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Middle East 1
Middle East
Middle East
Map of the Middle east (Green color)Countries 18ndash38 (varying definitions)
Languages Middle East Arabic Aramaic Azerbaijani French Greek Hebrew Kurdish Persian Somali TurkishGreater Middle East Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Balochi Berber Dari French Greek Georgian Hebrew Kurdish PashtoPersian Somali Tigrinya Turkish Urdu
Time Zones UTC +330 (Iran) to UTC +200 (Egypt) (traditional definition)
Largest Cities In rank order Istanbul Cairo Tehran Baghdad Riyadh Jeddah Ankara
The Middle East[1] is a region that roughly encompasses Western Asia The term is considered to be Eurocentricand used as a synonym for Near East in opposition to Far East The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern andthe derived noun is Middle-Easterner The largest ethnic group in the middle east are Arabs[2] with TurksTurkomans Persians Kurds Azeris Copts Jews Maronites Assyro-Chaldeans Circassians Armenians Druze andnumerous other ethnic groups forming other significant populationsThe history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times and throughout its history the Middle East has been amajor center of world affairs When discussing ancient history however the term Near East is more commonly usedThe Middle East is also the historical origin of major religions such as Judaism Christianity and Islam as well as theless common Bahai faith Mandaeism Druze faith and others The Middle East generally has an arid and hotclimate with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas especially inMesopotamia and the rest of the Fertile Crescent Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have largequantities of crude oil which has resulted in much wealth particularly for nations in the Arabian peninsula Inmodern times the Middle East remains a strategically economically politically culturally and religiously sensitiveregionWikipediaPlease clarify
EtymologyThe term Middle East may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office[3] However it became morewidely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902[4] to designate the areabetween Arabia and India[5][6] During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence inCentral Asia a rivalry which would become known as The Great Game Mahan realized not only the strategicimportance of the region but also of its center the Persian Gulf[7][8] He labeled the area surrounding the PersianGulf as the Middle East and said that after the Suez Canal it was the most important passage for Britain to controlin order to keep the Russians from advancing towards British India[9] Mahan first used the term in his article ThePersian Gulf and International Relations published in September 1902 in the National Review a British journal
Middle East 2
The Middle East if I may adopt a term which I have not seen will some day need its Malta as well asits Gibraltar it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf Naval force has the quality ofmobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences but it needs to find on every scene ofoperation established bases of refit of supply and in case of disaster of security The British Navyshould have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise about Aden India and the PersianGulf[10]
Mahans article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled The MiddleEastern Question written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol During this series Sir Ignatius expanded the definitionof Middle East to include those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches toIndia[11] After the series ended in 1903 The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term[12]
Until World War II it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of theMediterranean as the Near East while the Far East centered on China[] and the Middle East then meant the areafrom Mesopotamia to Burma namely the area between the Near East and the Far East[citation needed] In the late1930s the British established the Middle East Command which was based in Cairo for its military forces in theregion After that time the term Middle East gained broader usage in Europe and the United States with theMiddle East Institute founded in Washington DC in 1946 among other usage[13]
Criticism and usage
1957 American film about the Middle East
ManyWikipediaAvoid weasel words have criticized the term MiddleEast because of its implicit Eurocentrism[14][15] In contemporaryEnglish-language academic and media venues the term is used by bothEuropeans and non-Europeans
The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changingdefinitions Before the First World War Near East was used inEnglish to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire while MiddleEast referred to Iran Afghanistan and Central Asia and theCaucasus In contrast Far East referred to the countries of East Asia(eg China Japan Formosa Korea Hong Kong etc)
With the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 Near East largely fell out of common use in Englishwhile Middle East came to be applied to the re-emerging countries of the Islamic world However the usage ofNear East was retained by a variety of academic disciplines including archaeology and ancient history where itdescribes an area identical to the term Middle East which is not used by these disciplines (see Ancient Near East)The first official use of the term Middle East by the United States government was in the 1957 EisenhowerDoctrine which pertained to the Suez Crisis Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as thearea lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east Syria and Iraq on the North and theArabian peninsula to the south plus the Sudan and Ethiopia[] In 1958 the State Department explained that theterms Near East and Middle East were interchangeable and defined the region as including only Egypt SyriaIsrael Lebanon Jordan Iraq Saudi Arabia Kuwait Bahrain and Qatar[16]
The Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle Eastreferred to the eastern ones but that now they are synonymous It instructs
Use Middle East unless Near East is used by a source in a story Mideast is also acceptable but MiddleEast is preferred[17]
At the United Nations the numerous documents and resolutions about the Middle East are in fact concerned with the ArabndashIsraeli conflict in particular the IsraelindashPalestinian conflict and therefore with the four states of the Levant
Middle East 3
The term Near East is occasionally heard at the UN when referring to this region[citation needed]
TranslationsThere are terms similar to Near East and Middle East in other European languages but since it is a relativedescription the meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms generally In German theterm Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term Mittlerer Osten is more and more commonin press texts translated from English sources albeit having a distinct meaning) and in Russian Ближний Восток orBlizhniy Vostok Bulgarian Близкия Изток Polish Bliski Wschoacuted or Croatian Bliski istok (meaning Near East in allthe four Slavic languages) remains as the only appropriate term for the region However some languages do haveMiddle East equivalents such as the French Moyen-Orient Swedish Mellanoumlstern Spanish Oriente Medio orMedio Oriente and the Italian Medio Oriente[18]
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 comprehending the same meaningas the term Middle East in North American and Western European usage The designation Mashriq also from theArabic root for east also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant the eastern part of theArabic-speaking world (as opposed to the Maghreb the western part)[19] The Persian equivalent for Middle East is(Khāvar-e miyāneh) خاورمیانه
Territories and regions
Traditional definition of the Middle Eastbull Bahrainbull Egyptbull Iranbull Iraqbull Iraqi Kurdistan (autonomy within Iraq)bull Israelbull Jordanbull Kuwaitbull Lebanonbull Omanbull State of Palestine (non-member state)bull Qatarbull Saudi Arabiabull Syriabull Turkey[20]
bull United Arab Emiratesbull Yemen
Middle East 4
Greater Middle Eastbull Afghanistan1
bull Algeriabull Armeniabull Azerbaijanbull Comorosbull Djiboutibull Georgiabull Kazakhstanbull Kyrgyzstanbull Libyabull Mauritaniabull Morocco2
bull Pakistanbull Somaliabull Sudanbull Tajikistanbull Tunisiabull Turkmenistanbull Uzbekistanbull Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (limited recognition)Notes1 Afghanistan is often considered Central Asian[21][22]
2Internationally recognized territory of Morocco[23]
History
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of theMediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean It is the birthplace and spiritual centerof religions such as Christianity Islam Judaism Manichaeism Yezidi DruzeYarsan and Mandeanism and in Iran Mithraism Zoroastrianism Manicheanismand the Bahaacuteiacute Faith Throughout its history the Middle East has been a majorcenter of world affairs a strategically economically politically culturally andreligiously sensitive area
The worlds earliest civilizations Mesopotamia (Sumer Akkad Assyria andBabylonia) and ancient Egypt originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valleyregions of the ancient Near East These were followed by the Hittite Greek andUrartian civilisations of Asia Minor Elam in pre-Iranian Persia as well as thecivilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla Ugarit Canaan Aramea Phoenicia andIsrael) Persian and Median civilizations in Iran North Africa(CarthagePhoenicia) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan Sheba Ubar) The Near East was first largely unified underthe Neo Assyrian Empire then the
Middle East 5
The Kaaba located in Mecca
Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire andafter this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthianand Sassanid Empires) the Roman Empire and Byzantine EmpireHowever it would be the later Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages orIslamic Golden Age which began with the Arab conquest of the regionin the 7th century AD that would first unify the entire Middle East as adistinct region and create the dominant Islamic ethnic identity thatlargely (but not exclusively) persists today The Mongols the TurkishSeljuk and Ottoman empires the Safavids and the British Empirewould also later dominate the region
The modern Middle East began after World War I when the Ottoman Empire which was allied with the CentralPowers was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nationsinitially under British and French Mandates Other defining events in this transformation included the establishmentof Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960sThey were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards
In the 20th century the regions significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance Massproduction of oil began around 1945 with Saudi Arabia Iran Kuwait Iraq and the United Arab Emirates havinglarge quantities of oil[24] Estimated oil reserves especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran are some of the highest in theworld and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countriesDuring the Cold War the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and theirallies NATO and the United States on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other as theycompeted to influence regional allies Of course besides the political reasons there was also the ideologicalconflict between the two systems Moreover as Louise Fawcett argues among many important areas of contentionor perhaps more accurately of anxiety were first the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in theregion second the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the worlds oil reserves in a context where oilwas becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [][25] Within this contextual framework theUnited States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries theregion has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war
Demographics
Ethnic groups
Various ethnic and religious types present in the Middle East 19thcentury
The Middle East is today home to numerous longestablished ethnic groups including Arabs TurksPersians JewsIsraelis Kurds Somalis Assyrians(Chaldo-Assyrians) Arameans-Syriacs EgyptianCopts Armenians Azeris Maltese CircassiansGreeks Turcomans Shabaks Yazidis MandeansGeorgians Roma Gagauz Mhallami and Samaritans
Middle East 6
MigrationAccording to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arabnations in the world of which 58 reside in other Arab countries Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development In 2009Arab countries received a total of 351 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt andLebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arabcountries[26] In Somalia the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora as many of thebest educated Somalis left for Europe North America and other Middle Eastern countriesNon-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migrationdynamicsA fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and orreligious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks[citation needed] Large numbers of KurdsJews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria andTurkey for these reasons during the last century In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Bahais andZoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979[citation needed]
ReligionsThe Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there Islam in its many formsis by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths that originated there such as Judaism andChristianity are also well represented There are also important minority religions like the Bahaacuteiacute Faith YazdacircnismZoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism and in ancient times the region was home toMesopotamian Religion Canaanite Religion Manicheanism Mithraism and various Monotheist Gnostic sects
LanguagesThe five top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian Turkish Berber and Kurdish Arabicand Berber represent the Afro-Asiatic language family Persian and Kurdish belong to the Indo-European languagefamily And Turkish belongs to Turkic language family About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the MiddleEastArabic (with all its dialects) is the most widely spoken andor written language in the Middle East being official inall North African and in most West Asian countries It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring MiddleEastern non-Arab countries It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languagesPersian is the second most spoken language While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neighbouringcountries the country is one of the regions largest and most populous It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of thefamily of Indo-European languagesThe third-most widely spoken language Turkish is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the regionslargest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries It is a member of the Turkiclanguages which have their origins in Central AsiaOther languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaicdialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Somali Berberwhich is spoken across North Africa Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (suchas Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as GeezMaltese is also linguistically and geographically a Middle Eastern languageEnglish is commonly taught and used as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes incountries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait[27][28] It is alsoa main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) 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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 2
The Middle East if I may adopt a term which I have not seen will some day need its Malta as well asits Gibraltar it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf Naval force has the quality ofmobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences but it needs to find on every scene ofoperation established bases of refit of supply and in case of disaster of security The British Navyshould have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise about Aden India and the PersianGulf[10]
Mahans article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled The MiddleEastern Question written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol During this series Sir Ignatius expanded the definitionof Middle East to include those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches toIndia[11] After the series ended in 1903 The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term[12]
Until World War II it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of theMediterranean as the Near East while the Far East centered on China[] and the Middle East then meant the areafrom Mesopotamia to Burma namely the area between the Near East and the Far East[citation needed] In the late1930s the British established the Middle East Command which was based in Cairo for its military forces in theregion After that time the term Middle East gained broader usage in Europe and the United States with theMiddle East Institute founded in Washington DC in 1946 among other usage[13]
Criticism and usage
1957 American film about the Middle East
ManyWikipediaAvoid weasel words have criticized the term MiddleEast because of its implicit Eurocentrism[14][15] In contemporaryEnglish-language academic and media venues the term is used by bothEuropeans and non-Europeans
The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changingdefinitions Before the First World War Near East was used inEnglish to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire while MiddleEast referred to Iran Afghanistan and Central Asia and theCaucasus In contrast Far East referred to the countries of East Asia(eg China Japan Formosa Korea Hong Kong etc)
With the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 Near East largely fell out of common use in Englishwhile Middle East came to be applied to the re-emerging countries of the Islamic world However the usage ofNear East was retained by a variety of academic disciplines including archaeology and ancient history where itdescribes an area identical to the term Middle East which is not used by these disciplines (see Ancient Near East)The first official use of the term Middle East by the United States government was in the 1957 EisenhowerDoctrine which pertained to the Suez Crisis Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as thearea lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east Syria and Iraq on the North and theArabian peninsula to the south plus the Sudan and Ethiopia[] In 1958 the State Department explained that theterms Near East and Middle East were interchangeable and defined the region as including only Egypt SyriaIsrael Lebanon Jordan Iraq Saudi Arabia Kuwait Bahrain and Qatar[16]
The Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle Eastreferred to the eastern ones but that now they are synonymous It instructs
Use Middle East unless Near East is used by a source in a story Mideast is also acceptable but MiddleEast is preferred[17]
At the United Nations the numerous documents and resolutions about the Middle East are in fact concerned with the ArabndashIsraeli conflict in particular the IsraelindashPalestinian conflict and therefore with the four states of the Levant
Middle East 3
The term Near East is occasionally heard at the UN when referring to this region[citation needed]
TranslationsThere are terms similar to Near East and Middle East in other European languages but since it is a relativedescription the meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms generally In German theterm Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term Mittlerer Osten is more and more commonin press texts translated from English sources albeit having a distinct meaning) and in Russian Ближний Восток orBlizhniy Vostok Bulgarian Близкия Изток Polish Bliski Wschoacuted or Croatian Bliski istok (meaning Near East in allthe four Slavic languages) remains as the only appropriate term for the region However some languages do haveMiddle East equivalents such as the French Moyen-Orient Swedish Mellanoumlstern Spanish Oriente Medio orMedio Oriente and the Italian Medio Oriente[18]
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 comprehending the same meaningas the term Middle East in North American and Western European usage The designation Mashriq also from theArabic root for east also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant the eastern part of theArabic-speaking world (as opposed to the Maghreb the western part)[19] The Persian equivalent for Middle East is(Khāvar-e miyāneh) خاورمیانه
Territories and regions
Traditional definition of the Middle Eastbull Bahrainbull Egyptbull Iranbull Iraqbull Iraqi Kurdistan (autonomy within Iraq)bull Israelbull Jordanbull Kuwaitbull Lebanonbull Omanbull State of Palestine (non-member state)bull Qatarbull Saudi Arabiabull Syriabull Turkey[20]
bull United Arab Emiratesbull Yemen
Middle East 4
Greater Middle Eastbull Afghanistan1
bull Algeriabull Armeniabull Azerbaijanbull Comorosbull Djiboutibull Georgiabull Kazakhstanbull Kyrgyzstanbull Libyabull Mauritaniabull Morocco2
bull Pakistanbull Somaliabull Sudanbull Tajikistanbull Tunisiabull Turkmenistanbull Uzbekistanbull Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (limited recognition)Notes1 Afghanistan is often considered Central Asian[21][22]
2Internationally recognized territory of Morocco[23]
History
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of theMediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean It is the birthplace and spiritual centerof religions such as Christianity Islam Judaism Manichaeism Yezidi DruzeYarsan and Mandeanism and in Iran Mithraism Zoroastrianism Manicheanismand the Bahaacuteiacute Faith Throughout its history the Middle East has been a majorcenter of world affairs a strategically economically politically culturally andreligiously sensitive area
