Middle east geography

Middle East: Population Growth and Its Impacts (Add (Add (Add Middle East: Population Growth and Its Impacts Middle East is a geographical area that includes Western Asia and parts of Northern Africa. This region encompasses numerous long established ethnic communities including Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Jews, Persians, Armenians, Greeks, Circassians, Berbers, Assyrians, and Egyptian Copts. Middle East is a hot spot for migration. In Middle East, flow of economic and human resources is enhanced by expatriates from Arab countries. High rate of immigration flow contributes to the region’s overall development. On the strength of increased immigration flow, Arab countries gain huge revenues from remittance of fees. 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 governments to raise additional funds to meet their increased needs of water, food, medicine, and education. According to the reports, unemployment is already a severe issue in the Middle East; the increased population growth rate will certainly fuel this issue which in turn will contribute to GDP growth decline (The New York Times, 2007). Furthermore, lack of job creation and increased unemployment lead to lower incomes and poor living conditions across the region. In addition, government is not able to allot adequate funds for infrastructure development or other growth ventures.
Evidently, Middle East has been a politically unstable region for several decades. Therefore, the mounting population growth is more likely to worsen the political landscape of the region. Undoubtedly, higher population growth is more likely to contribute to diverse political views. It is clear that a nation cannot attain development unless it keeps a stable political spectrum. Reports indicate that young people turn to terrorism in an attempt to terminate unemployment. Hence, it can be concluded that there is link between over population, unemployment, poverty, political conflicts, and terrorism in the region.
References
Imagery for Citizens. (n. d). Economics: Economic growth and decline. Middle East. Retrieved from http://www. cotf. edu/earthinfo/meast/MEeco. html
The New York Times. (18 January 2007). Middle East: Population growth poses huge challenge for Middle East and North Africa-international Herald Tribune. News. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2007/01/18/news/18iht-oxan. 0118. 4250941. html? _r= 1
Trading Economics. (2012). Population growth (Annual %) in Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved from http://www. tradingeconomics. com/middle-east-and-north-africa/population-growth-annual-percent-wb-data. html