The region is surrounded by eight major seas; the
Aegean Sea, the
Black Sea, the
Caspian Sea, the
Persian Gulf, the
Arabian Sea, the
Gulf of Aden, the
Red Sea, and the
Mediterranean Sea. To the northwest and north, the region is delimited from
Europe by the
Turkish Straits and drainage divide of the
Greater Caucasus, to the southwest, it is delimited from
Africa by the
Isthmus of Suez, while to the northeast and east, the region adjoins
Central Asia and
South Asia. The region is located east of
Southern Europe and south of
Eastern Europe. The
Dasht-e Kavir and
Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern
Iran naturally delimit the region from
Balochistan and South Asia.
Geology Plate tectonics Three major
tectonic plates converge on West Asia, including the
African,
Eurasian, and
Arabian plates. The boundaries between the tectonic plates make up the
Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, extending across
North Africa, the
Red Sea, and into Iran. The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the
Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the
East Anatolian Fault, and the boundary between the
Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern
Turkey is also
seismically active.
Cretaceous and
Eocene-origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh which contain amounts of both
fresh water and
saline water. Also, the
Tigris and
Euphrates rivers contribute very well.
Climate Cedar Forest in winter map of West Asia West Asia is primarily
arid and
semi-arid, and can be subject to
drought, but it also contains vast expanses of forest and fertile valleys. The region consists of
grasslands,
rangelands,
deserts, and
mountains.
Water shortages are a problem in many parts of West Asia, with rapidly growing
populations increasing demands for water, while
salinization and
pollution threaten water supplies. Major rivers, including the
Tigris and
Euphrates, provide sources for
irrigation water to support
agriculture. There are two wind phenomena in West Asia: the
sharqi and the
shamal. The
sharqi (or
sharki) is a
wind that comes from the south and southeast. It is seasonal, lasting from April to early June, and comes again between late September and November. The winds are dry and dusty, with occasional gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand a few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. The
shamal is a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year.
Topography West Asia contains large areas of mountainous terrain. The
Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the
Pontus Mountains and
Taurus Mountains in
Turkey.
Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to . The
Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two
drainage basins. The northern basin is
Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and
Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin. In
Yemen, elevations exceed in many areas, and
highland areas extend north along the
Red Sea coast and north into
Lebanon. A
fault zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental
rifting creating
trough-like
topography with areas located well below
sea level. The
Dead Sea, located on the border between the
West Bank,
Israel, and
Jordan, is situated at below sea level, making it the
lowest point on the surface of the
Earth.
Rub' al Khali, one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the
United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering the
Gulf of Oman. == Economy ==