The worlds earliest civilizations Mesopotamia (Sumer Akkad Assyria andBabylonia) and ancient Egypt originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valleyregions of the ancient Near East These were followed by the Hittite Greek andUrartian civilisations of Asia Minor Elam in pre-Iranian Persia as well as thecivilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla Ugarit Canaan Aramea Phoenicia andIsrael) Persian and Median civilizations in Iran North Africa(CarthagePhoenicia) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan Sheba Ubar) The Near East was first largely unified underthe Neo Assyrian Empire then the
Middle East 5
The Kaaba located in Mecca
Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire andafter this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthianand Sassanid Empires) the Roman Empire and Byzantine EmpireHowever it would be the later Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages orIslamic Golden Age which began with the Arab conquest of the regionin the 7th century AD that would first unify the entire Middle East as adistinct region and create the dominant Islamic ethnic identity thatlargely (but not exclusively) persists today The Mongols the TurkishSeljuk and Ottoman empires the Safavids and the British Empirewould also later dominate the region
The modern Middle East began after World War I when the Ottoman Empire which was allied with the CentralPowers was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nationsinitially under British and French Mandates Other defining events in this transformation included the establishmentof Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960sThey were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards
In the 20th century the regions significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance Massproduction of oil began around 1945 with Saudi Arabia Iran Kuwait Iraq and the United Arab Emirates havinglarge quantities of oil[24] Estimated oil reserves especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran are some of the highest in theworld and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countriesDuring the Cold War the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and theirallies NATO and the United States on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other as theycompeted to influence regional allies Of course besides the political reasons there was also the ideologicalconflict between the two systems Moreover as Louise Fawcett argues among many important areas of contentionor perhaps more accurately of anxiety were first the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in theregion second the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the worlds oil reserves in a context where oilwas becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [][25] Within this contextual framework theUnited States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries theregion has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war
Demographics
Ethnic groups
Various ethnic and religious types present in the Middle East 19thcentury
The Middle East is today home to numerous longestablished ethnic groups including Arabs TurksPersians JewsIsraelis Kurds Somalis Assyrians(Chaldo-Assyrians) Arameans-Syriacs EgyptianCopts Armenians Azeris Maltese CircassiansGreeks Turcomans Shabaks Yazidis MandeansGeorgians Roma Gagauz Mhallami and Samaritans
Middle East 6
MigrationAccording to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arabnations in the world of which 58 reside in other Arab countries Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development In 2009Arab countries received a total of 351 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt andLebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arabcountries[26] In Somalia the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora as many of thebest educated Somalis left for Europe North America and other Middle Eastern countriesNon-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migrationdynamicsA fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and orreligious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks[citation needed] Large numbers of KurdsJews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria andTurkey for these reasons during the last century In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Bahais andZoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979[citation needed]
ReligionsThe Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there Islam in its many formsis by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths that originated there such as Judaism andChristianity are also well represented There are also important minority religions like the Bahaacuteiacute Faith YazdacircnismZoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism and in ancient times the region was home toMesopotamian Religion Canaanite Religion Manicheanism Mithraism and various Monotheist Gnostic sects
LanguagesThe five top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian Turkish Berber and Kurdish Arabicand Berber represent the Afro-Asiatic language family Persian and Kurdish belong to the Indo-European languagefamily And Turkish belongs to Turkic language family About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the MiddleEastArabic (with all its dialects) is the most widely spoken andor written language in the Middle East being official inall North African and in most West Asian countries It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring MiddleEastern non-Arab countries It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languagesPersian is the second most spoken language While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neighbouringcountries the country is one of the regions largest and most populous It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of thefamily of Indo-European languagesThe third-most widely spoken language Turkish is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the regionslargest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries It is a member of the Turkiclanguages which have their origins in Central AsiaOther languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaicdialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Somali Berberwhich is spoken across North Africa Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (suchas Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as GeezMaltese is also linguistically and geographically a Middle Eastern languageEnglish is commonly taught and used as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes incountries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait[27][28] It is alsoa main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) csUser-xfi-FileFlag of Saudi Arabiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Saudi_Arabiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UnknownFileFlag of Syriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Syriasvg License Public Domain Contributors see belowFileFlag of Turkeysvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkeysvg License Public Domain Contributors David Benbennick (original author)FileFlag of the United Arab Emiratessvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_United_Arab_Emiratessvg License Public Domain Contributors AnimeAddict AA Avala Dbenbenn Duduziq F l a n k e r Fry1989 Fukaumi Gryffindor Guanaco Homo lupus Kacir Klemen Kocjancic Krun Madden Neq00 Nightstallion Piccadilly CircusPmsyyz RamzyAbueita Ricordisamoa Zscout370 5 anonymous editsFileFlag of Yemensvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Yemensvg License Public Domain Contributors -FileFlag of Afghanistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source 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Middle East 3
The term Near East is occasionally heard at the UN when referring to this region[citation needed]
TranslationsThere are terms similar to Near East and Middle East in other European languages but since it is a relativedescription the meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms generally In German theterm Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term Mittlerer Osten is more and more commonin press texts translated from English sources albeit having a distinct meaning) and in Russian Ближний Восток orBlizhniy Vostok Bulgarian Близкия Изток Polish Bliski Wschoacuted or Croatian Bliski istok (meaning Near East in allthe four Slavic languages) remains as the only appropriate term for the region However some languages do haveMiddle East equivalents such as the French Moyen-Orient Swedish Mellanoumlstern Spanish Oriente Medio orMedio Oriente and the Italian Medio Oriente[18]
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 comprehending the same meaningas the term Middle East in North American and Western European usage The designation Mashriq also from theArabic root for east also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant the eastern part of theArabic-speaking world (as opposed to the Maghreb the western part)[19] The Persian equivalent for Middle East is(Khāvar-e miyāneh) خاورمیانه
Territories and regions
Traditional definition of the Middle Eastbull Bahrainbull Egyptbull Iranbull Iraqbull Iraqi Kurdistan (autonomy within Iraq)bull Israelbull Jordanbull Kuwaitbull Lebanonbull Omanbull State of Palestine (non-member state)bull Qatarbull Saudi Arabiabull Syriabull Turkey[20]
bull United Arab Emiratesbull Yemen
Middle East 4
Greater Middle Eastbull Afghanistan1
bull Algeriabull Armeniabull Azerbaijanbull Comorosbull Djiboutibull Georgiabull Kazakhstanbull Kyrgyzstanbull Libyabull Mauritaniabull Morocco2
bull Pakistanbull Somaliabull Sudanbull Tajikistanbull Tunisiabull Turkmenistanbull Uzbekistanbull Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (limited recognition)Notes1 Afghanistan is often considered Central Asian[21][22]
2Internationally recognized territory of Morocco[23]
History
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of theMediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean It is the birthplace and spiritual centerof religions such as Christianity Islam Judaism Manichaeism Yezidi DruzeYarsan and Mandeanism and in Iran Mithraism Zoroastrianism Manicheanismand the Bahaacuteiacute Faith Throughout its history the Middle East has been a majorcenter of world affairs a strategically economically politically culturally andreligiously sensitive area
The worlds earliest civilizations Mesopotamia (Sumer Akkad Assyria andBabylonia) and ancient Egypt originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valleyregions of the ancient Near East These were followed by the Hittite Greek andUrartian civilisations of Asia Minor Elam in pre-Iranian Persia as well as thecivilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla Ugarit Canaan Aramea Phoenicia andIsrael) Persian and Median civilizations in Iran North Africa(CarthagePhoenicia) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan Sheba Ubar) The Near East was first largely unified underthe Neo Assyrian Empire then the
Middle East 5
The Kaaba located in Mecca
Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire andafter this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthianand Sassanid Empires) the Roman Empire and Byzantine EmpireHowever it would be the later Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages orIslamic Golden Age which began with the Arab conquest of the regionin the 7th century AD that would first unify the entire Middle East as adistinct region and create the dominant Islamic ethnic identity thatlargely (but not exclusively) persists today The Mongols the TurkishSeljuk and Ottoman empires the Safavids and the British Empirewould also later dominate the region
The modern Middle East began after World War I when the Ottoman Empire which was allied with the CentralPowers was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nationsinitially under British and French Mandates Other defining events in this transformation included the establishmentof Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960sThey were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards
In the 20th century the regions significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance Massproduction of oil began around 1945 with Saudi Arabia Iran Kuwait Iraq and the United Arab Emirates havinglarge quantities of oil[24] Estimated oil reserves especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran are some of the highest in theworld and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countriesDuring the Cold War the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and theirallies NATO and the United States on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other as theycompeted to influence regional allies Of course besides the political reasons there was also the ideologicalconflict between the two systems Moreover as Louise Fawcett argues among many important areas of contentionor perhaps more accurately of anxiety were first the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in theregion second the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the worlds oil reserves in a context where oilwas becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [][25] Within this contextual framework theUnited States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries theregion has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war
Demographics
Ethnic groups
Various ethnic and religious types present in the Middle East 19thcentury
The Middle East is today home to numerous longestablished ethnic groups including Arabs TurksPersians JewsIsraelis Kurds Somalis Assyrians(Chaldo-Assyrians) Arameans-Syriacs EgyptianCopts Armenians Azeris Maltese CircassiansGreeks Turcomans Shabaks Yazidis MandeansGeorgians Roma Gagauz Mhallami and Samaritans
Middle East 6
MigrationAccording to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arabnations in the world of which 58 reside in other Arab countries Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development In 2009Arab countries received a total of 351 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt andLebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arabcountries[26] In Somalia the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora as many of thebest educated Somalis left for Europe North America and other Middle Eastern countriesNon-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migrationdynamicsA fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and orreligious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks[citation needed] Large numbers of KurdsJews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria andTurkey for these reasons during the last century In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Bahais andZoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979[citation needed]
ReligionsThe Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there Islam in its many formsis by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths that originated there such as Judaism andChristianity are also well represented There are also important minority religions like the Bahaacuteiacute Faith YazdacircnismZoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism and in ancient times the region was home toMesopotamian Religion Canaanite Religion Manicheanism Mithraism and various Monotheist Gnostic sects
LanguagesThe five top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian Turkish Berber and Kurdish Arabicand Berber represent the Afro-Asiatic language family Persian and Kurdish belong to the Indo-European languagefamily And Turkish belongs to Turkic language family About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the MiddleEastArabic (with all its dialects) is the most widely spoken andor written language in the Middle East being official inall North African and in most West Asian countries It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring MiddleEastern non-Arab countries It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languagesPersian is the second most spoken language While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neighbouringcountries the country is one of the regions largest and most populous It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of thefamily of Indo-European languagesThe third-most widely spoken language Turkish is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the regionslargest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries It is a member of the Turkiclanguages which have their origins in Central AsiaOther languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaicdialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Somali Berberwhich is spoken across North Africa Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (suchas Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as GeezMaltese is also linguistically and geographically a Middle Eastern languageEnglish is commonly taught and used as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes incountries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait[27][28] It is alsoa main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
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FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) 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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 4
Greater Middle Eastbull Afghanistan1
bull Algeriabull Armeniabull Azerbaijanbull Comorosbull Djiboutibull Georgiabull Kazakhstanbull Kyrgyzstanbull Libyabull Mauritaniabull Morocco2
bull Pakistanbull Somaliabull Sudanbull Tajikistanbull Tunisiabull Turkmenistanbull Uzbekistanbull Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (limited recognition)Notes1 Afghanistan is often considered Central Asian[21][22]
2Internationally recognized territory of Morocco[23]
History
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of theMediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean It is the birthplace and spiritual centerof religions such as Christianity Islam Judaism Manichaeism Yezidi DruzeYarsan and Mandeanism and in Iran Mithraism Zoroastrianism Manicheanismand the Bahaacuteiacute Faith Throughout its history the Middle East has been a majorcenter of world affairs a strategically economically politically culturally andreligiously sensitive area
The worlds earliest civilizations Mesopotamia (Sumer Akkad Assyria andBabylonia) and ancient Egypt originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valleyregions of the ancient Near East These were followed by the Hittite Greek andUrartian civilisations of Asia Minor Elam in pre-Iranian Persia as well as thecivilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla Ugarit Canaan Aramea Phoenicia andIsrael) Persian and Median civilizations in Iran North Africa(CarthagePhoenicia) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan Sheba Ubar) The Near East was first largely unified underthe Neo Assyrian Empire then the
Middle East 5
The Kaaba located in Mecca
Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire andafter this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthianand Sassanid Empires) the Roman Empire and Byzantine EmpireHowever it would be the later Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages orIslamic Golden Age which began with the Arab conquest of the regionin the 7th century AD that would first unify the entire Middle East as adistinct region and create the dominant Islamic ethnic identity thatlargely (but not exclusively) persists today The Mongols the TurkishSeljuk and Ottoman empires the Safavids and the British Empirewould also later dominate the region
The modern Middle East began after World War I when the Ottoman Empire which was allied with the CentralPowers was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nationsinitially under British and French Mandates Other defining events in this transformation included the establishmentof Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960sThey were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards
In the 20th century the regions significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance Massproduction of oil began around 1945 with Saudi Arabia Iran Kuwait Iraq and the United Arab Emirates havinglarge quantities of oil[24] Estimated oil reserves especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran are some of the highest in theworld and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countriesDuring the Cold War the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and theirallies NATO and the United States on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other as theycompeted to influence regional allies Of course besides the political reasons there was also the ideologicalconflict between the two systems Moreover as Louise Fawcett argues among many important areas of contentionor perhaps more accurately of anxiety were first the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in theregion second the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the worlds oil reserves in a context where oilwas becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [][25] Within this contextual framework theUnited States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries theregion has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war
Demographics
Ethnic groups
Various ethnic and religious types present in the Middle East 19thcentury
The Middle East is today home to numerous longestablished ethnic groups including Arabs TurksPersians JewsIsraelis Kurds Somalis Assyrians(Chaldo-Assyrians) Arameans-Syriacs EgyptianCopts Armenians Azeris Maltese CircassiansGreeks Turcomans Shabaks Yazidis MandeansGeorgians Roma Gagauz Mhallami and Samaritans
Middle East 6
