The Ottomans

The Ottoman Empire like all great empires was declining. Towards the end of the 19^th century the Ottomans controlled Europe only in name. It had lost most of its territories two years beofr eint the Treaty of Berlin. Through most of the Ottomans Eastern European colonies became autonomous and only were loyal to the Sultan in name. Similarly the same thing was going on in Africa where Tunis would continuously oppose the Sultan’s decisions.  Another problem was Egypt. It had gained autonomy early on in the 19^th century but towards its end it was occupied by Britain, with Ottomans unable to oust the British due to a corrupt bureaucracy and weak army. This blog deals with the different colonies the Ottomans still controlled in name between 1880 and the beginning of World War I.

Two important terms are Vilayet which mean province and Khedivate which means Viceroyalty.

Natural Resources of Ottoman Empire

Agriculture was the basic economic activity in the Ottoman Empire. Most areas of the Ottoman Empire had rich land and could produce goods. For example, the fertility of the soil in some areas was very well-known and rich, but most commonly the soil wasn’t too great due to the lack of rainfall in these areas. Since the rainfall was scarce in some areas, this leads to crop failures and a food crisis. Since crops didn’t always succeed and people couldn’t depend on crops, they began to raise animals. Trade for these animals got larger as production of animals increased.
As agriculture became more common and widely known, large lands were being used for harvesting different crops, plants, and grains. These large holdings were most common near eastern Syria and Iraq. For example, cereal grains were planted. As a result, the rising market opportunities, lead to the increase in the production of these grains. Vineyards and olive orchards were produced in the Mediterranean Provinces. Cotton grew in Macedonian, Syrian and Egyptian regions. But unfortunately, these products weren’t very stable in production and in price. Dates were harvested near Iraq, and forest products were mostly found in the Balkan regions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans
http://www.answers.com/topic/ottoman-empire-overview