General summary Near East Region

Geography, climate and population

Because of the aridity prevailing in the region, the Near East is the poorest region in the world in terms of water resources, globally and per inhabitant, even when considering the contribution of rivers flowing from the bordering and more humid regions of tropical Africa (the Nile) or Himalayan Asia (the Indus).

However, the water resources distribution within this vast area, extending over three continents, is far from being uniform: land relief, location with respect to the sea, latitude and resulting hydro-climatic conditions, diversity in hydrographic and geological structures, and matching or mismatching of the river basins with the national territories, all give rise to extremely different water situations.

Many countries in the region are characterized by long coastal boundaries. The coasts are located on the North Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. In addition, several important interior seas can be found in the region: the Black Sea to the north of Turkey, the Caspian Sea to the north of Iran and to the west of Turkmenistan and the Dead Sea to the west of Jordan. The Aral Sea is not bordering the Near East region, but the northern part of Central Asia is located within the Aral Sea basin. Only three countries, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, are landlocked.

Several international rivers cross the Near East Region (Figure 2). The most important rivers are the Nile in North-eastern Africa, which originates outside the region in the Equatorial Lake.

The Amu Darya, the Syr Darya and Indus in Central Asia (the latter originating outside the region in the Himalayas). Smaller rivers, like the Jordan and the Orontes in the Middle East, also play a fundamental role in international relations regarding water resources.

The area extending between the Atlantic Ocean and the Persian Gulf is covered with vast deserts. The Great Desert (the Sahara), extending between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, comprises large parts of the Maghreb and North-eastern Africa. The area extending between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf includes the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert in the south of the Arabian Peninsula and the Badiat-EI-Sham desert in the north of the Arabian Peninsula and the south of the Middle East. In Central Asia, a large part of Iran is covered with desert, as is the case for the southern part of Afghanistan and the south-western part of Pakistan. The Kara Kurn desert comprises 80% of the total area of Turkmenistan.

Many mountain ranges can be found in the Near East Region. In the centre of the Great Desert, several mountains appear, with the highest peak at an elevation of 3 000 metres at Tebetsy Mountain in Libya. In addition to these internal mountains, there are mountain ranges running parallel to the coasts of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The Atlas mountain range occupies the north-westem corner of the Maghreb, with its peak in Morocco at an elevation of 4 165 metres. In Lebanon, the Lebanon mountain chain has its highest crest at just over 3 000 metres. In Yemen, there is a mountain peak at an elevation of 3 268 metres; in south-eastern Turkey, at an elevation of 4 135 metres. The peak of the Zagros mountain chain in Iran reaches 4 432 metres. The highest peak of the Hindu Kush range on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan reaches 7 690 metres (Tirichmir). In the north-eastern part of Central Asia, the Himalayan mountain ranges have peaks reaching almost 8 000 metres.

The total population of the region was about 561 million in 1995, of which almost 52% rural. Population increased by 2.7% between 1994 and 1995, ranging from 2.2% in the Maghreb and Northeastern Africa to 3.1 % in Central Asia. During the last 10 years (1985-1995), average annual population growth was 3.0% in the Near East Region as against 1.7% in the world. Over 43% of the population of the region is concentrated in Central Asia, which occupies 21 % of the total area of the Near East; 25% of the total population lives in Pakistan alone, which occupies only 4% of the total area. Population density is lowest in the Maghreb, with 12 inhabitants per km, and highest in the Middle East, with 71 inhabitants per km². The least densely populated country is Mauritania, with 2 inhabitants per km². Malta and Bahrain are the most densely populated countries, with 1 158 and 811 inhabitants per km² respectively, followed far behind by Lebanon and Pakistan, with 288 and 177 inhabitants per km² respectively. All the remaining countries have less than 100 inhabitants per km².

Water resources