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.

Characteristics

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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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RT @Pharaonick: Worth sharing again: interactive map of middle east, condensing 000's years history into 90 secs http://bit.ly/2gpxKs
lesabra (Daniela) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:11:00 -0000
RT @Pharaonick: Worth sharing again: interactive map of middle east, condensing 000's years history into 90 secs http://bit.ly/2gpxKs
Passing cap-and-trade will increase our dependence on China and the Middle East (via @DonBlankenship)
DarrellBrockJr (Darrell Brock, Jr) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:09:56 -0000
Passing cap-and-trade will increase our dependence on China and the Middle East (via @DonBlankenship)
@pchianca Middle East Texas
KatPowers (KatPowers) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:06:59 -0000
@pchianca Middle East Texas
going to the middle east for sure in may 2010!!!
pajdawblis (Pader Lee) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:06:47 -0000
going to the middle east for sure in may 2010!!!
These Sabra hummus flavors are getting out of control. Chipotle? Where in the Middle East are they eating that?
pchianca (Peter Chianca) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:06:17 -0000
These Sabra hummus flavors are getting out of control. Chipotle? Where in the Middle East are they eating that?
Latin America, Balkans, Middle East sections done!
JustinVela (Justin Vela) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:05:04 -0000
Latin America, Balkans, Middle East sections done!

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