View source for Place:Middle East

{{Short description|Geopolitical region}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Infobox continent
| title      = Middle East
| image      = [[File:Middle East (orthographic projection).svg|220px|Middle East]]
| caption    = {{legend|#346733|Location of the Middle East}}{{legend|#008000|[[Social:Greater Middle East|Greater Middle East]]}}{{legend|#73ED73|Areas sometimes included}}
| area       = {{convert|7207575|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| population = 371 million (2010)<ref>Population 1971–2010 ([http://iea.org/co2highlights/co2highlights.pdf pdf] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106205757/http://iea.org/co2highlights/co2highlights.pdf |date=6 January 2012 }} p. 89) IEA (OECD/ World Bank) (original population ref OECD/ World Bank e.g. in IEA Key World Energy Statistics 2010 p. 57)</ref>
| countries  = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = UN members (16)
| {{flag|Bahrain}}
| {{flag|Cyprus}}
| {{flag|Egypt}}
| {{flag|Iran}}
| {{flag|Iraq}}
| {{flag|Israel}}
| {{flag|Jordan}}
| {{flag|Kuwait}}
| {{flag|Lebanon}}
| {{flag|Oman}}
| {{flag|Qatar}}
| {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
| {{flag|Syria}}
| {{flag|Turkey}}
| {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
| {{flag|Yemen}}
 }}
 {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = UN observer (1)
| {{flag|Palestine}}
 }}
 {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = De facto (1)
| {{flag|Northern Cyprus}}
 }}
| dependencies = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = External (1)
| {{Flag|Akrotiri and Dhekelia}} (United Kingdom)
 }}
 {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = Internal (2)
| {{flag|Kurdistan}} (Iraq)
| {{flag|Rojava}} ([[Place:Syria|Syria]])
 }}
 {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = Occupied (4)
| {{flagdeco|Palestine}} East Jerusalem
| {{flag|Gaza Strip}}
| {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Place:Golan Heights|Golan Heights]]
| {{flag|West Bank}}
 }}
 {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = UN buffers (2)
| {{flagdeco|United Nations}} UNBZC
| {{flagdeco|United Nations}} UNDOF Zone
 }}
| languages  = {{collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = 60 languages
| '''Official languages'''
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
| English
| [[Social:Greek language|Greek]]
| [[Social:Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
| [[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
| [[Social:Persian language|Persian]]
| [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]]
| '''Languages without official status''' (spoken by diaspora or other minorities)
| [[Social:Albanian language|Albanian]]
| [[Social:Armenian language|Armenian]]
| [[Social:Abaza language|Abaza]]
| [[Social:Abkhaz language|Abkhaz]]
| [[Social:Amharic|Amharic]]
| [[Social:Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]
| Balochi
| Bosniak{{Dubious|date=June 2023|reason=Bosnian is a literary standard based on the Eastern Herzegovinian dialect of Shtokavian, not a language.}}
| [[Social:Chechen language|Chechen]]
| [[Social:Chinese language|Chinese]]
| Circassian
| [[Social:Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]]
| [[Social:Coptic language|Coptic]]
| [[Social:Domari language|Domari]]
| French
| [[Social:Balkan Gagauz Turkish|Balkan Gagauz Turkish]]
| [[Social:Georgian language|Georgian]]
| [[Social:Gilaki language|Gilaki]]
| [[Social:Hungarian language|Hungarian]]
| [[Social:Hindi|Hindi]]
| [[Social:Indonesian language|Indonesian]]
| [[Social:Italian language|Italian]]
| [[Social:Kazakh language|Kazakh]]
| [[Social:Kumyk language|Kumyk]]
| Kurbet
| [[Social:Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]
| [[Social:Judaeo-Spanish|Judæo-Spanish]]
| [[Social:Laz language|Laz]]
| Lurish
| [[Social:Marathi language|Marathi]]
| [[Social:Malayalam|Malayalam]]
| [[Social:Mazanderani language|Mazanderani]]
| Neo-Aramaic
| Nobiin
| [[Social:Qashqai language|Qashqai]]
| [[Social:Romanian language|Romanian]]
| [[Social:Russian language|Russian]]
| Siwa
| [[Social:Somali language|Somali]]
| Syriac
| [[Social:Spanish language|Spanish]]
| [[Social:Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
| [[Social:Tagalog language|Tagalog]]
| [[Social:Talysh language|Talysh]]
| [[Social:Tatar language|Tatar]]
| [[Social:Turkmen language|Turkmen]]
| Turoyo
| [[Social:Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]
| [[Social:Urdu|Urdu]]
| [[Social:Uyghur language|Uyghur]]
| Yiddish
| Zaza
 }}
| time       = [[UTC+02:00|00]], [[UTC+03:00|00]], [[UTC+03:30|30]], [[UTC+04:00|00]], [[UTC+04:30|30]]
| cities     = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = 10 largest cities in the Middle East
|
# {{flagicon|Turkey}} Istanbul
# {{flagicon|Egypt}} [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]]
# {{flagicon|Iran}} [[Place:Tehran|Tehran]]
# {{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]]
# {{flagicon|Saudi Arabia}} [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]]
# {{flagicon|Turkey}} [[Place:Ankara|Ankara]]
# {{flagicon|Egypt}} [[Place:Alexandria|Alexandria]]
# {{flagicon|Turkey}} İzmir
# {{flagicon|Saudi Arabia}} Jeddah
# {{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Place:Amman|Amman]]
 }}
}}

[[File:Middle east.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|Map of the Middle East between North Africa, Southern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Asia.]]
[[File:Middle East map of Köppen climate classification.svg|upright=1.2|thumb|Middle East map of Köppen climate classification.]]

The '''Middle East''' (term originally coined in [[Social:English language|English]] {{small|{{bracket|see {{section link||Terminology}}}}}}<ref group="note">Translations of this term in some of the region's major languages include: {{lang-ar|الشرق الأوسط|translit=aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ}}; {{lang-aii|ܡܕܢܚܐ ܡܨܥܝܬܐ|translit=Madnḥā Miṣʿāyā}}; {{lang-he|המזרח התיכון|translit=ha-Mizrákh ha-Tikhón}}; {{lang-ku|Rojhilata Navîn|script=Latn}}; {{lang-fa|خاورمیانه|translit=Xâvar-e-Miyâne}}; {{lang-azb|اوْرتاشرق}}; {{lang-tr|Orta Doğu}}.</ref>) is a geopolitical region encompassing the [[Place:Arabian Peninsula|Arabian Peninsula]], the [[Place:Levant|Levant]], [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term [[Place:Near East|Near East]] (as opposed to the [[Place:Far East|Far East]]) beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions,<ref name="dont"/> and being seen as too [[Social:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]].<ref name="hanafi"/> The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]], but without the [[Place:South Caucasus|South Caucasus]], and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the [[Place:Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]) and all of Turkey (not just the part barring East Thrace).

