Question

Analyze the map below and answer the question that follows.

A satellite map of the Middle East. Three areas are circled. One area is on the west coast of Yemen. The second area is the east coast of Oman. The third area is Turkey, parts of Iran, Iraq, and the coast of Syria.
Image courtesy of NASA

Which major economic activity in the Middle East occurs largely in the areas circled on the map above?
A.
coal mining
B.
farming
C.
nomadic herding
D.
oil production

Answer 1

B. farming

The circled areas correspond to the Fertile Crescent and coastal plains (river valleys and coastal oases) where water and fertile soils support agriculture. Oil is concentrated around the Persian Gulf, nomadic herding occurs in interior deserts, and coal mining is minimal in the region.