Whenever the term middle east pops up in discussions today, it is usually related to the latest interventions of western militaries, the oil market or civil war.
In this episode, however, I would like to show you the fascinating geography of the largest peninsular in the world, and the land stretches surrounding it.
We will explore the fascinating and futuristic cities of the oil-caliphates, the incredible mountain ranges of Iran and Turkey, Fertile banks of one of the largest river deltas in the world, the Nile Delta, one of the most inhospitable places in the world, the Arab desert, And finally, one of the most important locations for the human heritage, the place where human civilization began, the Euphrates and Tigris river system, in the heart of the Fertile Crescent.
To start off our journey, we are going to the mega cities of the Arab world, which can almost all be found within the middle east.
The cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Jeddah or Kuwait City, just to name a few, are all world famous by now for their lavish skyscrapers and exceptionally luxurious establishments Such as indoor skiing halls in the desert, man-made islands, gigantic shopping malls or Formula 1 racetracks.
All of these cities have one thing in common, which is the insane growth rate they underwent in the period after the second world war.
Every one of these cities has increased their population by at least a 10-fold.
As the most extreme example of this, we'll take a look at the commercial and political center of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.
While it used to be a medium-sized town of small significance in the early 20th century, with a mere few thousand inhabitants, The need for a government center of Saudi Arabia led to a growth rate of up to 8 percent annually.
This increased the population from 150,000 in 1960 to over 7.6 million today.
