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Where in the world is the Middle East?
picture courtesy maps-charts.com by Mazan Al-Shamsi The mideast region is generally considered to be the area encompassed by Iran in the East, Turkey in the North and West, Egypt in the SouthWest, and Yemen in the South. All countries within this area tend to be referred to commonly as being a part of the "Middle East." The Middle East as a term has been recently under fire by some, particularly in the academic community, for being a Euro-centric term. Most countries in the region can be as easily called "the North" or "the Southeast" depending on where you are in the world. This renaming of global areas will likely take some time, however, as most people within the Middle East itself refer to themselves as being in the Middle East. Some countries that are sometimes included in the region include Pakistan (for being Muslim mostly), Sudan and Somalia (for having Arabic speaking people), and the entire coast of North Africa (which is entirely Arabic speaking and Muslim). However, since the Middle East contains Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, English, and Greek speaking people basing an area on linguistic similarities is impossible. The region also has large communities of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindus, and Zoroastrians, making a religious reason for encompassing the area equally impossible. Calling the region the "Muslim World" or "Arabic speaking countries" or "West Asian" all leave out important countries and regions and are incomplete monikers. Many people lump everyone in the region into one generalized notion. Only with an actually visit, outside the mainstream media portrayals and ignorant proclamations, can a person see with their own eyes just how rich, diverse, and welcoming a place it really is. The people change from country to country like nowhere else on the planet, going from the West Bank to Egypt to Israel to Saudi Arabia to Oman is like traveling through different planets. It is unlike anywhere in the world. Other areas of the world are not as different in such a small space. At gomideast we've included Cyprus, a part of the European Union and a Greek Orthodox country, because of its physical location. Cyprus is also one of the world's most popular travel destinations and is a good and common stopping off point while traveling throughout the region, including going to Egypt, Israel, and points further East and North. We've encompassed a lot of territory, are growing in leaps and bounds, and hope to offer the best, most unbiased, and least advertising-laden website on the mideast in English. We hope you think so too. Travel Articles Main Page ---> for inquiries and comments (non-commercial only please): go.mideast @ yahoo.comCopyright ©2003-2009 gomideast.com unless otherwise credited |
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