Agriculture. Although only about 15 percent of the land is
suitable for farming, agriculture remains the region's most important economic
activity. Wheat, barley, and rice are chief food crops. Figs and dates are
grown in desert oases and citrus fruits in the Mediterranean coastal region.
The major commercial crops are cotton, coffee, and tobacco. Livestock raising
is especially important to the agricultural economy.Oil and Industry. The discovery of vast oil deposits revolutionized
the Middle East's economy. More than half of the world's known oil reserves
are found in the region, although they are not equally distributed. Saudi
Arabia has the largest deposits and is the world's leading oil producer and
exporter. Iran, Iraq, and the small Persian Gulf state of Kuwait are the other
major producers. Aside from oil, chrome, coal, sulphur, and magnesium mined
in Turkey, and phosphates from Jordan, the region is generally poor in mineral
resources.
Turkey, Egypt, and Israel are the most industrially developed countries
of the region. The processing of agricultural products, petroleum refining
and the production of petrochemicals, textiles, and such traditional crafts
as rug weaving are the chief areas of industrial activity. Heavy industry,
including machinery and steel production and motor vehicle assembly, is being
encouraged.
Perhaps the most important underlying problem of the Middle East today
is that of modernization. How are the traditional societies of the region
to cope with the modern world? How are they to use the new oil wealth wisely, in order to change but not destroy existing
structures of society? There is also serious political tension between the
countries that have oil and those that do not and between the rich and poor
within countries.
Hyman Kublin
Author, 
