Middle East

As a geopolitical region, the Middle East is commonly understood to include Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (the Asian part of Turkey, excluding the Hatay Province), East Thrace (the European part of Turkey), Egypt, Iran, the Levant (including Ash-Shm and Cyprus), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and the Socotra Archipelago. The Middle East is also known as the Greater Middle East (a part of Yemen). Beginning in the early 20th century, the word became widely used as a substitute for the term Near East (as opposed to the term Far East), which had previously been in common use. Some people believe that the phrase "Middle East" is discriminatory and that it places too much emphasis on European culture. This misunderstanding has been caused by the word's constantly shifting meanings. The area encompasses the great majority of the regions that are included in the closely connected concept of Western Asia (which includes Iran), but excludes the South Caucasus. Furthermore, it encompasses the whole of Egypt (not simply the Sinai Region) as well as the entirety of Turkey (not just the part barring East Thrace).

The majority of nations in the Middle East (13 out of 18) are considered to be part of the Arab world. Egypt, Iran, and Turkey are the nations in the region with the highest total population, while Saudi Arabia is the Middle Eastern country that covers the greatest land. The history of the Middle East extends back to ancient times, and the geopolitical significance of the area has been acknowledged for millennia. The region is known as the "Cradle of Civilization." There are a number of significant faiths that may trace their roots back to the Middle East, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Arabs make up the most populous socioethnic grouping in the area, followed by Turks, Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Copts, Jews, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen, Yazidis, and Greek Cypriots. Other peoples who live in the region include Assyrians, Copts, Jews, and Assyrians.

The climate in the Middle East is characterised by extreme heat and dryness, particularly in the areas of the Peninsula and Egypt. There are a number of significant rivers in this region that provide irrigation for farming in certain regions, such as the Nile Delta in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates basins of Mesopotamia, and the majority of the area that is referred to as the Fertile Crescent. On the other hand, the Levantine coast and the majority of Turkey have climates that are more moderate, oceanic, and wetter. The majority of the nations that border the Persian Gulf have enormous petroleum reserves, and the monarchs of the Arabian Peninsula, in particular, gain economically from the export of petroleum products. The Middle East is a territory that is both a significant contributor to climate change and a location that is projected to be severely adversely affected by it. This is due to the region's desert environment as well as its high dependence on the fossil fuel sector.

Other definitions of the region exist, such as the broader term "the Middle East and North Africa" (MENA), which includes states in the Maghreb and the Sudan, or the "Greater Middle East," which additionally also includes parts of East Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sometimes Central Asia and the South Caucasus.