Much of what we do today and knowfirst appeared in South-West Asia. Even before our time people who inhabited this region were already engaged in farming and cattle breeding, the crafts were successfully developed here, artificial irrigation was carried out. In this part of the world, an alphabetic alphabet was invented. South-West Asia is home to the world's major religions - Christianity and Islam.
The nature of this region is rather severe, in reliefdominated by the highlands, on the outskirts of which rise up the young folded mountains. Emerged relatively recently, they are very high and their tops are covered with glacier domes. Large areas occupy the plateau, along the large rivers are located lowlands. South-West Asia is characterized by a variety of climatic conditions. So, for example, the Arabian Peninsula with its natural conditions is similar to the desert areas of neighboring Africa. Over it is almost constantly dominated by hot and dry tropical air. In such conditions the Rub-al-Khali desert was formed, the driest in the world, where precipitation is absent for several years. But on the coast of the Black and Mediterranean seas washing the Asia Minor, the climate is warm, with a rainy winter. Mediterranean climate allows you to grow citrus, grapes, olive trees.
The Arabian Peninsula and the Mesopotamian Lowlandare very rich in oil reserves. South-West Asia is the leader in oil production. Most of it is mined in countries such as Iraq, Kuwait, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Through a dense network of pipelines, oil is delivered to the port cities, and from there it is delivered to all corners of the world by huge tankers.
Countries and population
There are 16 states in the region. Most of the countries are unitary. The Federation is only one country - the United Arab Emirates. Here there are seven monarchies, and most of them are absolute. In other states, the republican form of government. To date, South-West Asia is a very unstable corner of our planet. In many countries, the domestic political situation is very tense. There are many unsolved problems between some states, which often leads to armed conflicts.
South-West Asia, whose countries have highindicators of population growth, refers to one of the most densely populated regions. The main reason for this is the influence of Islam. Countries have a multinational composition, as in them, in addition to the main ethnic groups, there are many national minorities.
Asia Minor, whose countries mainly profess Islam, is the center of the Muslim world. Here is perhaps the most famous in the world city of Jerusalem - the capital of the three world religions.
Located at the junction of Africa, Europe and Asia,being at the crossroads of important trade routes and possessing the largest oil fields, South-West Asia in today's world still remains one of the most influential world centers.