Most Middle Eastern countries (13 out of 18) are part of the [[Place:Arab world|Arab world]]. The [[Earth:List of Middle Eastern countries by population|most populous countries in the region]] are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The [[Place:History of the Middle East|history of the Middle East]] dates back to [[History:Ancient history|ancient times]], with the geopolitical importance of the region being recognized for millennia.<ref>Cairo, Michael F. [https://books.google.com/books?id=_ukBNxLFNxgC&q=middle+east+of+high+importance+since+ancient+times ''The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222230823/https://books.google.nl/books?id=_ukBNxLFNxgC&dq=middle+east+of+high+importance+since+ancient+times&hl=nl&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=22 December 2015 }} University Press of Kentucky, 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-8131-3672-1}} p. xi.</ref><ref>Government Printing Office. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UOgvZdjOsb0C&dq=middle+east+of+high+importance+since+ancient+times&pg=PA177 ''History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: The formative years, 1947–1950''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222230708/https://books.google.nl/books?id=UOgvZdjOsb0C&pg=PA177&dq=middle+east+of+high+importance+since+ancient+times&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0CDMQ6AEwA2oVChMIlNGcnPv5yAIVybMUCh2Sag-6 |date=22 December 2015 }} {{ISBN|978-0-16-087640-0}} p. 177</ref><ref>Kahana, Ephraim. Suwaed, Muhammad. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xoftt29B4soC&dq=middle+east+of+crucial+importance+since+ancient+times&pg=PR31 ''Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Intelligence''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223002634/https://books.google.nl/books?id=Xoftt29B4soC&pg=PR31&dq=middle+east+of+crucial+importance+since+ancient+times&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0CFEQ6AEwB2oVChMI-8aUsPr5yAIVxGsUCh3q_wR- |date=23 December 2015 }} Scarecrow Press, 13 April 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6302-6}} p. xxxi.</ref> Several major religions have their origins in the Middle East, including [[Religion:Judaism|Judaism]], [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]], and [[Religion:Islam|Islam]].<ref>{{cite book|title=An Introduction to Middle East Politics: Continuity, Change, Conflict and Co-operation|first=Benjamin |last=MacQueen|year= 2013| isbn=978-1446289761| page =5|publisher=SAGE|quote=The Middle East is the cradle of the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.}}</ref> Arabs constitute the main ethnic group in the region,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPBfnT_E1mgC&q=main+ethnic+groups+in+the+middle+east&pg=PA16|title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia|access-date=26 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424084425/https://books.google.com/books?id=SPBfnT_E1mgC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=main+ethnic+groups+in+the+middle+east&source=bl&ots=uGb8t7Re3p&sig=wlU7EbnyjrI4FHgw5H2WTeJvePI&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=JHCDU_HgMInHOeCGgLgK&ved=0CDAQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=Turks&f=false|archive-date=24 April 2016|isbn=978-1-59884-362-0|last1=Shoup|first1=John A.|year= 2011|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref> followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, [[Religion:Copts|Copts]], [[Religion:Jews|Jews]], Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, [[Unsolved:Yazidis|Yazidis]], and Greek Cypriots.

The Middle East generally has a hot, [[Earth:Arid|arid]] climate, especially in the Arabian and Egyptian regions. Several major rivers provide [[Earth:Irrigation|irrigation]] to support [[Earth:Agriculture|agriculture]] in limited areas here, such as the [[Place:Nile Delta|Nile Delta]] in Egypt, the [[Place:Tigris|Tigris]] and [[Place:Euphrates|Euphrates]] watersheds of [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], and the basin of the Jordan River that spans most of the Levant. These regions are collectively known as the [[Place:Fertile Crescent|Fertile Crescent]], and comprise the core of what historians had long referred to as the [[Social:Cradle of civilization|cradle of civilization]] (a label now applied to multiple regions of the world). Conversely, the Levantine coast and most of Turkey have relatively temperate climates [[Earth:Mediterranean climate|typical of the Mediterranean]], with dry summers and cool, wet winters. Most of the countries that border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of [[Chemistry:Petroleum|petroleum]], with monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula in particular benefiting economically from petroleum exports. Because of the arid climate and heavy reliance on the fossil fuel industry, the Middle East is both a heavy contributor to climate change and a region expected to be severely negatively impacted by it.

Other concepts of the region exist including the broader [[Finance:MENA|Middle East and North Africa]] (MENA), which includes states of the [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]] and the [[Place:Sudan (region)|Sudan]], or the "[[Social:Greater Middle East|Greater Middle East]]" which additionally also includes parts of [[Place:East Africa|East Africa]], Mauritania, Afghanistan, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, and sometimes the South Caucasus and [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]].

==Terminology==
The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office.{{Sfn | Beaumont | Blake | Wagstaff | 1988 | p = 16}} However, it became more widely known when {{wipe|United States}} naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902<ref>{{cite journal | last =Koppes | first = CR |title = Captain Mahan, General Gordon and the origin of the term "Middle East" |journal=Middle East Studies |volume=12 |pages= 95–98 |year= 1976 |doi = 10.1080/00263207608700307}}</ref> to "designate the area between Arabia and India".<ref>{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Bernard | title= The Middle East and the West |year= 1965 |page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Fromkin | first = David |  title = A Peace to end all Peace | year = 1989 | page = [https://archive.org/details/peacetoendallpea0000from/page/224 224] | isbn = 978-0-8050-0857-9 | title-link = A Peace to End All Peace | publisher = H. Holt }}</ref> During this time the [[Place:British Empire|British]] and [[Place:Russian Empire|Russian Empire]]s were vying for influence in [[Place:Central Asia|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 center, the Persian Gulf.<ref>{{Citation | last = Melman | first = Billie | url = http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010 | publisher = Cambridge | title = Companion to Travel Writing | volume = 6 The Middle East/Arabia | series = Collections Online | access-date = 8 January 2006 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725125839/http://cco.cambridge.org/extract?id=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010 | archive-date = 25 July 2011 | date = November 2002 }}.</ref><ref>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}} pp. 12–13.</ref> He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East, and said that after Egypt's Suez Canal, it was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards [[History:British Raj|British India]].<ref>Laciner, Sedat. "[http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=2117  Is There a Place Called 'the Middle East'?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220093342/http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=2117 |date=2007-02-20 }}", ''The Journal of Turkish Weekly'', 2 June 2006. Retrieved 10 January 2007.</ref> 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.
{{Blockquote|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.{{Sfn | Adelson | 1995 | pp = 22–23}}}}

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, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of ''Middle East'' to include "those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of {{wipe|India}} or command the approaches to India."{{Sfn | Adelson | 1995 | p = 24}} After the series ended in 1903, ''The Times'' removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term.{{Sfn | Adelson | 1995 | p = 26}}

Until [[Social:World War II|World War II]], it was customary to refer to areas centered around [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "[[Place:Near East|Near East]]", while the "[[Place:Far East|Far East]]" centered on {{wipe|China}},<ref name="davison">{{cite journal | last =Davison | first = Roderic H. |title= Where is the Middle East? |journal= Foreign Affairs | volume = 38 |pages=665–675 |year=1960 |doi=10.2307/20029452 |issue=4| jstor = 20029452 | s2cid = 157454140 }}</ref> and the Middle East then meant the area from [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East.<ref name=wapo2016 /><ref name=UNC /> In the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command, which was based in [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]], 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 [[Place:Washington, D.C.|Washington, D.C.]] in 1946, among other usage.<ref>{{cite book | last =Held | first = Colbert C. |title=Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics | url =https://archive.org/details/middleeastpatter00held_0 | url-access =registration |publisher=Westview Press |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/middleeastpatter00held_0/page/7 7] |isbn= 978-0-8133-8221-0}}</ref>

The corresponding adjective is ''Middle Eastern'' and the derived noun is ''Middle Easterner''.

