The Middle East: a region of low rainfall and many people

Danilo Anton
The Middle East has a characteristic that is found in all the countries of the region: lack of rainfall and general aridity. In addition to this dryness, aggravating the environmental conditions, there is a normal occurrence of high and very high temperatures, particularly during the summer season.
In almost the entire region the rain is minimal. Even in very populous cities where water needs are important, average rainfall is usually very scarce.
In Cairo, capital of Egypt, which in its metropolitan area has 20 million inhabitants, it rains 24.7 mm per year, while in Luxor a city in southern Egypt with 250,000 inhabitants, it rains almost never (0 mm). In addition to Cairo, six other capitals have very low rainfall: Riyadh in Saudi Arabia (61 mm), Baghdad in Iraq (122.8 mm), Damascus in Syria (131.8 mm) and Amman in Jordan (269.3) or scarce: Tehran in Iran (429 mm) and Ankara in Turkey (402.2 mm) ..
In many other important cities the rains do not reach 500 mm: Basra and Mosul in Iraq (152 mm and 363.6 mm respectively), Alexandria in Egypt (196 mm), Jeddah in Saudi Arabia (61 mm), Aleppo in Syria (328.8 mm) and Ahvaz, Shiraz and Mashhad in Iran (209.2, 305.6 mm and 251.5 mm).
Rain shortage affects agricultural production. Dryland agriculture practically impossible due to the extension of drought periods. Most of the countries in the region depend on irrigation. In particular, in Egypt and Iraq, which are important agricultural producers, almost all of the crops are irrigated. Jordan, Syria and Afghanistan also depend on irrigation agriculture. In Turkey, Iran and Lebanon, where there are restricted areas with somewhat more important rainfall, irrigated agriculture remains a fundamental element of its agricultural production.
The lack of water is also experienced in urban areas, which frequently see their water sources contaminated or depleted. Local rivers and streams become more easily contaminated due to the large population inhabiting its banks. Due to the limited rains in their recharge areas and excessive pumping the aquifers depress their levels or salinize.
These problems of aridity and demographic concentration are historical. Middle Eastern countries, particularly populations along the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have developed irrigated crops for 5,000 years. 
This persistent use of irrigation in areas with very little rain and high temperatures, complemented by the construction of dams in the high basins, has led to the gradual degradation of many soils, which are salinized and depleted of nutrients, due to sedimentary retention in the reservoirs.
All of this occurs in a time of accelerated growth of urban agglomerations that require a growing supply of water and food products for the population.
From "Lands of little rain and much blood", Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Editions.