Middle east geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Middle east geography - Essay Example Although Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East, the region also represents other faiths such as Christianity and Judaism. Survey reports indicate that Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Berber, and Kurdish are the major languages in the Middle East. While analyzing the region’s population growth trends, it is clear that Middle East has experienced a dramatic rise in population since 1970s. To illustrate, statistical reports (as reported by The New York Times, 2007), indicate that the region’s population increased from 127 million in 1970 to 305 million in 2005. During the period between 1976 and 1986, Iran’s population grew by 50%. According to a World Bank report, an annual population growth rate of 1.73 was reported in Middle East in 2010 whereas this rate was 1.75 in 2009 (Trading Economics, 2012). In many parts of the Middle East, average population growth rate is 3% or above; this trend indicates that population is a given state is likely to double in every 20 to 30 years (Imagery for Citizens, n.d). It is observed that high rate of population growth in the Middle East has serious impacts on the region’s social, economical, and political landscape. As a result of this issue, the Middle East governments struggle to provide necessary services to their people. This region is already suffering from water scarcity issues, and the high population growth has exacerbated the issues over water. As per the The New York Times (2007) report, rising population growth contributes to the region’s mounting needs of food imports; and in an attempt to respond to issues over water and food and search for improved living conditions, rural inhabitants heavily migrate to urban areas. This practice raises many potential challenges to urban infrastructure too. Similarly, huge population growth puts strains on the region’s economic landscape. As discussed earlier, the rising population growth has forced Middle East