While non-Eurocentric terms such "Southwest Asia" or "Swasia" has been sparsedly used, the inclusion of an African country, Egypt, in the definition questions the usefulness of using such terms.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=25741178|title=Constructing and naturalizing the Middle Easr|first=Karen|last=Culcasi|journal=[[Earth:Geographical Review|Geographical Review]]|volume=100|issue=4|year=2010|pages=583–597|doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2010.00059.x|bibcode=2010GeoRv.100..583C |s2cid=154611116}}</ref>

===Usage and criticism===
[[File:Middle East.ogv|thumb|1957 American film about the Middle East]]

The description ''Middle'' has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the [[Social:World War I|First World War]], "Near East" was used in English to refer to the [[Place:Balkans|Balkans]] and the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]], while "Middle East" referred to the [[Earth:Caucasus|Caucasus]], Persia, and Arabian lands,<ref name=wapo2016>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/05/19/the-modern-middle-east-is-actually-only-100-years-old/| title = How the Middle East was invented | newspaper = {{wipe|The Washington Post}}}}</ref> and sometimes Afghanistan, {{wipe|India}} and others.<ref name=UNC>{{Cite web|url=https://mideast.unc.edu/where/|title=Where Is the Middle East? &#124; Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies}}</ref> In contrast, "[[Place:Far East|Far East]]" referred to the countries of [[Place:East Asia|East Asia]] (e.g. {{wipe|China}}, {{wipe|Japan}} and [[Place:Korea|Korea]]).<ref> Clyde, Paul Hibbert, and Burton F. Beers. ''The Far East: A History of Western Impacts and Eastern Responses, 1830-1975'' (1975). [https://archive.org/details/lccn_0133029687 online] </ref><ref> Norman, Henry. ''The Peoples and Politics of the Far East: Travels and studies in the British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Siberia, China, Japan, Korea, Siam and Malaya'' (1904) [https://archive.org/details/peoplesandpolit05normgoog online] </ref>

With the collapse 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 "Near East" was retained by a variety of academic disciplines, including [[Earth:Archaeology|archaeology]] and [[History:Ancient history|ancient history]], where it describes an area identical to the term ''Middle East'', which is not used by these disciplines (see [[History:Ancient Near East|Ancient Near East]]).{{fact|date=January 2022}}

The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the United States government was in the 1957 [[Place:Eisenhower Doctrine|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 [[Place:Libya|Libya]] on the west and {{wipe|Pakistan}} on the east, [[Place:Syria|Syria]] and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."<ref name="davison"/> In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], [[Place:Syria|Syria]], [[Place:Israel|Israel]], [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]], Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.<ref>{{cite news |title= 'Near East' is Mideast, Washington Explains |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E10FC3D59127A93C6A81783D85F4C8585F9&scp=1&sq='Near%20East'%20is%20Mideast,%20Washington%20Explains&st=cse |newspaper= The New York Times |date= 14 August 1958 |access-date= 25 January 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091015044505/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E10FC3D59127A93C6A81783D85F4C8585F9&scp=1&sq=%27Near%20East%27%20is%20Mideast%2C%20Washington%20Explains&st=cse |archive-date= 15 October 2009 }}{{subscription required}}</ref>

The term ''Middle East'' has also been criticised by journalist Louay Khraish and historian [[Biography:Hassan Hanafi|Hassan Hanafi]] for being a [[Social:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] and [[Social:Colonialism|colonialist]] term.<ref name="dont">{{cite web |last=Khraish |first=Louay |date=16 July 2021 |title=Don't Call Me Middle Eastern |publisher=Raseef 22|url=https://raseef22.net/article/1083546-dont-call-me-middle-eastern}}</ref><ref name="hanafi">{{cite web |last=Hanafi |first=Hassan |location=Oslo |year=1998 |title=The Middle East, in whose world? (Primary Reflections) |url=http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html |publisher=Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies (The fourth Nordic conference on Middle Eastern Studies: The Middle East in globalizing world Oslo, 13–16 August 1998) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008121436/http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html |archive-date=8 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shohat |first=Ella |title=Redrawing American Cartographies of Asia |url=http://commposite.uqam.ca/videaz/docs/elshen.html |publisher=City University of New York |access-date=12 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312062752/http://commposite.uqam.ca/videaz/docs/elshen.html |archive-date=12 March 2007 }}</ref>

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:
<blockquote>Use ''Middle East'' unless ''Near East'' is used by a source in a story. ''Mideast'' is also acceptable, but ''Middle East'' is preferred.<ref>Goldstein, Norm. ''The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law''. New York: Basic Books, 2004. {{ISBN|0-465-00488-1}} p. 156</ref></blockquote>

===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 [[Social:German language|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 [[Social:Russian language|Russian]] Ближний Восток or ''Blizhniy Vostok'', [[Social:Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] Близкия Изток, [[Social:Polish language|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 [[Social:French language|French]] Moyen-Orient, [[Social:Swedish language|Swedish]] Mellanöstern, [[Social:Spanish language|Spanish]] Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente, and the [[Social:Italian language|Italian]] Medio Oriente.<ref group="note">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</ref>

Perhaps because of the influence of the Western press, the Arabic equivalent of ''Middle East'' (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط ''ash-Sharq al-Awsaṭ'') has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press, comprising the same meaning as the term "Middle East" in North American and Western European usage. The designation, ''[[Place:Mashriq|Mashriq]]'', also from the Arabic root for ''East'', also denotes a variously defined region around the [[Place:Levant|Levant]], the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the ''[[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]]'', the western part).<ref>{{cite book |author1=Anderson, Ewan W. |author2=William Bayne Fisher |title=The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |pages=12–13}}</ref> Even though the term originated in the West, apart from Arabic, other languages of countries of the Middle East also use a translation of it. The [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه (''Khāvar-e miyāneh''), the Hebrew is המזרח התיכון (''hamizrach hatikhon''), the Turkish is Orta Doğu and the Greek is Μέση Ανατολή (''Mesi Anatoli'').

== Countries and territory ==
{{Further|Earth:List of Middle Eastern countries by population}}

=== Countries and territory usually considered within the Middle East ===
Traditionally included within the Middle East are [[Place:Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]], [[Earth:Anatolia|Asia Minor]], East Thrace, [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], the [[Place:Levant|Levant]], [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], and the Socotra Archipelago. The region includes 17 UN-recognized countries and one British Overseas Territory.

