest Asia are members of OPEC. Some OPEC members are countries outside of Southwest Asia, such as Venezuela, Indonesia, Libya, Nigeria, and Algeria.

Based on what you have investigated, which set of countries below do you think are not OPEC members? Why? Be ready to justify your group’s choice to the class.

Read Section 5. On the map, place an X on the lines for the countries that are OPEC members. Circle the names of the Southwest Asian countries who were top contributors to the costs of the Persian Gulf War.

Answer these questions.

What have been the goals of Southwest Asian OPEC members?
What two realities have limited OPEC’s power?
What were the two types of coalition members in the Persian Gulf War? Why were they coalition members?
Why would what is happening in SW Asia be of importance to the US? How can the situation in one part of the world affect the US and rest of the world?

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