MigrationAccording to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arabnations in the world of which 58 reside in other Arab countries Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development In 2009Arab countries received a total of 351 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt andLebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arabcountries[26] In Somalia the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora as many of thebest educated Somalis left for Europe North America and other Middle Eastern countriesNon-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migrationdynamicsA fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and orreligious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks[citation needed] Large numbers of KurdsJews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria andTurkey for these reasons during the last century In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Bahais andZoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979[citation needed]
ReligionsThe Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there Islam in its many formsis by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths that originated there such as Judaism andChristianity are also well represented There are also important minority religions like the Bahaacuteiacute Faith YazdacircnismZoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism and in ancient times the region was home toMesopotamian Religion Canaanite Religion Manicheanism Mithraism and various Monotheist Gnostic sects
LanguagesThe five top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian Turkish Berber and Kurdish Arabicand Berber represent the Afro-Asiatic language family Persian and Kurdish belong to the Indo-European languagefamily And Turkish belongs to Turkic language family About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the MiddleEastArabic (with all its dialects) is the most widely spoken andor written language in the Middle East being official inall North African and in most West Asian countries It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring MiddleEastern non-Arab countries It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languagesPersian is the second most spoken language While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neighbouringcountries the country is one of the regions largest and most populous It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of thefamily of Indo-European languagesThe third-most widely spoken language Turkish is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the regionslargest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries It is a member of the Turkiclanguages which have their origins in Central AsiaOther languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaicdialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Somali Berberwhich is spoken across North Africa Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (suchas Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as GeezMaltese is also linguistically and geographically a Middle Eastern languageEnglish is commonly taught and used as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes incountries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait[27][28] It is alsoa main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) csUser-xfi-FileFlag of Saudi Arabiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Saudi_Arabiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UnknownFileFlag of Syriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Syriasvg License Public Domain Contributors see belowFileFlag of Turkeysvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkeysvg License Public Domain Contributors David Benbennick (original author)FileFlag of the United Arab Emiratessvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_United_Arab_Emiratessvg License Public Domain Contributors AnimeAddict AA Avala Dbenbenn Duduziq F l a n k e r Fry1989 Fukaumi Gryffindor Guanaco Homo lupus Kacir Klemen Kocjancic Krun Madden Neq00 Nightstallion Piccadilly CircusPmsyyz RamzyAbueita Ricordisamoa Zscout370 5 anonymous editsFileFlag of Yemensvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Yemensvg License Public Domain Contributors -FileFlag of Afghanistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 5
The Kaaba located in Mecca
Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire andafter this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthianand Sassanid Empires) the Roman Empire and Byzantine EmpireHowever it would be the later Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages orIslamic Golden Age which began with the Arab conquest of the regionin the 7th century AD that would first unify the entire Middle East as adistinct region and create the dominant Islamic ethnic identity thatlargely (but not exclusively) persists today The Mongols the TurkishSeljuk and Ottoman empires the Safavids and the British Empirewould also later dominate the region
The modern Middle East began after World War I when the Ottoman Empire which was allied with the CentralPowers was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nationsinitially under British and French Mandates Other defining events in this transformation included the establishmentof Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960sThey were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970s onwards
In the 20th century the regions significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance Massproduction of oil began around 1945 with Saudi Arabia Iran Kuwait Iraq and the United Arab Emirates havinglarge quantities of oil[24] Estimated oil reserves especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran are some of the highest in theworld and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countriesDuring the Cold War the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and theirallies NATO and the United States on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other as theycompeted to influence regional allies Of course besides the political reasons there was also the ideologicalconflict between the two systems Moreover as Louise Fawcett argues among many important areas of contentionor perhaps more accurately of anxiety were first the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in theregion second the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the worlds oil reserves in a context where oilwas becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world [][25] Within this contextual framework theUnited States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries theregion has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war
Demographics
Ethnic groups
Various ethnic and religious types present in the Middle East 19thcentury
The Middle East is today home to numerous longestablished ethnic groups including Arabs TurksPersians JewsIsraelis Kurds Somalis Assyrians(Chaldo-Assyrians) Arameans-Syriacs EgyptianCopts Armenians Azeris Maltese CircassiansGreeks Turcomans Shabaks Yazidis MandeansGeorgians Roma Gagauz Mhallami and Samaritans
Middle East 6
MigrationAccording to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arabnations in the world of which 58 reside in other Arab countries Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development In 2009Arab countries received a total of 351 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt andLebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arabcountries[26] In Somalia the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora as many of thebest educated Somalis left for Europe North America and other Middle Eastern countriesNon-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migrationdynamicsA fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and orreligious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks[citation needed] Large numbers of KurdsJews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria andTurkey for these reasons during the last century In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Bahais andZoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979[citation needed]
ReligionsThe Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there Islam in its many formsis by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths that originated there such as Judaism andChristianity are also well represented There are also important minority religions like the Bahaacuteiacute Faith YazdacircnismZoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism and in ancient times the region was home toMesopotamian Religion Canaanite Religion Manicheanism Mithraism and various Monotheist Gnostic sects
LanguagesThe five top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian Turkish Berber and Kurdish Arabicand Berber represent the Afro-Asiatic language family Persian and Kurdish belong to the Indo-European languagefamily And Turkish belongs to Turkic language family About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the MiddleEastArabic (with all its dialects) is the most widely spoken andor written language in the Middle East being official inall North African and in most West Asian countries It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring MiddleEastern non-Arab countries It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languagesPersian is the second most spoken language While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neighbouringcountries the country is one of the regions largest and most populous It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of thefamily of Indo-European languagesThe third-most widely spoken language Turkish is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the regionslargest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries It is a member of the Turkiclanguages which have their origins in Central AsiaOther languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaicdialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Somali Berberwhich is spoken across North Africa Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (suchas Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as GeezMaltese is also linguistically and geographically a Middle Eastern languageEnglish is commonly taught and used as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes incountries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait[27][28] It is alsoa main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) csUser-xfi-FileFlag of Saudi Arabiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Saudi_Arabiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UnknownFileFlag of Syriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Syriasvg License Public Domain Contributors see belowFileFlag of Turkeysvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkeysvg License Public Domain Contributors David Benbennick (original author)FileFlag of the United Arab Emiratessvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_United_Arab_Emiratessvg License Public Domain Contributors AnimeAddict AA Avala Dbenbenn Duduziq F l a n k e r Fry1989 Fukaumi Gryffindor Guanaco Homo lupus Kacir Klemen Kocjancic Krun Madden Neq00 Nightstallion Piccadilly CircusPmsyyz RamzyAbueita Ricordisamoa Zscout370 5 anonymous editsFileFlag of Yemensvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Yemensvg License Public Domain Contributors -FileFlag of Afghanistansvg Source 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Middle East 6