{| class ="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"
!class="unsortable"| Arms
!class="unsortable"| Flag
! [[Earth:List of sovereign states|Country]]
! Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
! [[Earth:List of countries and dependencies by population|Population]]<br />(2023)<ref name="IMFOCT2023">{{cite web |title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/October/weo-report?c=419,423,469,429,433,436,439,443,446,449,453,456,463,186,466,487,474,&s=NGDPD,NGDPDPC,LP,&sy=2010&ey=2023&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |website=IMF |access-date=12 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
! Density<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>)
! [[Place:List of national capitals|Capital]]
! [[Finance:List of countries by GDP (nominal)|Nominal<br />GDP]], {{abbr|bn|billions}} (2023)<ref name="IMFOCT2023" />
! GDP per capita (2023)<ref name="IMFOCT2023" />
! Currency
! Government
! Official<br />language(s)
|-
| {{Coat of arms|United Kingdom|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Akrotiri and Dhekelia|size=45px}}
| Akrotiri and Dhekelia
| style="text-align:right;"| 254
| style="text-align:right;"| 18,195
| style="text-align:right;"| 72
| Episkopi
| N/A
| N/A
| [[Finance:Euro|Euro]]
| ''De facto'' [[Social:Stratocracy|stratocratic]] dependency under a [[Social:Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchy]]
| [[Social:English language|English]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Bahrain|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Bahrain|size=45px}}
| Bahrain
| style="text-align:right;"| 780
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,581,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,027
| [[Place:Manama|Manama]]
| $44,994
| $28,464
| [[Finance:Bahraini dinar|Bahraini dinar]]
| [[Social:Absolute monarchy|Absolute monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Cyprus|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Cyprus|size=45px}}
| [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 9,250
| style="text-align:right;"| 921,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 100
| [[Place:Nicosia|Nicosia]]
| $32,032
| $34,790
| [[Finance:Euro|Euro]]
| [[Social:Presidential system|Presidential]] [[Social:Republic|republic]]
| [[Social:Greek language|Greek]],<br />[[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Egypt|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Egypt|size=45px}}
| [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,010,407
| style="text-align:right;"| 105,672,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 105
| [[Place:Cairo|Cairo]]
| $398,397
| $3,770
| Egyptian pound
| [[Social:Presidential system|Presidential]] [[Social:Republic|republic]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{flagicon|Iran|size=45px}}
| [[Religion:Iran|Iran]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,648,195
| style="text-align:right;"| 86,547,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 53
| [[Place:Tehran|Tehran]]
| $366,438
| $4,233
| [[Finance:Iranian rial|Iranian rial]]
| Islamic republic
| [[Social:Persian language|Persian]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Iraq|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Iraq|size=45px}}
| Iraq
| style="text-align:right;"| 438,317
| style="text-align:right;"| 43,345,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 99
| [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]]
| $254,993
| $5,882
| Iraqi dinar
| [[Social:Parliamentary republic|Parliamentary republic]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]],<br />[[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Israel|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Israel|size=45px}}
| [[Place:Israel|Israel]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 20,770
| style="text-align:right;"| 9,807,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 472
| [[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]]{{ref|israel|a}}
| $521,688
| $53,195
| [[Finance:Israeli new shekel|Israeli shekel]]
| [[Social:Parliamentary republic|Parliamentary republic]]
| [[Social:Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Jordan|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Jordan|size=45px}}
| Jordan
| style="text-align:right;"| 92,300
| style="text-align:right;"| 10,312,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 112
| [[Place:Amman|Amman]]
| $50,022
| $4,850
| [[Finance:Jordanian dinar|Jordanian dinar]]
| [[Social:Constitutional monarchy|Constitutional monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Kuwait|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Kuwait|size=45px}}
| Kuwait
| style="text-align:right;"| 17,820
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,957,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 278
| [[Place:Kuwait City|Kuwait City]]
| $159,687
| $32,215
| [[Finance:Kuwaiti dinar|Kuwaiti dinar]]
| [[Social:Constitutional monarchy|Constitutional monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| 
| {{flagicon|Lebanon|size=45px}}
| [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 10,452
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,633,000 (2022)
| style="text-align:right;"| 635
| [[Place:Beirut|Beirut]]
| $21,780 (2022)
| $3,283 (2022)
| [[Finance:Lebanese pound|Lebanese pound]]
| [[Social:Parliamentary republic|Parliamentary republic]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{flagicon|Oman|size=45px}}
| Oman
| style="text-align:right;"| 309,500
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,092,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 16
| [[Place:Muscat|Muscat]]
| $108,282
| $21,265
| [[Finance:Omani rial|Omani rial]]
| [[Social:Absolute monarchy|Absolute monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Palestine|size=30px|text=none|link=State of Palestine}}
| {{flagicon|Palestine|size=45px}}
| [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestine]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,220
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,479,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 881
| Ramallah{{ref|palestine|a}}
| $18,109 (2021)
| $3,464 (2021)
| [[Finance:Israeli new shekel|Israeli shekel]],<br />[[Finance:Jordanian dinar|Jordanian dinar]]
| [[Social:Semi-presidential system|Semi-presidential]] [[Social:Republic|republic]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{flagicon|Qatar|size=45px}}
| Qatar
| style="text-align:right;"| 11,437
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,873,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 251
| [[Place:Doha|Doha]]
| $235,500
| $81,968
| [[Finance:Qatari riyal|Qatari riyal]]
| [[Social:Absolute monarchy|Absolute monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{flagicon|Saudi Arabia|size=45px}}
| Saudi Arabia
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,149,690
| style="text-align:right;"| 32,819,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 15
| [[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]]
| $1,069,437
| $32,586
| [[Finance:Saudi riyal|Saudi riyal]]
| [[Social:Absolute monarchy|Absolute monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Syria|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Syria|size=45px}}
| [[Place:Syria|Syria]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 185,180
| style="text-align:right;"| 21,393,000 (2010)
| style="text-align:right;"| 116
| [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]]
| $60,043 (2010)
| $2,806 (2010)
| Syrian pound
| [[Social:Presidential system|Presidential]] [[Social:Republic|republic]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
|
| {{flagicon|Turkey|size=45px}}
| [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 783,562
| style="text-align:right;"| 86,268,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 110
| [[Place:Ankara|Ankara]]
| $1,154,600
| $13,383
| [[Finance:Turkish lira|Turkish lira]]
| [[Social:Presidential system|Presidential]] [[Social:Republic|republic]]
| [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|United Arab Emirates|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|United Arab Emirates|size=45px}}
| [[Place:United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 82,880
| style="text-align:right;"| 10,062,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 121
| [[Place:Abu Dhabi|Abu Dhabi]]
| $509,179
| $50,602
| Emirati dirham
| [[Social:Federation|Federal]] [[Social:Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchy]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|-
| {{Coat of arms|Yemen|size=30px|text=none}}
| {{flagicon|Yemen|size=45px}}
| Yemen
| style="text-align:right;"| 527,970
| style="text-align:right;"| 34,071,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 65
| [[Place:Sanaa|Sanaa]]{{ref|sanaa|b}}<br />[[Place:Aden|Aden]] <small>(provisional)</small>
| $21,045
| $617
| Yemeni rial
| Provisional [[Social:Presidential system|presidential]] [[Social:Republic|republic]]
| [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]
|}

:<small>a. {{note|israel}}{{note|palestine}}[[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] is the proclaimed capital of Israel, which is [[Place:Status of Jerusalem|disputed]], and the actual location of the Knesset, Israeli Supreme Court, and other governmental institutions of Israel. Ramallah is the actual location of the government of Palestine, whereas the proclaimed capital of Palestine is East Jerusalem, which is [[Place:Status of Jerusalem|disputed]].</small>
:<small>b. {{note|sanaa}}Controlled by the Houthis due to the [[Social:Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)|ongoing civil war]]. Seat of government moved to Aden.</small>

===Other definitions of the Middle East===
{{Further|Social:Greater Middle East|Finance:MENA|Place:Near East}}
{{Seealso|Fertile Crescent|Levant}}

Various concepts are often being paralleled to the Middle East, most notably the Near East, [[Place:Fertile Crescent|Fertile Crescent]], and [[Place:Levant|Levant]]. The Near East, Fertile Crescent, and Levant are geographical concepts, which refer to large sections of the modern-day Middle East, with the Near East being the closest to the Middle East in its geographical meaning. Due to it primarily being Arabic speaking, the [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]] region of North Africa is sometimes included.

