The Middle East (or, formerly more common, the Near East)^[1] is a region Region is most commonly a geographical term that is used in various ways among the different branches of geography. In general, a region may be seen as a collection of smaller units or as one part of a larger whole (as in "the New England region of the United States"). Regions can be defined by physical characteristics, human that encompasses southwestern Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled and Egypt Egypt (pronounced /ˈiːdʒɪpt/ ; Arabic: مصر‎ Miṣr, pronounced [misˤɾ] ( listen); Arabic: مِصْر Miṣr [ˈmisˤɾ]; Egyptian Arabic: مَصْر Maṣr [ˈmɑsˤɾ]; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, kīmi; Egyptian: 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 Kemet), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula. In some contexts, the term has recently been expanded in usage to sometimes include Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south-central Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast. In addition; India claims a border with Afghanistan at the Wakhan corridor as part of its claim on the Gilgit- and Pakistan Pakistan (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪsˈtaːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکِستان), is a country in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, and India in the, the Caucasus The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain (Mount Elbrus) and Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent, and North Africa North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, and. It's often used as a synonym for Near East The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other. The term originally applied to the Balkan states in Eastern Europe, but now generally describes the countries of Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea, in opposition to Far East The Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia (including the Russian Far East) and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.

The history of the Middle East This article is a general overview of the history of the Middle East. For more detailed information, see articles on the histories of individual countries and regions. For discussion of the issues surrounding the definition of the area see the article on Middle East dates back to ancient times The Ancient Near East refers to early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Iran (Elam, Media, Parthia and Persia), Armenia, Anatolia (modern Turkey) and the Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, and Crete). As such, it is a, and throughout its history, the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. When discussing ancient history, however, the term Near East is more commonly used. The Middle East is also the historical origin of major religions such as Judaism Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed, Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity comprises three major branches: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy (which parted ways with Catholicism in 1054 A.D.) and Protestantism (which came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th, Islam Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] [note 1]) is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of their one, incomparable God (Arabic: الله‎, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad's teachings and normative example (in Arabic called and Baha'i Faith The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories. The Middle East generally has an arid A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. As a result, environments subject to arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include protecting plants to support agriculture Agriculture is the production of food and goods through farming. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and stratified societies. The study of agriculture is known as in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf or simply The Gulf by most Arab states, and Gulf of Basra by Turkey, although none of the have large quantities of crude oil Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the earth's surface. 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 The India Office was the British government department responsible for the direct administration of India during the British Raj. It was headed by the Secretary of State for India, who was a member of the British Prime Minister's Cabinet.^[2] However, it became more widely known when American ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy flag officer, geostrategist, and educator. His ideas on the importance of sea power influenced navies around the world, and helped prompt naval buildups before World War I. Several ships were named USS Mahan, including the lead vessel of a class of destroyers. His research into naval history led to his used the term in 1902^[3] to 'designate the area between Arabia and India'.^[4][5] During this time the British The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a and Russian Empires The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union. It was the second largest contiguous empire in world history, surpassed only by the Mongol Empire, and the third largest empire behind the British Empire and the Mongol were vying for influence in Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent, a rivalry which would become known as The Great Game The Great Game is a term used for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The classic Great Game period is generally regarded as running approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. A second, less intensive phase followed the. Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf or simply The Gulf by most Arab states, and Gulf of Basra by Turkey, although none of the.^[6][7] He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East, and said that after the Suez Canal The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez. Ismailia lies on its west, it was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards British India The British Raj is the name given to the period of British colonial rule in South Asia between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the dominion itself, and even the region under the rule. The region, commonly called India in contemporary usage, included areas directly administered by Britain, as well as the princely states ruled by individual.^[8] 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.^[9]

Mahan's article was reprinted in The Times The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of News International. News International is entirely owned by the News Corporation group, headed by Rupert Murdoch. Though traditionally a moderately centre-right newspaper and a supporter of the Conservatives, it supported the Labour Party in and followed in October by a 20 article series entitled "The Middle Eastern Question," written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol was a journalist, prolific author, historian and British diplomat. He was a passionate imperialist and believed that Imperial Germany and Muslim unrest were the biggest threats to the British Empire. During this series Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of the "Middle East" to include "those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the or command the approaches to India."^[10] After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term.^[11]

