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Middle East

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography

   Political & transportation map of the Middle East today
   Political & transportation map of the Middle East today

   The Middle East is a historical and political region of Africa-Eurasia
   with no clear definition. The term "Middle East" was popularized around
   1900 by the British, and has been criticized for its loose definition.
   The Middle East traditionally includes countries or regions in
   Southwest Asia and parts of North Africa. The corresponding adjective
   to Middle East is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is
   Middle-Easterner.

   The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and
   throughout its history the Middle East has been a major centre of world
   affairs. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, with
   several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in
   limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have
   large quantities of crude oil. In modern times, the Middle East remains
   a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously
   sensitive region.

Etymology

   The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British
   India Office, and became more widely known when American naval
   strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term. During this time the
   British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, a
   rivalry which would become known as The Great Game. Mahan realized not
   only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its centre,
   the Persian Gulf. He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as
   the Middle East, and said that after the Suez Canal, it was the most
   important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians
   from advancing towards India. Mahan first used the term in his article
   "The Persian Gulf and International Relations", published in September
   1902 in the National Review, a British journal.

     The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will
     some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar; it does not
     follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. Naval force has the
     quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary
     absences; but it needs to find on every scene of operation
     established bases of refit, of supply, and in case of disaster, of
     security. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate
     in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, and the Persian Gulf.

   Alfred Thayer Mahan
   Alfred Thayer Mahan

   Mahan's article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a
   20 article series entitled "The Middle Eastern Question", written by
   Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series, Chirol expanded the
   definition of the "Middle East" to include "those regions of Asia which
   extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India."
   With the series end in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from
   subsequent uses of the term.

   Until World War II, it was customary to refer to areas centered around
   Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the Near East,
   while the Far East centered on China. The Middle East then meant the
   area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East
   and the Far East. The sense described in this article evolved during
   the war, perhaps influenced by the ancient idea of the Mediterranean as
   the "sea in the middle".

   One widely used definition of the "Middle East" is that of the airline
   industry, maintained by the IATA standards organization. This
   definition — as of early 2007 — includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq,
   Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Oman, Qatar,
   Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab
   Emirates, Pakistan and Yemen. This definition is used in world-wide
   airfare and tax calculations for passengers and cargo.

Criticism and usage

   Many have criticized the term Middle East for what they see as
   Eurocentrism, because it was originally used by Europeans (although
   Alfred Mahan was American) and reflects the geographical position of
   the region from a European perspective. It is also criticized due to
   the fact that the term today is often used to only refer to the Arab
   world, making the situation more confused.

   Today the term is used by Europeans and non-Europeans alike, unlike the
   similar term Mashreq, used exclusively in Arabic-language contexts. The
   region is only east from the perspective of Europe. To an Indian, it
   lies to the west; to a Russian, it lies to the south. The description
   Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before
   the First World War, Near East was used in English to refer to the
   Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while Middle East referred to Persia,
   Kurdistan, Afghanistan, present day Pakistan and Central Asia,
   Turkistan and the Caucasus. In contrast, Far East refers to the
   countries of East Asia, e.g. China, Japan, Koreas, Hong Kong (China),
   Taiwan, etc. Such critics usually advise using an alternative term,
   such as "West Asia". The official UN designation of the area is
   "Southwest Asia".

   With the disappearance of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1918, Near East
   largely fell out of common use in English, while Middle East came to be
   applied to the re-emerging countries of the Islamic world. However, the
   usage of Near East was retained by a variety of academic disciplines,
   including archaeology and ancient history, where it describes an area
   identical to the term Middle East, which is not used by these
   disciplines (see Ancient Near East). So in shorter words, the term
   Middle East came about when the UK/French part of the world used the
   term.

   The Eisenhower Doctrine, a 1957 policy of the United States government,
   was the first to officially use the term Middle East. Secretary of
   State, John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying
   between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east and
   Turkey on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the
   Sudan and Ethiopia." In 1958, the State Department explained that the
   terms " Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined
   the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan,
   Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.

   The Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to
   the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern
   ones, but that now they are synonymous. It instructs:

     Use Middle East unless Near East is used by a source in a story.
     Mideast is also acceptable, but Middle East is preferred.

Translations

   There are terms similar to "Near East" and "Middle East" in other
   European languages, but since it is a relative description, the
   meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms
   generally. In German the term " Naher Osten" (Near East) is still in
   common use (although nowadays the term "Mittlerer Osten" is more and
   more common) and in Russian Ближний Восток or "Blizhniy Vostok" (Near
   East), Bulgarian Близкия Изток (Near East) or Polish Bliski Wschód
   remains as the only appropriate term for the region. However, some
   languages do have "Middle East" equivalents, such as the French
   Moyen-Orient and the Italian Medio Oriente.

   Perhaps due to the influence of the Western press, the Arabic
   equivalent of “Middle East,” “‫الشرق الأوسط‬” (“ash-sharq al-’awsaT”),
   has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press, comprehending
   the same meaning as the term “Middle East” in North American and
   Western European usage. The Persian equivalent for Middle East is
   خاورمیانه (Khāvarmiyāneh).

History

   The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
   The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

   The Middle East (specifically, the Fertile Crescent) was the first
   centre of agriculture (see history of agriculture), and therefore of
   civilization. It lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of the
   Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is the birthplace and
   spiritual centre of the Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Yezidi,
   and in Iran, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and the Bahá'í
   Faith. The Garden of Eden from the Book of Genesis is also thought to
   have been located between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, making
   the Middle East the cradle of civilization. Thus throughout its history
   the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs; a
   strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously
   sensitive area.