The countries of the [[Place:South Caucasus|South Caucasus]]{{snd}}[[Place:Armenia|Armenia]], [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], and [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]]{{snd}}are occasionally included in definitions of the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gloria-center.org/meria/2000/12/novikova.pdf|title=Armenia and the Middle East|publisher=Middle East Review of International Affairs|date=December 2000|first=Gayane|last=Novikova|access-date=14 August 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821001515/http://www.gloria-center.org/meria/2000/12/novikova.pdf|archive-date=21 August 2014}}</ref>

"[[Social:Greater Middle East|Greater Middle East]]" is a [[Earth:Political geography|political]] term coined by the second Bush administration in the first decade of the 21st century,<ref name=haeri>{{Cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC04Ak06.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040407112015/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FC04Ak06.html|url-status=dead |archive-date=7 April 2004|access-date=21 August 2008|title=Concocting a 'Greater Middle East' brew|work=Asia Times|date=3 March 2004|first=Safa|last=Haeri}}</ref> to denote various countries, pertaining to the [[Religion:Muslim world|Muslim world]], specifically Afghanistan, [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], {{wipe|Pakistan}}, and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]].<ref>Ottaway, Marina & Carothers, Thomas (29 March 2004), [http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1480 The Greater Middle East Initiative: Off to a False Start] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312061428/http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1480 |date=12 March 2009 }}, Policy Brief, ''Carnegie Endowment for International Peace'', 29, pp. 1–7</ref> Various [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]]n countries are sometimes also included.<ref>[http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/me.htm Middle East] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415014006/http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/me.htm |date=15 April 2016 }} What Is The Middle East And What Countries Are Part of It? worldatlas.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.</ref>

==History==
{{Main|Place:History of the Middle East}}

[[File:Göbekli Tepe, Urfa.jpg|left|thumb|Some henges at Göbekli Tepe were erected as far back as 9600 BC, predating those of Stonehenge, England, by over seven millennia. The site of the oldest known religious structure created by humans.<ref name="ArchMag">{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html|title=The World's First Temple|work= Archaeology magazine |date=November–December 2008|page=23}}</ref>]]
[[File:Westernwall2.jpg|thumb|Western Wall and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem]]
[[File:Jerusalem-Grabeskirche-14-vom Erloeserkirchturm-2010-gje.jpg|thumb|Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem]]
[[File:Kaaba mirror edit jj.jpg|thumb|The [[Religion:Kaaba|Kaaba]], located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia]]

The Middle East lies at the juncture of [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] and [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]] and of the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]] and the [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Sea]]. It is the birthplace and [[Philosophy:Spirituality|spiritual]] center of religions such as [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]], [[Religion:Islam|Islam]], [[Religion:Judaism|Judaism]], [[Unsolved:Manichaeism|Manichaeism]], Yezidi, [[Philosophy:Druze|Druze]], Yarsan, and Mandeanism, and in Iran, Mithraism, [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]], Manicheanism, and the [[Social:Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí 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 region is one of the regions where agriculture was independently discovered, and from the Middle East it was spread, during the Neolithic, to different regions of the world such as Europe, the Indus Valley and Eastern Africa.

Prior to the formation of civilizations, advanced cultures formed all over the Middle East during the Stone Age. The search for agricultural lands by agriculturalists, and pastoral lands by herdsmen meant different migrations took place within the region and shaped its ethnic and demographic makeup.

The Middle East is widely and most famously known as the [[Social:Cradle of civilization|cradle of civilization]]. The world's earliest civilizations, [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] (Sumer, Akkad, [[Place:Assyria|Assyria]] and [[History:Babylonia|Babylonia]]), ancient Egypt and [[History:Kish civilization|Kish]] in the Levant, all originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East. These were followed by the [[History:Hittites|Hittite]], Greek, Hurrian and Urartian civilisations of [[Earth:Asia Minor|Asia Minor]]; [[Place:Elam|Elam]], [[History:History of Iran|Persia]] and Median civilizations in [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], as well as the civilizations of the Levant (such as [[History:Ebla|Ebla]], [[History:Mari, Syria|Mari]], Nagar, Ugarit, [[Place:Canaan|Canaan]], Aramea, Mitanni, [[History:Phoenicia|Phoenicia]] and Israel) and the [[Place:Arabian Peninsula|Arabian Peninsula]] (Magan, [[Religion:Sheba|Sheba]], Ubar). The Near East was first largely unified under the Neo Assyrian Empire, then the [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire]] followed later by the Macedonian Empire and after this to some degree by the [[History:History of Iran|Iranian empires]] (namely the Parthian and Sassanid Empires), the Roman Empire and [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]]. The region served as the intellectual and economic center of the Roman Empire and played an exceptionally important role due to its periphery on the Sassanid Empire. Thus, the [[History:Ancient Rome|Romans]] stationed up to five or six of their legions in the region for the sole purpose of defending it from Sassanid and Bedouin raids and invasions.

From the 4th century CE onwards, the Middle East became the center of the two main powers at the time, the [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]] and the Sassanid Empire. However, it would be the later [[Religion:Caliphate|Islamic Caliphates]] of the [[History:Middle Ages|Middle Ages]], or Islamic Golden Age which began with the Islamic conquest of the region in the 7th century AD, that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant [[Religion:Islam|Islam]]ic Arab ethnic identity that largely (but not exclusively) persists today. The 4 caliphates that dominated the Middle East for more than 600 years were the [[Place:Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun Caliphate]], the Umayyad caliphate, the Abbasid caliphate and the Fatimid caliphate. Additionally, the Mongols would come to dominate the region, the Kingdom of Armenia would incorporate parts of the region to their domain, the Seljuks would rule the region and spread Turko-Persian culture, and the [[History:Franks|Franks]] would found the [[Religion:Crusader states|Crusader states]] that would stand for roughly two centuries. Josiah Russell estimates the population of what he calls "Islamic territory" as roughly 12.5 million in 1000 – [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]] 8 million, [[Place:Syria (region)|Syria]] 2 million, and [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] 1.5 million.{{sfn|Russell|1985|p=298}}
From the 16th century onward, the Middle East came to be dominated, once again, by two main powers: the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]] and the Safavid dynasty.

The modern Middle East began after [[Social:World War I|World War I]], when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the Central Powers, was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nations, initially under British and French Mandates. Other defining events in this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers, notably {{wipe|United Kingdom}} and {{wipe|France}} by the end of the 1960s. They were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards.

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 [[Place:United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]] having large quantities of oil.<ref>Goldschmidt (1999), p. 8</ref> Estimated oil reserves, especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran, are some of the highest in the world, and the international oil cartel [[Organization:OPEC|OPEC]] is dominated by Middle Eastern countries.