Until World War II Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·, it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "Near East The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other. The term originally applied to the Balkan states in Eastern Europe, but now generally describes the countries of Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea", while the "Far East The Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia (including the Russian Far East) and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons" centered on China China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity,^[12] and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwestern Iran to Burma Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in Indochina . The country is bordered by People's Republic of China on the north-east, Laos on the east, Thailand on the south-east, Bangladesh on the west, India on the north-west and the Bay of Bengal to the south-west with the Andaman Sea defining its southern, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East.^{[citation needed]} In the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command The Middle East Command was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region, which was based in Cairo Cairo is the capital of Egypt, and the largest city in Africa, and the Arab World, as well as one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life. Even before Cairo was, for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term "Middle East" gained broader usage in Europe and the United States, with the Middle East Institute Founded in 1946, the Middle East Institute is the oldest Washington, DC-based institution dedicated exclusively to the study of the Middle East. Its founders, scholar George Camp Keiser and former US Secretary of State Christian Herter laid out a simple mandate: “to increase knowledge of the Middle East among the citizens of the United States founded in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the in 1946, among other usage.^[13]

Criticism and usage

Many have criticized the term Middle East due to its implicit Eurocentrism Eurocentrism is a term coined during the period of decolonization in the later 20th century to refer to the practice of viewing the world from a European perspective, with an implied belief, either consciously or subconsciously, in the preeminence of European culture. The term Eurocentrism implies criticism of the concerns and values at the.^[14][15] In contemporary English-language academic & media venues, the term is used by both Europeans and non-Europeans.

The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were, "Near East" was used in English to refer to the Balkans The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia. The region has a combined area of 550,000 km2 (212,000 sq mi) and a population of 55 million people.[citation needed] and the Ottoman Empire, while "Middle East" referred to Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, Turkestan, and the Caucasus. In contrast, "Far East" referred to the countries of East Asia (e.g. China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, etc.). Some critics usually advise using an alternative term, such as "Western Asia", which is the official designation of the UN.

With the disappearance of the Ottoman 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).

The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, which pertained to the Suez Crisis. 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, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."^[12] 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

At the United Nations, the numerous documents and resolutions about the Middle East are in fact concerned with the Arab-Israeli conflict, in particular the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, therefore, with the four states of the Levant. The term Near East is occasionally heard at the UN when referring to this region.

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 (nowadays the term "Mittlerer Osten" is more and more common in press texts translated from English sources, albeit having a distinct meaning) and in Russian Ближний Восток or "Blizhniy Vostok", Bulgarian Близкия Изток, Polish Bliski Wschód or Croatian Bliski istok (meaning Near East in all the four Slavic languages) remains as the only appropriate term for the region. However, some languages do have "Middle East" equivalents, such as the French Moyen-Orient, Swedish Mellanöstern, Spanish Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente, and the Italian Medio Oriente.^[18]

Perhaps due to the influence of the Western press, the Arabic equivalent of “Middle East,” “‫الشرق الأوسط‬” (“ash-sharq-l-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 designation, Mashriq, also from the Arabic root for "east," also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant, the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the Maghreb, the western part).^[19] The Persian equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه (Khāvarmiyāneh).

Territories and regions

Traditional definition of the Middle East

Greater Middle East

History

The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is the birthplace and spiritual center of the Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Yezidi, and in Iran, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and the Bahá'í Faith. Throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area.

The earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East, as well as the civilizations of the Levant, Persia, and Arabian Peninsula. The Near East was first unified under the Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire and later Iranian empires, namely the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. However, it would be the Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages, or Islamic Golden Age, that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant ethnic identity that persists today. The Turkic Seljuk, Ottoman and Safavid empires would also later dominate the region.

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.^[24] 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 theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union, as they competed to influence regional allies. Of course, besides the political reasons there was also the "ideological conflict" between the two systems. Moreover, as Louise Fawcett argues, among many important areas of contention, or perhaps more accurately of anxiety, were, first, the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in the region, second, the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the world's oil reserves in a context where oil was becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [...]^[25] 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 US Occupation of Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

The Middle East is home to numerous ethnic groups, including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Jews, Kurds, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs, Armenians, Azeris, Circassians, Greeks and Georgians.

Religions

The Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions, many of which originated there. Islam in its many forms is by far the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths, such as Judaism and Christianity, are also important. There are also important minority religions like Bahá'í, Yazdânism, Zoroastrianism.

