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

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

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

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

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Cinamon99 (Cinamon Sung) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:14:23 -0000
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tourism_travels (Travelling around) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:12:59 -0000
ad: For really cheap flights from London to Middle East & Africa you must check out this site http://is.gd/4Nktt
RT @reclaimedspace Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Toll rises in Israeli siege on Gaza: #gaza #zionism #humanrights http://bit.ly/qZpvK
from_gaza (Ibrahim Saeed) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:12:55 -0000
RT @reclaimedspace Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Toll rises in Israeli siege on Gaza: #gaza #zionism #humanrights http://bit.ly/qZpvK
@maxws2 Then it is truly a great place, save the rampant sexism, racism etc. It's kinda like the Pinellas Park of the middle east.
Elscooby (Kevin Reid) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:09:03 -0000
@maxws2 Then it is truly a great place, save the rampant sexism, racism etc. It's kinda like the Pinellas Park of the middle east.
Aloft Debuts In Middle East http://ping.fm/YdPcB
gcapital (gcapital) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:07:15 -0000
Aloft Debuts In Middle East http://ping.fm/YdPcB
Shipper Fabre here - 17 boxes of holiday love headed to the middle east from Massachusetts!! That's about 5100... http://bit.ly/1Jf3Tj
opwritehome (Sandy Allnock) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:06:57 -0000
Shipper Fabre here - 17 boxes of holiday love headed to the middle east from Massachusetts!! That's about 5100... http://bit.ly/1Jf3Tj

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