During the Cold War, the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and their allies: NATO and the United States on one side, and the [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]] and [[Organization:Warsaw Pact|Warsaw Pact]] on the other, as they competed to influence regional allies. 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 [...]<ref>Louise, Fawcett. ''International Relations of the Middle East''. (Oxford University Press, New York, 2005)</ref> Within this contextual framework, the United States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the region has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict particularly between Sunnis and Shiites.

==Demographics==
{{Main|Place:Demographics of the Middle East}}

[[File:Maunsell's map, Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria and western Persia 01.jpg|thumb|Maunsell's map, a Pre-World War I British Ethnographical Map of the Middle East]]

===Ethnic groups===

Arabs constitute the largest ethnic group in the Middle East, followed by various Iranian peoples and then by Turkic peoples (Turkish, Azeris, Syrian Turkmen, and Iraqi Turkmen). Native ethnic groups of the region include, in addition to Arabs, Arameans, Assyrians, Baloch, Berbers, [[Religion:Copts|Copts]], [[Philosophy:Druze|Druze]], Greek Cypriots, [[Religion:Jews|Jews]], Kurds, Lurs, Mandaeans, Persians, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats, and Zazas. European ethnic groups that form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians (including Kabardians), Crimean Tatars, Greeks, Franco-Levantines, Italo-Levantines, and Iraqi Turkmens. Among other migrant populations are Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Pashtuns, Romani, and Afro-Arabs.

===Migration===
"Migration has always provided an important vent for labor market pressures in the Middle East. For the period between the 1970s and 1990s, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf in particular provided a rich source of employment for workers from Egypt, Yemen and the countries of the Levant, while Europe had attracted young workers from North African countries due both to proximity and the legacy of colonial ties between France and the majority of North African states."<ref name="Hassan and Dyer">{{cite journal|last1=Hassan|first1=Islam|last2=Dyer|first2=Paul|title=The State of Middle Eastern Youth.|journal=The Muslim World|date=2017|volume=107|issue=1|pages=3–12|url=https://www.academia.edu/31029084|hdl=10822/1042998|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403002800/http://www.academia.edu/31029084/The_Muslim_World_CIRS_Special_Issue_The_State_of_Middle_Eastern_Youth|archive-date=3 April 2017|doi=10.1111/muwo.12175}}</ref>

According to the International Organization for Migration, there are 13&nbsp;million first-generation migrants from Arab nations in the world, of which 5.8 reside in other Arab countries. Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to the circulation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development. In 2009 Arab countries received a total of US$35.1&nbsp;billion in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan, [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]] from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arab countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egypt.iom.int/Doc/IOM%20Intra%20regional%20labour%20mobility%20in%20Arab%20region%20Facts%20and%20Figures%20(English).pdf |title=IOM Intra regional labour mobility in Arab region Facts and Figures (English) |access-date=31 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430010601/http://www.egypt.iom.int/Doc/IOM%20Intra%20regional%20labour%20mobility%20in%20Arab%20region%20Facts%20and%20Figures%20%28English%29.pdf |archive-date=30 April 2011 }}</ref> In Somalia, the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many of the best educated Somalis left for Middle Eastern countries as well as [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] and [[Earth:North America|North America]].

Non-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], [[Place:Israel|Israel]] and [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] are also subject to important migration dynamics.

A fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs, Iranians or Turks.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} Large numbers of Kurds, Jews, Assyrians, Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey for these reasons during the last century. In Iran, many religious minorities such as [[Religion:Christians|Christians]], [[Social:Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]], [[Religion:Jews|Jews]] and Zoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity| first=Christoph |last=Baumer|year= 2016| isbn=  978-1838609344| page =276|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|quote= Although the Christians of Iran, unlike their Iraqi brothers, were not called up for military service in the Iran–Iraq War ... was so radical that a genuine exodus took place – more than half the 250,000 Christians left Iran after 1979.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Iranian Jews in Israel: Between Persian Cultural Identity and Israeli Nationalism| first=Alessandra |last=Cecolin|year= 2015| isbn= 978-0857727886| page =138|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|quote= }}</ref>

===Religions===

[[File:Mosque.jpg|thumb|Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East. Here, Muslim men are prostrating during prayer in a mosque.]]

The Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions, many of which originated there. [[Religion:Islam|Islam]] is the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths that originated there, such as [[Religion:Judaism|Judaism]] and [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East|first=Philip |last=Jenkins|year= 2020| isbn=978-1538124185| page =xlviii |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=The Middle East still stands at the heart of the Christian world. After all, it is the birthplace, and the death place, of Christ, and the cradle of the Christian tradition.}}</ref> are also well represented. Christian communities have played a vital role in the Middle East,<ref>{{cite book|title=Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East|first=Michael |last=Curtis|year= 2017| isbn=978-1351510721| page =173|publisher=Routledge|quote=Christian communities and individuals have played a vital role in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity as of other religions.}}</ref> and they represent 40.5% of Lebanon, where the Lebanese president, half of the cabinet, and half of the parliament follow one of the various Lebanese Christian rites. There are also important minority religions like the [[Social:Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí Faith]], [[Unsolved:Yarsanism|Yarsanism]], [[Unsolved:Yazidis|Yazidis]]m,<ref name="Fuccaro" >{{cite book |author1=Nelida Fuccaro |title=The Other Kurds: Yazidis in Colonial Iraq |date=1999 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |location=London & New York |isbn=1860641709 |page=9}}</ref> [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]], [[Unsolved:Mandaeism|Mandaeism]], [[Philosophy:Druze|Druze]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Middle East Patterns: Places, People, and Politics| first=Colbert|last=  C. Held|year= 2008| isbn= 978-0429962004| page =109|publisher=Routledge|quote= Worldwide, they number 1 million or so, with about 45 to 50 percent in Syria, 35 to 40 percent in Lebanon, and less than 10 percent in Israel. Recently there has been a growing Druze diaspora.}}</ref> and Shabakism, and in ancient times the region was home to [[Religion:Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian religions]], Canaanite religions, [[Unsolved:Manichaeism|Manichaeism]], Mithraism and various monotheist gnostic sects.

===Languages===
The six top languages, in terms of numbers of speakers, are Arabic, [[Social:Persian language|Persian]], [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]], Hebrew and Greek. Arabic and Hebrew represent the Afro-Asiatic [[Social:Language family|language family]]. Persian, Kurdish and Greek belong to the [[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family. Turkish belongs to [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] language family. About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the Middle East.

Arabic, with all its dialects, is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East, with [[Social:Modern Standard Arabic|Literary Arabic]] being official in all North African and in most West Asian countries. Arabic dialects are 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. Several Modern South Arabian languages such as Mehri and Soqotri are also spoken Yemen and Oman. Another Semitic language such as Aramaic and its dialects are spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandaeans. There is also an Oasis Berber-speaking community in Egypt where the language is also known as Siwa. It is a non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic language.

[[Social:Persian language|Persian]] is the second most spoken language. While it is primarily spoken in [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] and some border areas in neighbouring countries, the country is one of the region's largest and most populous. It belongs to the [[Social:Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian branch]] of the family of [[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European languages]]. Other Western Iranic languages spoken in the region include Achomi, [[Social:Daylami language|Daylami]], [[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] dialects, [[Social:Semnani language|Semmani]], Lurish, amongst many others.