Languages

The three top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are Arabic, Persian and Turkish, representing Afro-Asiatic, Indo-European, and Turkic language families respectively. Various other languages are also spoken in the Middle East, and they too span many different language families.

Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East, being official in all the Arab countries. It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages.

The second-most widely spoken language is Persian. While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neghbouring countries, the country is one of the region's largest and most populous. It is an Aryan language of the Indo-Aryan branch of the family of Indo-European languages. It is much influenced by Arabic (through Islam) and Aramaic (the pre-Arabic lingua franca of the Middle East).

The third-most widely spoken language, Turkish, is confined to Turkey, which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries. It is present in areas in neighboring countries. It is a member or the Turkic languages, which have their origins in Central Asia.

Other languages spoken in the region include Syriac (a form of Aramaic), Armenian, Azerbaijani, Berber, Circassian, smaller Iranian languages, Hebrew, Kurdish, smaller Turkic languages, Greek, and several Modern South Arabian languages.

English is commonly spoken as a second language, especially among the middle and upper classes, in countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.^[26][27] It is also a main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates. French is spoken in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia. Urdu is spoken in many Middle Eastern countries, such as Arab states the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Qatar, which have large numbers of Pakistani and some Indian. immigrants. The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found in Israel, where as of 1995^[update] Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population.^[28][29] Romanian is spoken mostly as a secondary language by people from Arab-speaking countries that made their studies in Romania. It is estimated that almost half a million Middle Eastern Arabs studied in Romania during the 1980s.^[30] Russian is also spoken by a large portion of the Israeli population, due to emigration in the late 1990s.

Economy

Middle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations (such as Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia). Overall, as of 2007^[update], according to the CIA World Factbook, all nations in the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growth.

According to the World Bank's World Development Indicators database published on July 1, 2009, the three largest Middle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794,228,000,000), Saudi Arabia ($ 467,601,000,000) and Iran ($ 385,143,000,000) in terms of Nominal GDP.^[31] In regards to nominal GDP per capita, the highest ranking countries are Qatar ($93,204), the UAE ($55,028), Kuwait ($45,920) and Cyprus ($32,745).^[32] Turkey ($ 1,028,897,000,000), Iran ($ 839,438,000,000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589,531,000,000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP.^[20] When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income, the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86,008), Kuwait ($39,915), the UAE ($38,894), Bahrain ($34,662) and Cyprus ($29,853). The lowest-ranking country in the Middle East, in terms of per capita income (PPP), is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank ($1,100).

The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavily dependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait), others have a highly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Egypt). Industries of the Middle Eastern region include oil and oil-related products, agriculture, cotton, cattle, dairy, textiles, leather products, surgical instruments, defence equipment (guns, ammunition, tanks, submarines, fighter jets, UAVs, and missiles). Banking is also an important sector of the economies, especially in the case of UAE and Bahrain.

With the exception of Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and Israel, tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area of the economy, due in part to the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certain regions of the Middle East. In recent years, however, countries such as the UAE, Bahrain, and Jordan have begun attracting greater number of tourists due to improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-related restrictive policies.

Unemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly among young people aged 15–29, a demographic representing 30% of the region’s total population. The total regional unemployment rate in 2005, according to the International Labor Organization, was 13.2%,^[33] and among youth is as high as 25%,^[34] up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in Syria.^[35]

See also

• Central Asia
• Fertile Crescent
• Greater Middle East
• History of the Middle East
• List of conflicts in the Middle East
• Maayan Middle East poetry magazine
• Middle East Institute
• Middle East Studies Association of North America
• Middle East Youth Initiative
• Near East
• Orientalism
• Timeline of Middle Eastern History
• Waithood
• Western Asia

