The description of the environment has also led to some confusion about changing definitions. Before World War I, «Near East» was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while «Middle East» referred to the Caucasus, Persia and Arab countries,[22] and sometimes Afghanistan, India and others. [23] In contrast, «Far East» referred to East Asian countries (e.g., China, Japan, and Korea). [24] [25] The Middle East is a vast and diverse geographical area in Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa. It stretches 2,000 miles from the Black Sea in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south and about 1,000 miles from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the mountains of Iran. The term «Middle East» became common in the early twentieth century, but remains vaguely defined. To decide what the Middle East is and what area it covers, we need to understand what a region is. Regions are subjectively determined (and therefore contested) areas that we perceive as certain commonalities. They can be defined by physical geography; For example, areas bordered by mountains, rivers or seas, or areas that have a similar climate. They may also be defined by characteristics of human geography, such as shared historical experience, language, religion, or similar cultural practices. In the case of the Middle East, physical and socio-geographical considerations are taken into account in defining the region. While non-Eurocentric terms such as «Southwest Asian» or «Schwasian» have been used sparingly, the inclusion of an African country, Egypt, in the definition calls into question the usefulness of using such terms. [21] East of the Levant and south of the Taurus Mountains lies the area defined by the Euphrates and Tigris, sometimes called Mesopotamia (the «land between rivers»), which now includes eastern Syria, Iraq, and a small area in southwestern Iran.
In many ways, what we call Mesopotamian civilization is a number of different languages and cultures linked together by a common writing and written tradition. The ancient languages of the region were Sumerian, Akkadian, Amorenian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Aramaic. The countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – are sometimes included in Middle East definitions. [32] Similarly, the countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, are sometimes included on maps of the Middle East. Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean, has a predominantly Greek-speaking population, although there is a Turkish minority in the northern part of the island that claims independence in a republic recognized only by Turkey. These countries and their peoples have long relations with the Middle East, but in turn have strong local characteristics that also distinguish them from their neighbours to the south and east. Mesopotamia is a particularly fertile agricultural area with huge areas of cultivation. Northern Mesopotamia receives enough rainfall to grow crops, while southern Mesopotamia receives virtually no rain, so agriculture depended on extensive networks of irrigation canals. At the southern end of the Tigris-Euphrates course, a number of swamps have preserved a distinctive environment and culture for millennia. Apart from water and fertile soils (and later oil), Mesopotamia contained few natural resources and depended on trade with the peoples of the northern and eastern mountainous regions for stone, copper, and timber. The Middle East is a geographical and cultural region located mainly in Western Asia, but also in parts of North Africa and Southeastern Europe. The western border of the Middle East is defined by the Mediterranean Sea, where Israel, Lebanon and Syria lie opposite Greece and Italy in Europe.
Egypt in Africa also borders the Mediterranean Sea and is sometimes considered part of the Middle East, while Turkey and Cyprus literally connect Europe to Asia, oscillating between Europe and the Middle East. Very interesting! Happy reading and I had no idea that the term Middle East had been coined by a British. Very often, countries on the periphery of the Middle East are included in maps and discourses about the Middle East when there is political unrest in these regions, often involving Muslims, simply because many Americans cannot easily distinguish between the Middle East and Islam. For our purposes, we will not include these countries in our definition of the Middle East, but we will include them in our discussion where relevant. Until World War II, it was customary to refer to the regions around Turkey and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean as the «Middle East», while the «Far East» was centered on China,[19] and the Middle East then referred to the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Middle East and the Far East. [ref. In the late 1930s, the British created the Middle East Command, based in Cairo, for their forces in the region. After this period, the term «Middle East» was used more widely in Europe and the United States, including with the Middle East Institute, founded in Washington, D.C. in 1946. [20] The first official use of the term «Middle East» by the U.S. government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, which concerned the Suez Crisis. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as «the area between Libya to the west and Pakistan to the east, Syria and Iraq to the north and the Arabian Peninsula to the south, and Sudan and Ethiopia.» [19] In 1958, the State Department declared the terms «Middle East» and «Middle East» to be interchangeable, defining the region as only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.
[26] Egypt is generally included in maps of the Middle East, although it is located in northeastern Africa. What for? Egyptians speak Arabic, and Egypt has been a major player in Middle Eastern politics for literally thousands of years, making it hard to imagine the region without Egypt. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, all located in northeastern Turkey, are sometimes connected to the Middle East, Europe, Asia or a separate region. South of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea surround the southern part of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman border these waters, with Iraq and Jordan connecting them to the western part of the region. In the center of the Middle East is the Persian Gulf, which cuts into the region and gives it its hook shape. The Persian Gulf countries include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iran. To the east of the Nile Valley, through the Eastern Desert and the Sinai Peninsula, lies the eastern Mediterranean coastal plain, historically associated with parallel mountains and river valleys. This region, which includes the modern lands of Israel, Lebanon and western Syria, as well as parts of Jordan and Turkey, is sometimes referred to as the Levant (after the French term for «sunrise,» which here refers to the rising sun). Located in the Mediterranean climatic zone with rich agricultural land and relatively high rainfall, and with easy access to land and sea routes, the Levant has always been a cultural crossroads and has often been conquered.Among the first regions to develop agriculture (as early as 11,000 BC), ancient cultures developed in this region, including the Canaanites, Amorites, Israelites and Phoenicians. Researchers discuss the extent to which geography shapes culture and the direction of historical change. Some see geography as destiny, while others see a more complex set of changing possibilities and limitations that geography represents throughout history. I really appreciate the way they list the countries included in the Middle East. My geography is a bit rusty. I am guilty of misconceptions about the Arab world and the Middle East. I look forward to learning more. Sometimes Greece is included in the Middle East compass because the Middle East question (then the Middle East) in its modern form only appeared when the Greeks rose up in rebellion in 1821 to assert their independence from the Ottoman Empire (see Eastern Question).