Countries of Middle East

Middle East is the vast region at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, including the water areas of the Mediterranean and Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In the south it is separated with the Sahara desert from sub-Saharan Africa, in the north its borders are at the latitude of the Black to the Caspian Sea. In the east it extends to the Indian subcontinent and in the west - to the Aegean Sea.

The concept of the Middle East has a dual interpretation. In the home historiography under the Middle East was understood the region, which comprised Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In Western historiography the concept of the Middle East is much broader. That is a modern region that includes North Africa (from Morocco to Egypt) and the Middle East (including Turkey and Iran).

The French and Italians are still using the name "Middle East» («Proche Orient», «Vicino Oriente»), the Germans prefer "East" or "Middle Asia» («Morgenland», «Vorderasien»). In modern Arabic, it’s often used a combination of "Middle East (Al-Lark al-Awsat)" rather than "Near East” (Asharq al Adna), although both terms have similar value. There are also used the terms "uruba" (Arab world) and “al-watan al-'arabiyy" (Arab homeland), which apply to the territory from the Atlantic Ocean (Morocco) to the Persian Gulf.

The region of the Middle East includes the following countries: Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Yemen, Oman.