Climatic Regions of the Muslim world

Deserts

Your have already read about deserts in Book 1. Apart from some oases where water can be reached from underground sources, deserts have hardly any agricultural output, but some of them have immensely valuable minerals such as oil.

The Muslim world seems to have been allotted more than its share of deserts. Almost three quarters of all the major deserts in the world are in Muslim territories. These are the Sahara in Africa, which makes up 60 per cent of the total desert area in the world, the Arabain, Thar, and Somali deserts, the Kyzyl Kum in Uzbekistan, and Dasht-e-Lut in Iran.

Semi-desert and scrubland 

This has occasional rain, but not enough for crops to grow satisfactorily. Like ordinary deserts, the daytime temperature is high and the nights are often cool. Coarse, tough plants and shrubs grow as these have

long roots which go down to whatever water exists below the surface. Their only real use for agriculture is for wandering animals, especially goats and sheep. These are valuable for Pakistan because these hardy animals give hard, tough wool which is excellent for making carpets. Parts of western Pakistan are semi-desert.

Tropical Grasslands

These are usually found between the desert and the tropical forests. They are warm throughout the year but have only a small amount of rain, 500-1500 mm, which falls between April and September in the northern hesisphere. They have scattered trees and bushes, and long grass which dies down in the long dry season. In Africa, such grasslands are home to many game animals---buffaloes, zebras, giraffe, elephants, rhinos, lions, and tigers----and have a flourishing touris to watch the animals. Pakistan once had a lot of this type of climate and vegetation, but now almost none is left. The land has been cleared and, with extra water from irrigation, all kinds of crops are grown on it.

Tropical Forests

In the Muslim world, these are found in Central Africa along the Equator, and in South-east Asia. There is heavy rain, 1800-2500 mm or more, and the temperature remains between 20-30C all year. Naturally, there is a thick forest of tall trees with a crown of leaves up the tree trunks to reach the sunlight above. The main stems of so creepers can be as much as 30—40 cm in diameter.

The main forms of like found here are birds and monkeys in the canopy (the leaves at the top), and snakes, lizards, and insects below. Much of the forest is very valuable for timber, such as teak and other hardwoods. Where these have been cut down and the forests cleared, sugar cane, cocoa, rubber, mangoes, pineapples, moist atmosphere, the rainforests are generally unhealthy, with many diseases that affect humans and animals; many of these, such as malaria, are carried by insects. However, the rainforests are very important both for their plants and for their plants and for replenishing the air with oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. Although not in the Muslim world, the great Amazon forest in South America is believed to supply half the world’s atmosphere with oxygen.

Temperate Deserts

These are dry lands, getting 50---300 mm rain a year but not as warm as the hot deserts. In the Muslim world, most of Iran, Afghanistan, the Central Asian states, and parts of Pakistan belong to this climatic region. Naturally, they have small trees----especially acacia and cassia---with many coarse plants and grasses. Traditionally, these lands have been the regions of nomadic peoples with their herds of animals. Today, with much irrigation and fertilizer, many are growing state in the world, although this has almost drained the Caspian Sea from which most of the water has been taken. Parts of Pakistan naturally fall into this category, but irrigation from the rivers and tube wells have turned them into reasonable farmlands.

Mediterranean Climate

This is a very favorable climate with mild, wet winters and fairly warm, dry summers. Unfortunately, the Mediterranean climate is not very widespread but it forms a narrow belt around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The coastal areas of Morocca, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey, and Lebanon enjoy this rich climate. They produce grapes, citrus and many other fruits, olives, tobacco, vegetables, and flowers----most of these among the highest—priced agricultural products. Many of these, especially vegetables and flowers, are also flown to the rich markets of Northern Europe. Although it is not a true Mediterranean climate, the north—western part of Balochistan grow similar crops.

Temperate Grasslands

These are areas where it is reasonably warm but with fairly low rainfall---about 400 mm a year. The natural vegetation is long grass, with small shrubs and other plants, but in most of the Muslim world these have been cleared for general farming. Cereal crops such as wheat and barley are grown, but with irrigation a wide variety of other plants and fruits are also produced. This climatic region is excellent for the rearing of animals, especially livestock. In the Muslim world, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and parts of Jordan and Iraq are naturally temperate grasslands. Although the soil in most of Turkey is not exceptionally fertile, it is one of the very few countries in the world which can produce enough food of all kinds to feed all of its people, without imports.

Monsoons

Monsoons are like land and sea breezes on a much larger scale. In general, the winds blow from the north-east for six months of the year, and from the south-west for the other six months, though sometimes the wind direction is deflected or turned by high land or for other reasons. In the hot season, the land heats up and the air above it rises, pulling in cooler air from over the sea. This air is full of moisture because it crosses the ocean and drops much of this as rain when it reaches the land. In the cool season, the land is colder while the sea remains warm. The air over the sea now rises, drawing in air from the land. This air is dry, so that the six months of the north-eastern winds have little moisture in them, and little rain falls. In the Muslim world, only the subcontinent and South-east Asia are affected by monsoons. Southerly monsoons bring heavy rainfall (over 400 mm a year or more) so that in most places there is thick, rich vegetation such as in tropical forests. Pakistan gets its monsoon rains from July to September, but these winds are turned and come from the south-east rather than the south-west. As a result, they have to cross India first and have propped much of their rain by the time they reach Pakistan. Only the north of the country gets real monsoon rainfall. On the other hand, in much of Malaysia and Indonesia, both northerly and southerly monsoons come across the oceans so that these countries get rain throughout the year. Pakistan also has winds from the west in the December—March period. These are called the Westerly Depressions and they do bring a little rain, although they have dropped most of their moisture during their long journey across Iran and Afghanistan.

Geography of the Muslim World

The Muslim World.

Islam is the second largest religion, and the fastest growing one, in the world. The graph below shows the estimated number of followers of the four main religions in the world. 

 For this book, we will take the Muslim world to mean those countries whose governments have declared that they are Islamic states (for example, Iran, Saudi Arabia) and those countries where the majority of the population is Muslim.

The Muslim world stretches about 15,000 km east to west, and 6000 km north to south. Inside this vast region, there are bound to be many differences, but the whole area is bound together by faith in Islam, the Prophet (PBUH), and the Quran.

Physical Features

As you can see from the map on page 2, most of the Muslim countries are located on level land. The main mountains are the Atlas range in North Africa, the highlands of Ethiopia, Yemen and the southern end of Saudi Arabia, eastern Turkey, and much of Iran. The highest regions of all are Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountains of Pakistan. However, few people live in these mountainous regions.

The next map shows that much of the Muslim world, except for Malaysia, Indonesia, and some parts of Africa has very little natural vegetation. More than half of the whole area is hot desert, temperate desert, semi-desert, and scrub.

Political Map Showing the Muslim World.

Map showing physical features of the muslim world.

 

In these desert areas, apart from a few oases, little or nothing grows, except very tough plants which can survive in such harsh conditions. These can provide food only for the hardiest sheep and goats, usually kept by nomadic or semi-nomadic people who wander with their flocks and herds in search of pasture.

There are, however, considerable areas of tropical rainforest in parts of Central Africa and South-east Asia which produce huge amounts of timber and tropical forest products such as rubber and tropical fruits. In other countries, good farm crops are produced in the valleys of the great rivers, the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, and Indus, and in other places by irrigation.