   The modern Middle East began after World War I, when the Ottoman
   Empire, which was allied with the defeated Central Powers, was
   partitioned into a number of separate nations. Other defining events in
   this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and
   the departure of European powers, notably Britain and France. They were
   supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States.

   In the 20th century, the region's significant stocks of crude oil gave
   it new strategic and economic importance. Mass production of oil began
   around 1945, with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab
   Emirates having large quantities of oil. Estimated oil reserves,
   especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran, are some of the highest in the
   world, and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle
   Eastern countries.

   During the Cold War, the Middle East was a theatre of ideological
   struggle between the two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet
   Union, as they competed to influence regional allies. Within this
   contextual framework, the United States sought to divert the Arab world
   from Soviet influence. Throughout the 20th and into the 21st century,
   the region has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance
   and periods of conflict and war. Current issues include the Iraq War,
   Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Iranian nuclear program.

Territories and regions

   Name of region, with flag Area
   (km²) Population Population density
   (per km²) Capital GDP (Total) GDP (Per capita) Currency Government
   Official languages Coat of Arms
   Flag of Egypt Egypt 1,001,449 82,982,364 74 Cairo $305.253 billion
   $4,317 Egyptian pound Semi-presidential republic (democracy) Arabic
   Flag of Iran Iran 1,648,195 70,049,262 42 Tehran $610.4 billion $8,900
   Iranian rial Islamic Republic Persian
   Flag of Iraq Iraq 437,072 24,001,816 54.9 Baghdad $89.8 billion $3,600
   Iraqi dinar Parliamentary Democracy (Developing) Arabic, Kurdish
   Flag of Kuwait Kuwait 17,820 2,111,561 118.5 Kuwait City $88,7 billion
   $29,566 Kuwaiti dinar Constitutional Hereditary Arabic
   Arabian Peninsula:
   Flag of Bahrain Bahrain 665 656,397 987.1 Manama $14.08 billion $20,500
   Bahraini Dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic
   Flag of Oman Oman 212,460 2,713,462 12.8 Muscat $40.923 billion Rial
   Absolute monarchy Arabic
   Flag of Qatar Qatar 11,437 793,341 69.4 Doha $37.85 billion Riyal
   Monarchy Arabic
   Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 1,960,582 23,513,330 12.0 Riyadh
   $576.4 billion Riyal Absolute monarchy Arabic
   Flag of United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 82,880 2,445,989 29.5
   Abu Dhabi $162.3 billion UAE dirham Federal Constitutional Monarchy
   Arabic
   Flag of Yemen Yemen 527,970 18,701,257 35.4 Sanaá $19.480 billion
   Yemeni rial Republic Arabic
   The Levant:
   Flag of Israel Israel 20,770 7,029,529 290.3 Jerusalem $177.3 billion
   $26,200 Israeli new sheqel Parliamentary democracy Hebrew, Arabic
   Flag of Jordan Jordan 92,300 5,307,470 57.5 Amman $27.96 billion $4,825
   Jordanian dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic
   Lebanon 10,400 3,677,780 353.6 Beirut $24.42 billion Lebanese lira
   Republic Arabic
   Flag of Syria Syria 185,180 17,155,814 92.6 Damascus $71.74 billion
   Syrian pound Presidential republic Arabic
   Autonomies:
   Flag of Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan 80,000 5,500,000 40 Arbil Iraqi Dinar
   Parliamentary democracy Kurdish, Arabic
   Flag of Palestinian territories Gaza Strip 360 1,376,289 3,823 Gaza
   Israeli new sheqel Palestinian National Authority Arabic

Demographics

   The Middle East is home to numerous ethnic groups, including Amhara,
   Arabs, Armenians, Bahraini, Egyptians, Berbers, Africans, Assyrians,
   Azeris, Druze, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Persians, Turks, Turkmen
   and the Somali.

Languages

   Languages of the Middle East span many different families, including
   Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic, and Altaic.

   Arabic in its numerous varieties and Persian are most widely spoken in
   the region, with Arabic being the most widely spoken language in the
   Arab countries. Other languages spoken in the region include Armenian,
   Assyrian (a form of Aramaic), Azeri, Balochi or Baluchi, Berber
   languages, Circassian, Persian, Georgian, Hebrew in its numerous
   varieties, Kurdish, Luri, Turkish and other Turkic languages, Greek and
   Urdu. In Turkey, Kurdish, Dimli (or Zaza), Azeri, Kabardiaz, and Gagauz
   languages are spoken, in addition to the Turkish language.

   English is also spoken, especially among the middle and upper class, in
   countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Kuwait. French is spoken in
   Algeria, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Egypt. Hindi and other
   Indian and South Asian languages are spoken in many Middle Eastern
   countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Qatar, which
   have large numbers of South Asian immigrants.

Economy

   Dubai skyline
   Dubai skyline
   The Burj al Arab artificial island
   The Burj al Arab artificial island

Regions

     * Anatolia
     * Iranian Plateau
     * Arabia, see Persian Gulf States - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar,
       U.A.E., Oman, Yemen, Bahrain and Iraq
     * The Levant - collective name for the countries of the eastern shore
       of the Mediterranean

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