MigrationAccording to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arabnations in the world of which 58 reside in other Arab countries Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to thecirculation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development In 2009Arab countries received a total of 351 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt andLebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arabcountries[26] In Somalia the Somali Civil War has greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora as many of thebest educated Somalis left for Europe North America and other Middle Eastern countriesNon-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migrationdynamicsA fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and orreligious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks[citation needed] Large numbers of KurdsJews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria andTurkey for these reasons during the last century In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Bahais andZoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979[citation needed]
ReligionsThe Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there Islam in its many formsis by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths that originated there such as Judaism andChristianity are also well represented There are also important minority religions like the Bahaacuteiacute Faith YazdacircnismZoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism and in ancient times the region was home toMesopotamian Religion Canaanite Religion Manicheanism Mithraism and various Monotheist Gnostic sects
LanguagesThe five top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian Turkish Berber and Kurdish Arabicand Berber represent the Afro-Asiatic language family Persian and Kurdish belong to the Indo-European languagefamily And Turkish belongs to Turkic language family About 20 minority languages are also spoken in the MiddleEastArabic (with all its dialects) is the most widely spoken andor written language in the Middle East being official inall North African and in most West Asian countries It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring MiddleEastern non-Arab countries It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languagesPersian is the second most spoken language While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neighbouringcountries the country is one of the regions largest and most populous It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of thefamily of Indo-European languagesThe third-most widely spoken language Turkish is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the regionslargest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries It is a member of the Turkiclanguages which have their origins in Central AsiaOther languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaicdialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Somali Berberwhich is spoken across North Africa Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (suchas Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as GeezMaltese is also linguistically and geographically a Middle Eastern languageEnglish is commonly taught and used as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes incountries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait[27][28] It is alsoa main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) csUser-xfi-FileFlag of Saudi Arabiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Saudi_Arabiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UnknownFileFlag of Syriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Syriasvg License Public Domain Contributors see belowFileFlag of Turkeysvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkeysvg License Public Domain Contributors David Benbennick (original author)FileFlag of the United Arab Emiratessvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_United_Arab_Emiratessvg License Public Domain Contributors AnimeAddict AA Avala Dbenbenn Duduziq F l a n k e r Fry1989 Fukaumi Gryffindor Guanaco Homo lupus Kacir Klemen Kocjancic Krun Madden Neq00 Nightstallion Piccadilly CircusPmsyyz RamzyAbueita Ricordisamoa Zscout370 5 anonymous editsFileFlag of Yemensvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Yemensvg License Public Domain Contributors -FileFlag of Afghanistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 7
French is taught and used in many government facilities and media in Algeria Morocco Tunisia and Lebanon It istaught in some primary and secondary schools of Egypt Israel and Syria Urdu is widely spoken by migrantcommunities in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25 of the population is SouthAsian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55 of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which havelarge numbers of Pakistani immigrants The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found inIsrael where as of 1995[29] Romanian is spoken by 5 of the population[30][31][32] Russian is also spoken by alarge portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s
EconomyMiddle Eastern economies range from being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations(such as Qatar UAE and Saudi Arabia) Overall as of 2007[29] according to the CIA World Factbook all nationsin the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growthAccording to the World Banks World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largestMiddle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP[33] In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countriesare Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745)[34] Turkey ($ 1028897000000)Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP[33]
When it comes to per capita (PPP)-based income the highest-ranking countries are Qatar ($86008) Kuwait($39915) the UAE ($38894) Bahrain ($34662) and Cyprus ($29853) The lowest-ranking country in the MiddleEast in terms of per capita income (PPP) is the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank($1100)The economic structure of Middle Eastern nations are different in the sense that while some nations are heavilydependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have ahighly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt) Industries of the Middle Eastern regioninclude oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instrumentsdefence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles) Banking is also animportant sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and BahrainWith the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area ofthe economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certainregions of the Middle East In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begunattracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-relatedrestrictive policiesUnemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged15ndash29 a demographic representing 30 of the regions total population The total regional unemployment rate in2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 132[35] and among youth is as high as 25[36] upto 37 in Morocco and 73 in Syria[37]
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) csUser-xfi-FileFlag of Saudi Arabiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Saudi_Arabiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UnknownFileFlag of Syriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Syriasvg License Public Domain Contributors see belowFileFlag of Turkeysvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkeysvg License Public Domain Contributors David Benbennick (original author)FileFlag of the United Arab Emiratessvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_United_Arab_Emiratessvg License Public Domain Contributors AnimeAddict AA Avala Dbenbenn Duduziq F l a n k e r Fry1989 Fukaumi Gryffindor Guanaco Homo lupus Kacir Klemen Kocjancic Krun Madden Neq00 Nightstallion Piccadilly CircusPmsyyz RamzyAbueita Ricordisamoa Zscout370 5 anonymous editsFileFlag of Yemensvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Yemensvg License Public Domain Contributors -FileFlag of Afghanistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 8
Gallery
This video over Central Africa and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
This video over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board theInternational Space Station
A pass beginning over Turkmenistan east of the Caspian Sea to south-eastern China just north-west of Hong Kong
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
FileFlag of Kuwaitsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kuwaitsvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Lebanonsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Lebanonsvg License Public Domain Contributors Traced based on the CIA World Factbook withsome modification done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundiFileFlag of Omansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Omansvg License Public Domain Contributors drew Alkari Cycn Duduziq Fry1989Happenstance Homo lupus Ittihadawi Jetijones Klemen Kocjancic Liftarn Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion NikNaks OAlexander Orange Tuesday Pumbaa80 Rfc1394 RicordisamoaThomasPusch Zscout370FileFlag of Palestinesvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Palestinesvg License Public Domain Contributors Orionist previous versions by MakaristosMysid etcFileFlag of Qatarsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Qatarsvg License Public Domain Contributors (of code) csUser-xfi-FileFlag of Saudi Arabiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Saudi_Arabiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UnknownFileFlag of Syriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Syriasvg License Public Domain Contributors see belowFileFlag of Turkeysvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkeysvg License Public Domain Contributors David Benbennick (original author)FileFlag of the United Arab Emiratessvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_United_Arab_Emiratessvg License Public Domain Contributors AnimeAddict AA Avala Dbenbenn Duduziq F l a n k e r Fry1989 Fukaumi Gryffindor Guanaco Homo lupus Kacir Klemen Kocjancic Krun Madden Neq00 Nightstallion Piccadilly CircusPmsyyz RamzyAbueita Ricordisamoa Zscout370 5 anonymous editsFileFlag of Yemensvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Yemensvg License Public Domain Contributors -FileFlag of Afghanistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир турчанинов 8anonymous editsFileFlag of Georgiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Georgiasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Kazakhstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kazakhstansvg License unknown Contributors -xfi-FileFlag of Kyrgyzstansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kyrgyzstansvg License Public Domain Contributors Made by Andrew Duhan for the SodipodiSVG flag collection and is public domainFileFlag of Libyasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Libyasvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Mauritaniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Mauritaniasvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Anime Addict AA AnonMoosCactus26 Cycn Docu Flad Fred J Fry1989 Gabbe Herbythyme Homo lupus Juiced lemon Klemen Kocjancic Mattes SKopp SiBr4 TFCforever ThomasPusch 10 anonymous editsFileFlag of Moroccosvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 9