Notes

1. ^ "8 : Names and Terms: Chapter Contents»Names of Places»Parts of the World". The Chicago Manual of Style. 2009. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/ch08/ch08_sec050.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
2. ^ Beaumont (1988), p. 16
3. ^ Koppes, C.R. (1976). "Captain Mahan, General Gordon and the origin of the term "Middle East"". Middle East Studies 12: 95–98. doi:10.1080/00263207608700307.
4. ^ Lewis, Bernard (1965). "The Middle East and the West". p. 9.
5. ^ Fromkin, David (1989). "A Peace to end all Peace". p. 224.
6. ^ Melman, Billie. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing: 6 The Middle East / Arabia, Cambridge Collections Online. Retrieved January 8, 2006.
7. ^ Palmer, Michael A. Guardians of the Persian Gulf: A History of America's Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf, 1833-1992. New York: The Free Press, 1992. ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p. 12-13.
8. ^ Laciner, Dr. Sedat. "Is There a Place Called ‘the Middle East’?", The Journal of Turkish Weekly]", June 2, 2006. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
9. ^ Adelson (1995), p. 22-23
10. ^ Adelson (1995), p. 24
11. ^ Adelson (1995), p. 26
12. ^ ^{a b} Davison, Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East?". Foreign Affairs 38: 665–675.
13. ^ Held, Colbert C. (2000). Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics. Westview Press. p. 7.
14. ^ Shohat, Ella. "Redrawing American Cartographies of Asia". City University of New York. http://commposite.uqam.ca/videaz/docs/elshen.html. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
15. ^ Hanafi, Hassan. "The Middle East, in whose world?". Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies. http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
16. ^ "'Near East' is Mideast, Washington Explains". The New York Times. 1958-08-14. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E10FC3D59127A93C6A81783D85F4C8585F9&scp=1&sq='Near%20East'%20is%20Mideast,%20Washington%20Explains&st=cse. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
17. ^ Goldstein, Norm. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. New York: Basic Books, 2004. ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p. 156
18. ^ In Italian, the expression "Vicino Oriente" (Near East) was also widely used to refer to Turkey, and "Estremo Oriente" (Far East or Extreme East) to refer to all of Asia east of Middle East
19. ^ Anderson, Ewan W., William Bayne Fisher (2000). The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics. Routledge. pp. 12–13.
20. ^ ^{a b c} The World Bank: World Economic Indicators Database. GDP (PPP) 2008. Data for the year 2008. Last revised on July 1, 2009.
21. ^ The World Bank: World Economic Indicators Database. Population 2008. Data for the year 2008. Last revised on July 1, 2009.
22. ^ The 2007 Middle East & Central Asia Politics, Economics, and Society Conference University of Utah.
23. ^ "Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East & Central Asia" May 2006, International Monetary Fund.
24. ^ Goldschmidt (1999), p. 8
25. ^ Louise, Fawcett. International Relations of the Middle East. (Oxford University Press, New York, 2005)
26. ^ "World Factbook - Jordan". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html#People.
27. ^ "World Factbook - Kuwait". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html.
28. ^ According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250,000 Romanian speakers in Israel, at a population of 5,548,523 (census 1995).
29. ^ "Reports of about 300,000 Jews that left the country after WW2". Eurojewcong.org. http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
30. ^ "Evenimentul Zilei". Evz.ro. http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=185041. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
31. ^ The World Bank: World Economic Indicators Database. GDP (Nominal) 2008. Data for the year 2008. Last revised on July 1, 2009.
32. ^ Data refer to the year 2008. World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009, International Monetary Fund. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
33. ^ "Unemployment Rates Are Highest in the Middle East". Progressive Policy Institute. August 30, 2006. http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254026.
34. ^ Navtej Dhillon, Tarek Yousef (2007). "Inclusion: Meeting the 100 Million Youth Challenge". Shabab Inclusion. http://shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/623/1.
35. ^ Hilary Silver (September 200). "Social Exclusion: Comparative Analysis of Europe and Middle East Youth". Middle East Youth Initiative Working Paper. Shabab Inclusion. http://www.shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/558/1.

References

• Adelson, Roger (1995). London and the Invention of the Middle East: Money, Power, and War, 1902-1922.. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300060947.
• Anderson, R., Seibert, R., & Wagner, J. (2006). Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
• Barzilai, Gad.,Klieman Aharon.,Shidlo Gil (1993). The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08002.
• Barzilai, Gad. (1996). Wars, Internal Conflicts and Political Order. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-2943-1.
• Beaumont, Peter, Gerald H. Blake, J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton.
• Goldschmidt Jr., Arthur (1999). A Concise History of the Middle East. Westview Press.

External links

• "Middle East - Articles by Region" - Council on Foreign Relations: "A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysis"
• "Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide" - Council on Foreign Relations: "A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysis"
• Middle East Department University of Chicago Library
• Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957: "The leading information source on business in the Middle East" - MEED.com
• Middle East News from Yahoo! News
• Middle East at the Open Directory Project
• Middle East Business, Financial & Industry News — ArabianBusiness.com

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