The third-most widely spoken language, [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]], is largely confined to Turkey, which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries, but it is present in areas in neighboring countries. It is a member of the [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic languages]], which have their origins in East Asia. Another Turkic language, [[Social:Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], is spoken by Azerbaijanis in Iran.

Hebrew is one of the two official languages of [[Place:Israel|Israel]], the other being Arabic. Hebrew is spoken and used by over 80% of Israel's population, the other 20% using Arabic.

Greek is one of the two official languages of [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]], and the country's main language. Small communities of Greek speakers exist all around the Middle East; until the 20th century it was also widely spoken in Asia Minor (being the second most spoken language there, after Turkish) and Egypt. During the antiquity, [[Social:Ancient Greek|Ancient Greek]] was the lingua franca for many areas of the western Middle East and until the Muslim expansion it was widely spoken there as well. Until the late 11th century, it was also the main spoken language in [[Earth:Asia Minor|Asia Minor]]; after that it was gradually replaced by the Turkish language as the Anatolian Turks expanded and the local Greeks were assimilated, especially in the interior.

[[File:1911 Ottoman Calendar.jpg|thumb|upright|1911 Ottoman calendar shown in several different languages such as: Ottoman Turkish (in Arabic script), Greek, Armenian, Hebrew, Bulgarian, and French.]]

[[Social:English language|English]] is one of the official languages of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Europe :: Akrotiri – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/akrotiri/ |publisher=CIA |date=25 October 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Europe :: Dhekelia – The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/dhekelia/ |publisher=CIA |date=25 October 2021 }}</ref> It is also commonly taught and used as a second language, especially among the middle and upper classes, in countries such as [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], Jordan, [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], [[Place:Kurdistan|Kurdistan]], Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, [[Place:United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]] and Kuwait.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jordan/ |title= World Factbook – Jordan |date= 20 October 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kuwait/|title=Kuwait|date=19 October 2021|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref> It is also a main language in some Emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is also spoken as native language by Jewish immigrants from Anglophone countries (UK, US, Australia) in Israel and understood widely as second language there.

[[Social:French language|French]] is taught and used in many government facilities and media in [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]], and is taught in some primary and secondary schools of [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Place:Syria|Syria]]. [[Social:Maltese language|Maltese]], a Semitic language mainly spoken in Europe, is also used by the Franco-Maltese diaspora in Egypt. Also, due to widespread immigration of French Jews to Israel, it is the native language of approximately 200,000 Jews of Israel.

[[Social:Armenian language|Armenian]] speakers are also to be found in the region. [[Social:Georgian language|Georgian]] is spoken by the Georgian diaspora.

[[Social:Russian language|Russian]] is spoken by a large portion of the Israeli population, because of emigration in the late 1990s.{{sfn|Dowty|2004|p=95}} Russian today is a popular unofficial language in use in [[Place:Israel|Israel]]; news, radio and sign boards can be found in Russian around the country after Hebrew and Arabic. [[Social:Northwest Caucasian languages|Circassian]] is also spoken by the diaspora in the region and by almost all Circassians in Israel who speak Hebrew and English as well.

The largest [[Social:Romanian language|Romanian]]-speaking community in the Middle East is found in [[Place:Israel|Israel]], where {{as of|1995|lc=on}} Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population.<ref group="note">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).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 |title=Reports of about 300,000 Jews that left the country after WW2 |website=Eurojewcong.org |access-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100813205116/http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 |archive-date=13 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=185041 |title=Evenimentul Zilei |website=Evz.ro |access-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224113558/http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=185041 |archive-date=24 December 2007 }}</ref>

[[Social:Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Social:Hindi|Hindi]] and [[Social:Urdu|Urdu]] are widely spoken by migrant communities in many Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia (where 20–25% of the population is South Asian), the United Arab Emirates (where 50–55% of the population is South Asian), and Qatar, which have large numbers of {{wipe|Pakistan}}i, Bangladeshi and {{wipe|India}}n immigrants.

==Economy==
{{Main|Place:Economy of the Middle East|Finance:Middle East economic integration}}
{{Outdated section|date=December 2016}}

[[File:Oil and Gas Infrastructure Persian Gulf (large).gif|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Chemistry:Petroleum|Oil]] and gas pipelines in the Middle-East]]

Middle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations (such as Qatar and UAE). Overall, {{as of|2007|lc=on}}, according to the CIA World Factbook, all nations in the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growth.

According to the [[Organization:International Monetary Fund|International Monetary Fund]],<ref name=":5">{{cite web |author=International Monetary Fund |title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2023 |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/April |publisher=[[Organization:International Monetary Fund|International Monetary Fund]]}}</ref> the three largest Middle Eastern economies in nominal GDP in 2023 were Saudi Arabia ($1.062 trillion), Turkey ($1.029 trillion), and Israel ($539 billion). Regarding nominal GDP per capita, the highest ranking countries are Qatar ($83,891), Israel ($55,535), the United Arab Emirates ($49,451) and Cyprus ($33,807).<ref name=":5" /> Turkey ($3.573 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($2.301 trillion), and Iran ($1.692 trillion) had the largest economies in terms of GDP PPP.<ref name=":5" /> When it comes to GDP PPP per capita, the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($124,834), the United Arab Emirates ($88,221), Saudi Arabia ($64,836), Bahrain ($60,596) and Israel ($54,997). The lowest-ranking country in the Middle East, in terms of GDP nominal per capita, is Yemen ($573).<ref name=":5" />

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, in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certain regions of the Middle East. In recent years,{{when|date=February 2023}} however, countries such as the UAE, Bahrain, and Jordan have begun attracting greater numbers of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-related restrictive policies.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

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 Labour Organization, was 13.2%,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254026 |title=Unemployment Rates Are Highest in the Middle East |publisher=Progressive Policy Institute |date=30 August 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714042307/http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254026 |archive-date=14 July 2010 |access-date=31 July 2008 }}</ref> and among youth is as high as 25%,<ref>{{cite web |author1=Navtej Dhillon |author2=Tarek Yousef |url=http://shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/623/1 |title=Inclusion: Meeting the 100 Million Youth Challenge |publisher=Shabab Inclusion |year=2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109191428/http://www.shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/623/1 |archive-date=9 November 2008 }}</ref> up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in [[Place:Syria|Syria]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/558/1 |author=Hilary Silver |title=Social Exclusion: Comparative Analysis of Europe and Middle East Youth |work=[[Organization:Middle East Youth Initiative|Middle East Youth Initiative]] Working Paper |date=12 December 2007 |publisher=Shabab Inclusion |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820065906/http://www.shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/558/1 |archive-date=20 August 2008 |access-date=31 July 2008 }}</ref>

== Climate change ==
{{Excerpt|Climate change in the Middle East and North Africa}}