Notes[1] Arabic الشرق الأوسط Asharq Al-Awsṭ Armenian Միջին Արևելք Merdzavor Arevelkrsquo Azerbaijani Orta Şərq French Moyen-Orient
Georgian ახლო აღმოსავლეთი akhlo aghmosavleti Greek Μέση Ανατολή Meacutesi Anatoliacute Hebrew המזרח התיכון HaMizrah HaTihonKurdish Rojhilata Navicircn Persian خاورمیانه khevrmyenh Somali Bariga Dhexe Soranicirc Kurdish ڕۆژھەڵاتی ناوین rrojhellaticirc nayn TurkishOrta Doğu Urdu مشرق وسطی hashrq vsty
[2][2] Ethnic Groups Worldwide A Ready Reference Handbook - Page 145 David Levinson - 1998[3][3] Beaumont (1988) p 16[7] Melman Billie The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing 6 The Middle East Arabia (http cco cambridge org
extractid=ccol052178140x_CCOL052178140XA010) Cambridge Collections Online Retrieved January 8 2006[8] Palmer Michael A Guardians of the Persian Gulf A History of Americas Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992 New York The
Free Press 1992 ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p 12-13[9] Laciner Dr Sedat Is There a Place Called lsquothe Middle Eastrsquo (http www turkishweekly net comments phpid=2117) The Journal of
Turkish Weekly] June 2 2006 Retrieved January 10 2007[10][10] Adelson (1995) p 22-23[11][11] Adelson (1995) p 24[12][12] Adelson (1995) p 26[17] Goldstein Norm The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law New York Basic Books 2004 ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p 156[18] 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[20] https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos tu html[21] The 2007 Middle East amp Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah (http web utah edu meca
2007Conf 2007 MECA- Final Program pdf)[22] Regional Economic Outlook Middle East amp Central Asia May 2006 International Monetary Fund (http www imf org external pubs
ft reo 2006 eng 01 mreo0506 pdf)[23] CIA World Factbook Morocco (https www cia gov library publications the-world-factbook geos mo html)[24][24] Goldschmidt (1999) p 8[25] Louise Fawcett International Relations of the Middle East (Oxford University Press New York 2005)[29] http en wikipedia org w index phptitle=Middle_Eastamp action=edit[30] According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census
1995)[33] The World Bank World Economic Indicators Database GDP (Nominal) 2008 (http siteresources worldbank org DATASTATISTICS
Resources GDP pdf) Data for 2008 Last revised on July 1 2009[34] Data refer to 2008 World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 (http imf org external pubs ft weo 2009 02 weodata weorept
aspxpr x=26amp pr y=9amp sy=2008amp ey=2008amp scsm=1amp ssd=1amp sort=countryamp ds= amp br=1ampc=512941914446612666614668311672213946911137193962122674912676313548419556513678316181913682124684339273638921514948218943963686616688223518516728918558748138618196522278622692156694624142626449628564228283924853233288632293636566634964238182662453960968423922935714128862611716321456243722248942469718253724642576643936939961644813819199172184132524646361648362915364134732652366174734328144258146656463654528336923263738268578532537944742176866534369536744429186433925178746436926136466343112158111439298916927664846826299542582443474917754544698amps=NGDPDPCamp grp=0amp a=) International Monetary Fund Retrieved October 1 2009
References
Generalbull Adelson Roger (1995) London and the Invention of the Middle East Money Power and War 1902-1922 Yale
University Press ISBN 0-300-06094-7bull Anderson R Seibert R amp Wagner J (2006) Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed) Prentice-Hallbull Barzilai GadKlieman AharonShidlo Gil (1993) The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath Routledge
ISBN 0-415-080029bull Barzilai Gad (1996) Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order State University of New York Press
ISBN 0-7914-2943-1bull Beaumont Peter Gerald H Blake J Malcolm Wagstaff (1988) The Middle East A Geographical Study David
Fulton ISBN 0-470-21040-0bull Goldschmidt Jr Arthur (1999) A Concise History of the Middle East Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-0471-7
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury 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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Middle East 10
Citations
Further Readingbull Cressey George B (1960) Crossroads Land and Life in Southwest Asia Chicago Ill JB Lippincott Co xiv
593 p ill with maps and bampw photosbull Freedman Robert O (1991) The Middle East from the Iran-Contra Affair to the Intifada in series
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East First ed Syracuse NY Syracuse University Press x 441 p ISBN0-8156-2502-2 pbk
External linksbull Middle East - Articles by Region (http www cfr org region 397 middle_east html) - Council on Foreign
Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East - Interactive Crisis Guide (http www cfr org publication 13850 cid=080416a) - Council on
Foreign Relations A Resource for Nonpartisan Research and Analysisbull Middle East Department (http www lib uchicago edu e su mideast ) University of Chicago Librarybull Middle East Business Intelligence since 1957 (http www meed com ) The leading information source on
business in the Middle East - MEEDcombull Middle East News (http news yahoo com i 736) from Yahoo Newsbull Middle East (http www dmoz org Regional Middle_East ) at the Open Directory Projectbull Middle East Business Financial amp Industry News (http www arabianbusiness com ) mdash
ArabianBusinesscombull Middle Eastern-US Relations (http cdm164001 cdmhost com krogh results phpCISORESTMP=results
phpamp CISOVIEWTMP=item_viewer phpamp CISOMODE=gridampCISOGRID=thumbnailA1titleA1descrbA0guestsA0categoA020relevancynonenonenonenoneampCISOSUPPRESS=0amp CISOOP1=exactamp CISOFIELD1=coveraamp CISOROOT= p164001coll21ampCISOSORT=title|famp CISOBOX1=Middle+ East) from Krogh Digital Archives (http cdm164001 cdmhostcom krogh )
bull Carboun (http www carboun com ) - advocacy for sustainability and environmental conservation in theMiddle East
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
Image Sources Licenses and ContributorsFileMiddle East (orthographic projection)svg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_East_(orthographic_projection)svg License GNU Free DocumentationLicense Contributors TownDownFileMiddle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileMiddle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors National ArchivesFileFlag of Bahrainsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Bahrainsvg License Public Domain Contributors Source Drawn by UserSKopp rewritten byUserZscout370FileFlag of Egyptsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Egyptsvg License Public Domain Contributors Open Clip ArtFileFlag of Iransvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iransvg License Public Domain Contributors VariousFileFlag of Iraqsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Iraqsvg License Public Domain Contributors Unknown published by Iraqi governemt vectorized byUserMilitaryace based on the work of UserHoshieFileFlag of Kurdistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Kurdistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Alkari Alno Antemister ChuchoHuffDenelson83 Erlenmeyer Flad Gryffindor Himasaram J Patrick Fischer Liftarn Mattes Pumbaa80 R-41 Raymond Stianbh Timeshifter Zscout370 と あ る 白 い 猫 6 anonymous editsFileFlag of Israelsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Israelsvg License Public Domain Contributors ldquoThe Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israelrdquo of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today although individual flags can and do vary The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm times 160 cm However the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained)FileFlag of Jordansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Jordansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKopp
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source 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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Article Sources and Contributors 11
Article Sources and ContributorsMiddle East Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphpoldid=556592219 Contributors drew 041744 1571781xxx 1984 227282807 edits 23skidoo 9591353082 A elalaily AKhalilAh king A2raya07 ACSE ARYAN818 AThing Aalkhuna Aaron Solomon Adelman Abccwiki Abcdefgy Abdulmus Abhijitsathe Abidaoud Abronikowski Absar Ace of Raves AcerperiAcidSnow Adam Carr AdamantlyMike Adashiel Admiralthrawn 1 Aegeanfighter Aeonx Afghan Historian Afinebalance AgentCDE Agrantx Ahavat Ahivarn Ahm2307 Ahmed27Ahoerstemeier Ai1238 Akanemoto Akhilleus Al-Andalus Alai Alan Liefting Aleator AliSanaei Ali1986 Alijsh Almafeta Alphathon Altenmann AmRen93 Amateur55 Amazon10xAmbarish Amir85 Amitprabhakar Amman12 Amoruso Amrush Ana manal Andkore Andrewphelps Andrwsc Andy Marchbanks Angel ivanov angelov Angela Angellcruz AngelxbabeeAngr Ankaram AnonMoos Anonymous editor Anonymous251 Anooshahpour Antandrus Antime Aoeuidhtns Applepie ApprenticeFan Aprils Arab Hafez AramaeanSyriac Arbitrarily0Archangel127 Ardeshire Babakan Aris Katsaris Arny Artw Ashaiba91 Assyria 90 Assyrio Astavrou Asteron Astroscope Atari400 Athenean AtikuX AtilimGunesBaydin AtitarevAucaman Aude Avengerx Avirex18 Awsoma Axamir AxelBoldt Badagnani Bader albakr Badjimmy Bahador Ballywiter Banaticus Baronnet Barticus88 BarzaniKurd16 Beast01659Beh-nam Behrad18n Beingme Belekvor Benne Berthold Werner Bev123 Bhadani Big Adamsky BilabialBoxing Birceng Bkell Blankfaze Bletch Bnwwf91 Bobblewik Bobet BobsicasBoing said Zebedee BokicaK Bosh belesh Bosonic dressing BrendanRyan Brian0918 BrianHansen BrokenSegue Brooklyn Penguin Bryan P C C Bsdaemon Buaidh BucketsofgBurntsauce Bushcarrot Bzargarian Bzeek C777 CALR CARLMART CBDunkerson CJWilly Cadiomals Cagarron Calgvla CambridgeBayWeather Cant sleep clown will eat meCancerward Cancun771 Candyisdandy Canglesea CanisRufus Canton japan Cantus CaptainFugu Carbuncle Carlbunderson Carmelbuck Carnildo Causteau Cecil CeddersCedrus-Libani Ceres987 Cessator Chaldean Chardish Cherubinirules Chinju Chipmunkdavis Chongkian Chris the speller Christian List Christian-Zionismorg ChristophensteinChristopher Parham Cinik Civil Engineer III Ck lostsword Cmalin ColdFire Collounsbury Colorsontrial CommonsDelinker ComtesseDeMingrelie Conversion script Cool BlueCrissidancer88 CryptoDerk Crystallina Ctjchristmas Cuchullain Curb Chain Cwolfsheep Cyanolinguophile Cyberevil Cyrus111 Cyrus78 D6 DanCBJMS DancingwombatsruleDaniel-Dane DanielCD Danutz Dark Tea Dark Tichondrias Darry2385 David Kernow David1010 Davidoff Davinhutchins Davo88 Dbachmann Dcoetzee Deanb Decumanus DeepakDejitarob Dekimasu Delaraha Delirium Denis Sacharnych Designate Dfrgmsc Dhartung Dhum Dhum Dianelos Diannaa Discospinster Diyako Doc glasgow DocWatson42 Dont101DoomsDay349 Dpv Dr Schnellkopf Drallim Drmaik Dude1818 DuncanHill