Weekly Graphic: The Middle East at Night

This nighttime map of the Middle East, stretching from Egypt to Iran and from the Red Sea to the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, was taken by a NASA satellite in 2012. It is fairly up-to-date given that electricity use and population don't expand very quickly.

The most striking part of this map is Egypt. It has the most intense lighting in the region in an area in the north stretching from Alexandria to the Suez Canal, and then following the Nile River south to the Aswan Dam. The dam delivers much of Egypt's electricity but also limits population growth to its south. It has become the southern limit of populated Egypt.

This area of intense light represents the real Egypt. Its political boundaries are far to the west and south, but that area is minimally populated and far from developed. In looking at this map, Egypt is actually a narrow country following the Nile because it is intensely populated in that area. The lights also indicate the degree of infrastructure development. Whatever problems Egypt has, and it has many, it has managed to bring electricity to the populated regions.

Three other developed population centers are noteworthy. Israel, particularly the thin line along the Mediterranean, is one. In prior decades, Israel was the most heavily electrified region in the Middle East. That is obviously no longer the case. Others have caught up. Lebanon's coastal region is nearly as well-lit as Israel, along the same axis. It's interesting to contrast the less intense lighting to the east of the Mediterranean in both countries. The entire Levantine coast, from Gaza to the Syrian border, appears to be a single continuous entity. The borders do not make much of a difference.

Another center of light is the west coast of the Persian Gulf, what we might call the Arab Gulf region. From Kuwait south to Dubai, with a break along the northern coast of the United Arab Emirates, the region is as intensely lit as the Mediterranean coast of Israel and Lebanon. South of Dubai, the lights peter out and fade into the relative darkness of Yemen.

The last population center is in Saudi Arabia. The country is intensely lit in the northeast, the southwest and parts of the interior. The northeastern lights are centered around the oil fields. The lighting in the southwest and interior is consistent with the two historical cores of the country.

First, the western Hejaz region along the Red Sea is where the holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located. The second core area is the interior region of Najd, where the capital Riyadh is located and from where both the ruling Saudi family and religious Wahhabis hail. Najd is in the middle of the desert and the lighting is consistent with the Saudi efforts to develop their heartland. The distance between Mecca and the northeast is striking. Holding together a country so divided by population and development isn't easy.

As striking as the areas of intense light are the areas with a lack of light.Turkey is a case in point. There is a small area around Istanbul with intense lighting, but it becomes sparse in the rest of the country. In contrast, Iraq, a country that has been torn apart by war, is far more illuminated.