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term traditionally applied by western Europeans to the countries of SW Asia and NE Africa lying W of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Thus defined it includes Cyprus, the Asian part of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, the countries of the Arabian peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait), and Egypt and Libya. The area was viewed as midway between Europe and East Asia (traditionally called the Far East ). The term is sometimes used in a cultural sense to mean the group of lands in that part of the world predominantly Islamic in culture, thus including the remaining states of N Africa as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the 20th cent. the Middle East has been the scene of political turmoil and major warfare, including World War I, World War II, the Arab-Israeli Wars , the Iran-Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War .
So basically yes, mostly Asia and a bit of Africa.
:-)
Western Asia is called "Europe"
So the US would be a colony of Western Asia? ;)
So it is basically the region from Suez canal to turkey and then from Mediterranean sea to the Persian Gulf.
Egypt is not from middle east but it is from North Africa.
Egypt is not from middle east but it is from North Africa.
Have to disagree there. Encyclopedia.com (quoted above) says it is Middle East and Encyclopedia Britannica even extends Middle East to Morocco.
Even the Middle East Media Research Institute [memri.org] counts Egypt, and the Middle East Times' [metimes.com] description tag reads 'News from Egypt and the region.
The National Geographic Society regards "Mideast" as "an unofficial and imprecise term that now generally encompasses the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, notably Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as Iran, Iraq, and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was formerly used by Western geographers and historians to describe the region from the Persian Gulf to S.East Asia."
Really, it's however you want to define it. What is North America? Well it could be the land mass that extends from the north pole to the isthmus of Panama, or it could mean the members of NAFTA, or it could mean only Anglo-America (i.e. Canada and the U.S., begging the pardon of Quebec). Similarly, English speakers-- Brits more than Americans, I find-- use "America" synonymously with the United States, whereas non-native speakers have been accustomed to using that name for the whole of the New World and consider the other usage a bit of pretension.
:D
some encyclopedias
Yeah, some pretty unknown encyclopedias, like britannica, I mean who cares about what the most widely known and respected encyclopedia says :).
And by the way, Webster says the same thing. And I still believe the Middle East Times should know what region they talk about in their paper...
I won't say that Egypt is not part of Northern Africa, as it obviously is, but it is ALSO part of the Middle East.
Think about the varying and changing definitions of "Europe"-- I know of Azeris and Armenians who complain that since they are west of the Urals, their countries ought to be considered European. Many Poles, traditionally part of the core of Eastern Europe, view themselves as members of Western Europe who have simply had some unfortunate history. Whatever happened to Mitteleuropa, one might ask?
And for the record, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia covers Egypt, which is obviously in Africa.
Don't get hung up on it. Pick one definition and stick with it.