Dzlinker Dyumlrlegur E10ddie EALacey ERcheck East718 Ebizur Eco84 Edalgarden Edschofield EdwardEguitaut Egyegy EgyptianWikipedian Eklipse El C Eleassar777 Elfguy EliasAlucard Elijahmeeks Elmalili Elmondo21st Elvis214 Emadd Emahyar Emirati Icon Emmanuelm Emomuzik sux Emops Emoxer Ephebi Erachima Eronel189 Erutuon Etams EtemadiPakhtoon Euchiasmus Eupator Everyking Exir Kamalabadi Ezeu FAH1223 FJM FJPB Faceless EnemyFaisal 1918 Farhan Murtaza Farry FelisLeo Ferkelparade Ferocious frankie Feydey Fhiwa15 Fiberglassdolphin Fieldchesterman Filibeli Filippodb Fixer88 Flying tiger Freedoms Falcon222 Freischen Frietjes Frymaster Fsotrain09 Fudoreaper Funandtrvl FunkMonk Fuzbaby Fvw GOER Gabbe Gabby Merger Gabi S Garyjacky Garzo Gavron Gcm GenerallegolasGeorge Al-Shami GeorgeClintonWiki Gggggtr Gilgamesh Gilliam Goat999 Gogo Dodo Golbez Golfhooks Goochelaar Gordonofcartoon Gorrrillla5 Gouerouz GraemeL Graham87Graminophile Green Giant Greyshark09 GrouchyDan Grutter Gryffindor Guinsberg Gujuguy Gun Powder Ma Gurch Gwernol Hadal Hadi Payami Hagedis Haipa Doragon Hairy DudeHakumomo Hamada2 Harmil Hasan en Hazhk Heah Heartlander HelaBxtn Henry Flower Herut Hetar Hintha Hippietrail HistoryGraduatestudent HistoryofIran HkCaGu HokanomonoHolIgor Hoo man Hotlikedat Hottentot Huaiwei Hugamuto Humus sapiens Husond Hwatch Hxasmirl I see you have a sword ILLeSt IZAK Ian Pitchford Ikara Ilyacadiz Imc InramjiInspectorTiger Inter Ioscius Iridescent Irooni Isam Ish ishwar Itc5 Itsmejudith Iwanttoeditthissh Izalithium Izmir lee Izzedine JBull12 JYolkowski Jackattack18 Jacob J Walker JacobLundberg Jacobjose Jagged 85 Jalalarbil Jamesday Jarble Jaromiko Jayjg JdeJ Jeandreacute du Toit Jeff3000 Jeffmapscom Jenks24 Jerryseinfeld Jeztah JiFish Jiddisch Jmlk17 JmyiiJock81 Joekool101 Johnbod Johnsc12 Jojit fb JokerXtreme Jonathan Hall JonathanK33 Jonathunder Jonesy Joseph Solis in Australia Joshdboz Josiah Rowe Joyous Jpeob JpgordonJubjub235 Justinian-of-Byzantium Juzeris Jxc422 KKhokhar Kamran the Great Karabekir KarlFrei Kashi0341 Kashk Kathovo Katimawan2005 Kelsaab Kemet Kenneth M BurkeKeptSouth Kermanshahi Kevin B12 Khajidha Khoikhoi Khorshid Killik Twilight Kingturtle Kipala Kjgold Kkm010 Klop09 Kman543210 Kman665 Knightshield Knutux KoavfKozuch Kristenq Kristod KrytenKoro Kudzu1 Kungfuadam Kurtis Kuru Kurykh Kwamikagami Laguna72 Lapsed Pacifist Lardayn LeCaire Leon1948 Lguipontes Lightmouse LightsLinaduliban LingNut Livajo Lmakin Lokantha Lokum Loodog Look2See1 LordofPens Lortatlısı Lotje Lou Crazy Lowellian Ltimur Lucyin Lumaga Lunaspick Lupin MBisanzMJCdetroit MJLRGS Maelnuneb Magioladitis MahdiGhor9 Mahmudmasri Malcolmxl5 Malikbek Malo Malyctenar Man vyi Mani1 Mar4d Marina T Marioandluigifan MarnanelMarsRover Master Jay Mattarata Matthew Fennell Maulucioni Maurice Carbonaro Maximilian Caldwell Maximus Rex Maziahmadi Mcorazao Mdagre Megastrike14 Melih YavuzMelina ag Menchi Mer-maid Meshal Obeidallah Mgreenbe Michael Safyan Michael Zimmermann Middayexpress Mightymights Mike Rosoft Mir-neferkipta Mirv MiyamotoJoutaroMiyokan Mjkubba Mkamensek Mkweise Mm11 Mnemeson Mnwafi MoHasanie Mohammed tahboub Monikahingorani Montyofarabia Moofus Moosepuppet Moosh88 MosMusyMoto53 Moverton Mpoloton Mr shadows1982 Mr Know-It-All Mttll Mu5ti Mugunth Kumar Muhammad Mahdi Karim MuhammedAkbarKhan Muhandis Mumble45 Mursel MvedMwtoews NYScholar NadirTV Naeemjfk Nakhoda84 Nakon Namsos Napoleon12 NapoleonARS Nationalgeo Nature0rNurture Nawaaf abbasy NawlinWiki Nayvik Nazanin9 NdunruhNellis Nemedia Neofelis Nebulosa Neogeolegend Neptunes2007 Nertz NewEnglandYankee Niceguyedc Nick Levinson Nick UA Nickjamil Nightrider083 Nikkul Nirvana2013NisarPakistani Nishkid64 Nixeagle Nixer Nk No One of Consequence NoPity2 Noon Noor Aalam Northamerica1000 Northsouth12 Nsaa Ntsimp OC Ripper Oate238ca4ada42Obscure41 Og omer Ohnoitsjamie Ojovemlouco Olahus OldakQuill Olivier Olympic god Omar4567 OneGuy Only green Oolong Opelio Orangwiki Orhanghazi Originalwana OscarchOttomanReference OwenX Ozgurgerilla P-Chan P S Burton PFHLai PaePae Pakhtunkhwa Palestine48 Paliku Panda Panlatdelkwa Pantepoptes Paradoxic Parishan Parkwells ParthianScribe Pass a Method Pathoschild PaxVobiscum Pcyrus Pdalcourt Peeteeree Perrak Persianinse Phil Boswell PhilKnight PhnomPencil Phoenix Hacker Pichpich Pietro Pigman PiperBrodi Plm209 Pne Poccil Pokymon99 Polscience Polylerus Porter76 Prel91 Prewitt81 PrimeCupEevee Prodego ProhibitOnions Prolog PseudoSudo Puddhe Punk kaos PureditorPurodha Purple salamander Pylambert Python eggs QadeemMusalman Qbzzt Qxz RnB RJN RabeaMalah RachelBrown Raed 5 Raedswn RajatKansal Rajpoot91 RamalliteRamzyAbueita Rande M Sefowt Rando500 Randy Johnston Ranveig Rawling Rdsmith4 Red Winged Duck Reddi Reinyday Res Gestaelig Divi Augusti RexNL Rhythm Ringbang RjwilmsiRkt2312 Rlove Rmhermen Rob Hooft Robert K S Robin Q Rogue Commander Ronbo76 Roosevelt Churchill Roozbeh Roozbeha Rory096 RottweilerCS RoyBoy Royalguard11 RpitRunehelmet Rushyo Rustyschaefer Ryanjunk Rydra Wong Ryūkotsusei SPRIDERSP SSZ SVTCobra Saberlotus Saga City Saguamundi Sangak Sannse SchreiberBike SciurinaeligScoutersig Scythian77 SecretAgentMan00 Sentinel Sepehrsh Seynab123 Sfan00 IMG Shadowjams Shakura Shanes Sheddybey Shenl88 Shiften 2000 Shmayo Shoefly ShsilverSilentaria Simfan34 SimonP Sindbad behzad Sinharib99 SiobhanHansa Sir II Unknown Sirgregmac Six 7 8 Skysmurf Smart Viral Smeira Smjg Snazeeram Snowmanradio SohailstyleSoleado Somaliwarrior Somaliweyn10 Someone the Person Sonabona Sonado Sonicelectronix Sonjaaa Soufle SpookyMulder Squids and Chips Ssolbergj Stangoldsmith StanqoStatalyzer Static Sleepstorm Steve p Steven J Anderson Stevertigo Stewacide Sugarbull Sun Creator Sunquanliangxiuhao Supreme Deliciousness Surlyduff50 Sven-steffen arndtSwatjester Swooptyswoop Syd Midnight Sylwia Ufnalska Symane TAKASUGI Shinji THEunique TKD TUF-KAT Tahmasp Taivo TakuyaMurata Tal642 TarmoK Taxman TaxwomanTazmaniacs Tbhotch Technajunky TehBrandon The Anome The Raven The TriZ The71 TheMile TheRealFennShysa TheTimesAreAChanging Thegreyanomaly Theologist101TigerShark Timrollpickering Timsdad Timwi Toddy1 Tom harrison Tombseye Tomerfekete Tonyjeff Toxic10 Tpbradbury TracySurya Treisijs Trevor MacInnis Treyt021 TristatestarTussna UDSS Uishaki Unforgettableid Unique85 Uriber UserGoogol Uwo222 Vary Vasiliy Faronov Vcj VegardNorman Veinor Vekoler Venice Vikramkr Viktor-vikingVirtualDelight Viskonsas Voldemort175 Vzbs34 W123 Wavelength Wavemaster447 Wayiran Wertuose WhisperToMe Wik WikHead Wiki alf Wikilo12 Wikipediarules2221Wildcursive Will Beback Auto Wimt Wknight94 Wmahan Woer$ Wolfling Woohookitty Wutschwlllm Wutsje Xiglofre Xp54321 Xsoundx Xythianos YDZ Yahiabarie Yelyos YerpoYkwyr Yorkshire Phoenix Yuber Yusuf89 Yuvn86 Zahid Abdassabur Zahidbey Zaparojdik Zarboki Zee18 Zepheus Zerida Zero0000 Zeus72385 Zirak90 Zoe Zscout370 ZvarZxxZxxZ Zyido Σύμμαχος Александър Мурад 97 علی ویکی سعدون باشا 冯 家 俊 900 anonymous edits
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LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
Image Sources Licenses and Contributors 12
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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Afghanistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Algeriasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Algeriasvg License Public Domain Contributors This graphic was originaly drawn by UserSKoppFileFlag of Armeniasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Armeniasvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Azerbaijansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Azerbaijansvg License Public Domain Contributors SKopp and othersFileFlag of the Comorossvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Comorossvg License Public Domain Contributors UserSKoppFileFlag of Djiboutisvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Djiboutisvg License Public Domain Contributors ElmA EugeneZelenko Fry1989 Homo lupusKlemen Kocjancic Martin H Mattes Neq00 Nightstallion Nishkid64 Pymouss Ratatosk Str4nd TFCforever ThomasPusch Thyes Tomasdd Zscout370 Ouml Владимир 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httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Moroccosvg License Public Domain Contributors Denelson83 Zscout370FileFlag of Pakistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Pakistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of Somaliasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Somaliasvg License Public Domain Contributors see upload historyFileFlag of Sudansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Sudansvg License Public Domain Contributors Vzb83FileFlag of Tajikistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tajikistansvg License Public Domain Contributors Achim1999 Alex Spade Anime Addict AAAntonsusi Apatomerus Bjankuloski06en Cycn Ecad93 Erlenmeyer EugeneZelenko Fred the Oyster Fry1989 Homo lupus Johnny Rotten Klemen Kocjancic Leonid 2 MAXXX-309Mattes Nameneko Neq00 Nightstallion OAlexander Ricordisamoa Rinkio Sarang SiBr4 SouthSudan Zscout370 Умед Джайхони 3 anonymous editsFileFlag of Tunisiasvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Tunisiasvg License Public Domain Contributors entraicircneur BEN KHALIFA WISSAMFileFlag of Turkmenistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Turkmenistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserVzb83FileFlag of Uzbekistansvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_Uzbekistansvg License Public Domain Contributors UserZscout370FileFlag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republicsvg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileFlag_of_the_Sahrawi_Arab_Democratic_Republicsvg License PublicDomain Contributors El Uali Mustapha SayedImageJerusalem kotel mosquejpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileJerusalem_kotel_mosquejpg License Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 25 ContributorsDarko Tepert DonatusFileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileKaaba_mirror_edit_jjjpg License unknown Contributors edited by jjronImageEde ethnic groupsjpg Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEde_ethnic_groupsjpg License Public Domain Contributors FSII FunkMonk IANVS LegendszOfficer 1 anonymous editsfileNight Pass over Central Africa and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileNight_Pass_over_Central_Africa_and_the_Middle_Eastogv LicensePublic Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileEvening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileEvening_Pass_over_the_Sahara_Desert_and_the_Middle_Eastogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29 crewfileViews of the Mideast at Nightogv Source httpsenwikipediaorgwindexphptitle=FileViews_of_the_Mideast_at_Nightogv License Public Domain Contributors ISS Expedition 29crew
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 30 Unportedcreativecommonsorglicensesby-sa30
![INDEX [link.springer.com]978-3-642-79672-2/1.pdfmiddle management 12 military environment 78 minimizing emission/pollution 121 mobility of information 29 model compound 135 molecular](https://img.pdfslide.us/doc/110x75/5e44f8fe4384f210bf7523e7/index-link-978-3-642-79672-21pdf-middle-management-12-military-environment.jpg)
