The Middle East is a historical and cultural subregion of Africa-Eurasia traditionally held to be countries or regions in Southwest Asia together with Egypt. In other contexts, the region can include other parts of North Africa and/or Central Asia.

Characteristics

---

In the Western world, the Middle East is generally thought of as a predominantly Islamic Arabic community defined by frequent war. However the area encompasses many distinct cultural and ethnic groups, including the Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Azeris, Berbers, Chaldeans, Druze, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Maronites, Persians and Turks. The main language groups include: Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian (also known as Aramaic and Syriac), Hebrew, Persian, Kurdish and Turkish. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.

Most Western definitions of the "Middle East" — in both established reference books and common usage — define the region as 'nations in Southwest Asia, from Iran (Persia) to Egypt'. Egypt, with its Sinai Peninsula in Asia, is often considered part of the 'Middle East', although most of the country lies geographically in North Africa. North African nations without Asian links, such as Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, are increasingly being called North African — as opposed to Middle Eastern (Iran (Persia) to Egypt-Asia) — by international media outlets.

One widely used definition of "Middle East" is that of the airline industry, maintained by the IATA standards organization. This definition — as of early 2006 — includes Bahrain, Egypt, Iran (Persia), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian Territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. ^* This definition is used in world-wide airfare and tax calculations for passengers and cargo.

More on [ Middle East ]

Middle East - Twitter Search

The middle East's greenest building http://bit.ly/3lGsjA
WindPowerHoncho (John Power) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:53:52 -0000
The middle East's greenest building http://bit.ly/3lGsjA
RT @ErnieEaster: RT @russeltarr: (RT @activehistory): Middle East Conflict: Google Earth Tours: http://tinyurl.com/m35nyf
rmbyrne (rmbyrne) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:52:37 -0000
RT @ErnieEaster: RT @russeltarr: (RT @activehistory): Middle East Conflict: Google Earth Tours: http://tinyurl.com/m35nyf
Chart Announces Opening of JV Manufacturing Facility for Air Cooled Heat Exchangers in the Middle East http://bit.ly/38q9th
USNewswire (US Newswire) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:52:26 -0000
Chart Announces Opening of JV Manufacturing Facility for Air Cooled Heat Exchangers in the Middle East http://bit.ly/38q9th
FT - Middle East begins to rebuild http://bit.ly/1nhLjD
EngineeringUK (Monster Engineering) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:51:44 -0000
FT - Middle East begins to rebuild http://bit.ly/1nhLjD
Creationism starts spreading to the Middle East. And who said we don't export anything anymore? http://bit.ly/2ih3zX
bradplumer (bradplumer) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:51:09 -0000
Creationism starts spreading to the Middle East. And who said we don't export anything anymore? http://bit.ly/2ih3zX
RT @russeltarr: (RT @activehistory): Middle East Conflict: Google Earth Tours: http://tinyurl.com/m35nyf
ErnieEaster (Ernie Easter) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:49:33 -0000
RT @russeltarr: (RT @activehistory): Middle East Conflict: Google Earth Tours: http://tinyurl.com/m35nyf

Subscribe to Middle_East RSS feed