Regions

-Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia
 * Region **


 * **Formal regions** are those that are designated by official boundaries, such as cities, states, counties, and countries. For the most part, they are clearly indicated and publicly known.
 * **Functional regions** are defined by their connections. For example, the circulation area for a major city newspaper is the functional region of that paper. (This means that there must be a core that extends outward in terms of influence. That influence will diminish over distance. Thus, one could say that, for example, much of Gyeonggi-do is part of the "Seoul region".
 * **Vernacular regions** are perceived regions, such as "The South," "The Midwest," or the "Middle East;" they have no formal boundaries but are understood in our mental maps (see exercise done at the courses beginning for an idea of what a mental map is).

- //brought from the "Theme 5 Regions" page of Mr. Plouffe's wiki//.

** __Vernacular Regions__ of Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia ** // Northern Africa // // hodusfhgoe8otyhergjnfduhger8ouergggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhg Southwestern Asia //

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 * Three main mountain ranges that can be found in this region are: **
 * Atlas mountains in northern Algeria and Morocco
 * Taurus mountains in southern Turkey
 * Zagros mountains in western Iran
 * Large bodies of water are: **
 * Persian/ Arabian Gulf
 * Strait of Hormuz
 * Arabian Sea
 * Red Sea
 * Nile River
 * Jordan River
 * and more...
 * Water is an important resource in the area because the region consists of deserts and hot, dry climates.

** __Functional Regions__ of Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia ** ** Freedom of Press ** North Africa can be seen as a functional region because the lack of freedom of press can be seen as a connection. Northern Africa has the least freedom of press compared to the rest of the African continent. Some countries in the South have partial or total freedom of press, which are mainly coastal countries that were occupied by other nations. It is true that many nations in Southwest Asia has restrictions on their freedom of press as well. A BBC news article written in May 2007 reports:

"//On 19 January this year Hrant Dink, a well-known Armenian Turkish writer and journalist, was shot dead in a street in Istanbul.// //He had received threats from Turkish nationalists for writing about the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in World War I, and been found guilty last year on a criminal charge of "insulting Turkishness"//."

The same article mentions that Iraq is the most dangerous place for journalists as 138 journalists were killed. This regions is still strictly restrained and people hardly have freedom of press to express own words.

North Africa is the only region that uses Arabic as their official language which connects these countries to be a functional region. Since Southwest Asia overlaps the majority of the middle east, many countries in these regions also speak Arabic. [|Algeria] [|Bahrain] [|Egypt] [|Iraq] [|Jordan] [|Kuwait] [|Lebanon] [|Libya] [|Morocco] [|Oman] [|Qatar] [|Saudi Arabia] [|Syria] [|Tunisia] [|United Arab Emirates] [|Yemen] All these countries speak Arabic in the region. Turkey, Iran, and Israel are the only non-Arab countries.
 * Official Language **

** __Formal Regions__ of Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia ** **// Countries in these regions are... //**


 * Country horhgr8g Capital **
 * = Algeria ||= Algiers ||
 * = Azerbaijan ||= Baku ||
 * = Bahrain ||= Manama ||
 * = Cyprus ||= Nicosia ||
 * = Egypt ||= Cairo ||
 * = Iran ||= Tehran ||
 * = Iraq ||= Baghdad ||
 * = Israel ||= Jerusalem ||
 * = Jordan ||= Amman ||
 * = Kuwait ||= Kuwait City ||
 * = Lebanon ||= Beirut ||
 * = Libya ||= Tripoli ||
 * = Morocco ||= Rabat ||
 * = Oman ||= Muscat ||
 * = Qatar ||= Doha ||
 * = Saudi Arabia ||= Riyadh ||
 * = Sudan ||= Khartoum ||
 * = Syria ||= Damascus ||
 * = Tunisia ||= Tunis ||
 * = Turkey ||= Ankara ||
 * = United Arab Emirates ||= Abu Dhabi ||
 * = Western Sahara ||= El Aiún ||
 * = Yemen ||= Sanaa ||

 **Other Maps of the Region **

Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia has a similar vegetation where most of the vegetation is semi-desert or desert, and similar climates, resulting in similar life styles.

==**Bibliography (Work Cited): ** ==

"Northern Africa - NativeWiki." //Main Page - NativeWiki//. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. . "StateMaster - Encyclopedia: Southwest Asia." //StateMaster - US Statistics, State Comparisons//. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. . "Political map of north africa and southwest asia - docstoc." //Docstoc – Documents, Templates, Forms, Ebooks, Papers & Presentations//. Web. 03 Nov. 2009. . "Press freedom." //Freedom of Expression//. Web. 03 Nov. 2009. . "Al-Ahram Weekly | UNRVA photographs." //Al-Ahram Weekly | Front Page//. Web. 03 Nov. 2009. . "Payvand's Iran News ...." //Tours to Iran//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2009. . address, entering an e-mail. " middle east asia maps of countries landforms rivers and information pages." //World Atlas of Maps Flags and Geography Facts and Figures - Maps//. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <[]>. "BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Dangers grow for journalists." //BBC NEWS | News Front Page//. Web. 03 Nov. 2009. . "Arabic Speaking Countries." //World Rankings and Records//. Web. 03 Nov. 2009. . "Miami Museum of Science-Ecolinks-World Vegetation Map." //CSI: Crime Scene Insects: - Miami Science Museum//. Web. 03 Nov. 2009. .

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