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Abu dhabi skylines 2014.jpg|[[Place:Abu Dhabi|Abu Dhabi]] – United Arab Emirates
File:View of Abdali.jpeg|[[Place:Amman|Amman]] – Jordan
File:YDA-Center-03.jpg|[[Place:Ankara|Ankara]] – Turkey
File:5628442718 b10fc2c47f o.jpg|[[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]], Iraq
File:Beirut Corniche from University Tower.jpg|[[Place:Beirut|Beirut]] – Lebanon
File:Flickr - archer10 (Dennis) - Egypt-2A-007.jpg|[[Place:Cairo|Cairo]] – Egypt
File:Damascus from Qasiyon.JPG|[[Place:Damascus|Damascus]] – Syria
File:Doha skyline in the morning (12544910974).jpg|[[Place:Doha|Doha]] – Qatar
File:Dubai skyline 2015 (crop).jpg|Dubai – United Arab Emirates
File:Levent, Istanbul at night.jpg|Istanbul – Turkey
File:Jerusalem Dome of the rock BW 14.JPG|[[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] – Israel
File:Murthadha.80.jpg|[[Place:Kuwait City|Kuwait City]] – Kuwait
File:Manama, Bahrain Decembre 2014.jpg|[[Place:Manama|Manama]] – Bahrain
File:The gate to Muscat (8727196402).jpg|Muscat – Oman
File:Nicosia skyline July 2018.jpg|[[Place:Nicosia|Nicosia]] – Cyprus
File:Ramallahskyline.jpg|Ramallah – Palestine
File:Riyadh_Skyline.jpg|[[Place:Riyadh|Riyadh]] – Saudi Arabia
File:Sanaa HDR (16482367935).jpg|[[Place:Sana'a|Sana'a]] – Yemen
File:North of Tehran Skyline view.jpg|[[Place:Tehran|Tehran]] – Iran
File:Panorama of Tel Aviv.jpg|[[Place:Tel Aviv|Tel Aviv]] – Israel
</gallery>

{{multiple image
| align     = center
| direction = horizontal
| image1    = Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East.ogv
| width1    = 270
| alt1      =
| caption1  = This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the [[Astronomy:International Space Station|International Space Station]].
| image2    = Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East.ogv
| width2    = 270
| alt2      =
| caption2  = This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station.
| image3    = Views of the Mideast at Night.ogv
| width3    = 270
| alt3      =
| caption3  = A pass beginning over Turkmenistan, east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern {{wipe|China}}, just north-west of [[Place:Hong Kong|Hong Kong]].
}}

==See also==
 <!-- alphabetical order please WP:SEEALSO -->
<!-- please add a short description WP:SEEALSO, via {{subst:AnnotatedListOfLinks}} or {{Annotated link}} -->
{{div col|colwidth=30em|small=yes}}
* {{Annotated link |Cinema of the Middle East}}
* {{Annotated link |Etiquette in the Middle East}}
* {{Annotated link |MENA}}
* {{Annotated link |Mental health in the Middle East}}
* {{Annotated link |Middle East Studies Association of North America}}
* {{Annotated link |Middle Eastern cuisine}}
* {{Annotated link |Middle Eastern music}}
* {{Annotated link |Orientalism}}
* {{Annotated link |Russia and the Middle East}}
* {{Section link|State feminism|Middle East}}
* {{Annotated link |Timeline of Middle Eastern history}}
{{div col end}}
<!-- alphabetical order please WP:SEEALSO -->

==Notes==
{{reflist |group="note"}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | last = Adelson | first = Roger | title = London and the Invention of the Middle East: Money, Power, and War, 1902–1922. | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-300-06094-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/londoninventiono00adel }}
* {{cite book | last1 =Anderson | first1 = R | last2 = Seibert | first2 = R | last3 = Wagner | first3 = J. | title = Politics and Change in the Middle East |edition = 8th | publisher = Prentice-Hall |year= 2006}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Barzilai | first1 = Gad| first2 = Klieman | last2 = Aharon | first3 = Shidlo | last3 = Gil | title = The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath | publisher = Routledge | year = 1993 | isbn = 978-0-415-08002-6 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/gulfcrisisitsglo0000unse }}
* {{cite book | last = Barzilai | first = Gad | title = Wars, Internal Conflicts and Political Order|publisher= State University of New York Press |year=1996 |isbn = 978-0-7914-2943-3}}
* {{cite book | last1 =Beaumont | first1 = Peter | first2 = Gerald H | last2 = Blake | first3 = J. Malcolm | last3 = Wagstaff |title=The Middle East: A Geographical Study |publisher=David Fulton |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-470-21040-6 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bishku |first1=Michael B. |title=Is the South Caucasus Region a Part of the Middle East? |journal=Journal of Third World Studies |date=2015 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=83–102|jstor=45178576 }}
* Cleveland, William L., and Martin Bunton. ''A History Of The Modern Middle East'' (6th ed. 2018 [https://archive.org/details/WilliamLClevelandMartinBuntonAHistoryOfTheModernMiddleEastFourthEdition/page/n3/mode/2up 4th ed. online]
* Cressey, George B. (1960). ''Crossroads: Land and Life in Southwest Asia''. Chicago, IL: J.B. Lippincott Co. xiv, 593 pp. ill. with maps and b&w photos.
* Fischbach, ed. Michael R. ''Biographical encyclopedia of the modern Middle East and North Africa'' (Gale Group, 2008).
* Freedman, Robert O. (1991). ''The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada'', in series, ''Contemporary Issues in the Middle East''. 1st ed. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. x, 441 pp. {{ISBN|0-8156-2502-2}} pbk.
* {{cite book |title=A Concise History of the Middle East | last =Goldschmidt | first = Arthur Jr |publisher=Westview Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8133-0471-7}}
* Halpern, Manfred. ''Politics of Social Change: In the Middle East and North Africa'' (Princeton University Press, 2015).
* Ismael, Jacqueline S., Tareq Y. Ismael, and Glenn Perry. ''Government and politics of the contemporary Middle East: Continuity and change'' (Routledge, 2015).
* Lynch, Marc, ed. ''The Arab Uprisings Explained: New Contentious Politics in the Middle East'' (Columbia University Press, 2014). p. 352.
* {{cite book|last= Palmer|first= Michael A.|title= Guardians of the Persian Gulf: A History of America's Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf, 1833–1992|location= New York|publisher= The Free Press|date= 1992|isbn= 978-0-02-923843-1|url= https://archive.org/details/guardiansofgulfh00palm}}
* Reich, Bernard. ''Political leaders of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa: a biographical dictionary'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990).
* Vasiliev, Alexey. ''Russia's Middle East Policy: From Lenin to Putin'' (Routledge, 2018).
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.cfr.org/region/397/middle_east.html "Middle East – Articles by Region"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209155728/http://www.cfr.org/region/397/middle_east.html |date=9 February 2014 }} – [[Organization:Council on Foreign Relations|Council on Foreign Relations]]: "A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysis"
* [http://www.cfr.org/publication/13850/?cid=080416a "Middle East – Interactive Crisis Guide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130145259/http://www.cfr.org/publication/13850/?cid=080416a |date=30 November 2009 }} – [[Organization:Council on Foreign Relations|Council on Foreign Relations]]: "A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysis"
* [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/mideast/ Middle East Department] [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]] Library
* ''[http://www.meed.com/ Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957]'': "The leading information source on business in the Middle East" – meed.com
* [http://www.carboun.com/ Carboun] – advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in the Middle East
* {{curlie|Regional/Middle_East/}}
* [https://news.yahoo.com/i/736 Middle East News] from Yahoo! News
* [http://www.arabianbusiness.com/ Middle East Business, Financial & Industry News] – ''ArabianBusiness.com''



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[[Category:Middle East|*]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]

{{Sourceattribution|Middle East}}