Middle East Countries 1838 (varying definitions) Languages Middle East: Arabic Aramaic Azerbaijani French Greek Hebrew Kurdish Persian Turkish Greater Middle East: Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Balochi Dari French Greek Georgian Hebrew Kurdish Pashto Persian Punjabi Sindhi Somali Tamazight Tigrinya Turkish Urdu Time Zones UTC +8:00 (China) to UTC +3:30 (Iran) Largest Cities In rank order: Cairo Istanbul Tehran Baghdad Riyadh Ankara Jeddah "The Middle East" redirects here. For other meanings see Middle East (disambiguation).

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and North Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East in opposition to Far East. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.

The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times and throughout its history the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. When discussing ancient history however the term Near East is more commonly used. The Middle East is also the historical origin of major religions such as Zoroastrianism Judaism Christianity and Islam. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically economically politically culturally and religiously sensitive region.clarification needed The Middle East expected economic growth rate is at about 4.1% for 2010 and 5.1% in 2011.1 Contents 1 Etymology 1.1 Criticism and usage 1.2 Translations 2 Territories and regions 2.1 Traditional definition of the Middle East 2.2 Greater Middle East 3 History 4 Demographics 4.1 Ethnic groups 4.2 Migration 4.3 Religions 4.4 Languages 5 Economy 6 See also 6.1 History 6.2 Regions 6.3 Issues 6.4 Organizations programs and media 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links Etymology

The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office.2 However it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 19023 to 'designate the area between Arabia and India'.45 During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia a rivalry which would become known as The Great Game. Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region but also of its center the Persian Gulf.67 He labeled the area surrounding the Persian Gulf as the Middle East and said that after the Suez Canal it was the most important passage for Britain to control in order to keep the Russians from advancing towards British India.8 Mahan first used the term in his article "The Persian Gulf and International Relations" published in September 1902 in the National Review a British journal.

The Middle East if I may adopt a term which I have not seen will some day need its Malta as well as its Gibraltar; it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. Naval force has the quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences; but it needs to find on every scene of operation established bases of refit of supply and in case of disaster of security. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise about Aden India and the Persian Gulf.9

Mahan's article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20 article series entitled "The Middle Eastern Question" written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include "those regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India."10 After the series ended in 1903 The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term.11

Until World War II it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "Near East" while the "Far East" centered on China12 and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma namely the area between the Near East and the Far East.citation needed In the late 1930s the British established the Middle East Command which was based in Cairo for its military forces in the region. After that time the term "Middle East" gained broader usage in Europe and the United States with the Middle East Institute founded in Washington D.C. in 1946 among other usage.13 Criticism and usage   Traditional definition of the Middle East   Greater Middle East   Central Asia (sometimes associated with the Greater Middle East)

Many have criticized the term Middle East because of its implicit Eurocentrism.1415 In contemporary English-language academic & media venues the term is used by both Europeans and non-Europeans.

The description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War "Near East" was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire while "Middle East" referred to Iran Afghanistan and Central Asia Turkestan and the Caucasus. In contrast "Far East" referred to the countries of East Asia (e.g. China Japan Korea Hong Kong etc.). Some critics usually advise using an alternative term such as "Western Asia" which is the official designation of the UN.

With the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 "Near East" largely fell out of common use in English while "Middle East" came to be applied to the re-emerging countries of the Islamic world. However the usage of "Near East" was retained by a variety of academic disciplines including archaeology and ancient history where it describes 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 Eisenhower Doctrine which pertained to the Suez Crisis. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south plus the Sudan and Ethiopia."12 In 1958 the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable and defined the region as including only Egypt Syria Israel 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 East referred 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 Middle East is preferred.17 At the United Nations the numerous documents and resolutions about the Middle East are in fact concerned with the ArabIsraeli conflict in particular the IsraeliPalestinian conflict and therefore with the four states of the Levant. The term Near East is occasionally heard at the UN when referring to this region.citation needed Translations There are terms similar to Near East and Middle East in other European languages but since it is a relative description the meanings depend on the country and are different from the English terms generally. In German the term Naher Osten (Near East) is still in common use (nowadays the term Mittlerer Osten is more and more common in press texts translated from English sources albeit having a distinct meaning) and in Russian or Blizhniy Vostok Bulgarian Polish Bliski Wschd or Croatian Bliski istok (meaning Near East in all the four Slavic languages) remains as the only appropriate term for the region. However some languages do have "Middle East" equivalents such as the French Moyen-Orient Swedish Mellanstern Spanish Oriente Medio or Medio Oriente and the Italian Medio Oriente.18 Perhaps because of the influence of the Western press the Arabic equivalent of Middle East (Arabic: ash-sharq-l-awsat) has become standard usage in the mainstream Arabic press comprehending the same meaning as the term Middle East in North American and Western European usage. The designation Mashriq also from the Arabic root for east also denotes a variously defined region around the Levant the eastern part of the Arabic-speaking world (as opposed to the Maghreb the western part).19 The Persian equivalent for Middle East is (Khvarmiyneh). Territories and regions Traditional definition of the Middle East Country with flag Area Population Density Capital GDP (Total) Per capita Currency Government Official languages km2 sq mi /km2 /sq mi  Bahrain 665 257 656397 987 2560 Manama $26.970 billion (2008) $34605 (2008) Bahraini Dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic  Cyprus 9250 3570 792604 90 230 Nicosia $22.703 billion (2008) $29830 (2008) Euro Turkish lira Presidential republic Greek Turkish  Egypt 1002450 387050 77498000 74 190 Cairo $442.640 billion (2008) $5898 (2008) Egyptian pound Semi-presidential republic Arabic  Iran 1648195 636372 71208000 42 110 Tehran $819.799 billion (2008) $11250 (2008) Iranian rial Islamic republic Persian  Iraq 437072 168754 31001816 70.93 183.7 Baghdad $202.3 billion (2008) $6500 (2008) Iraqi dinar Parliamentary republic Arabic Assyrian Kurdish  Israel 20770 8020 7465000 290 750 Jerusalem2 $200.630 billion (2008) $28206 (2008) Israeli new sheqel Parliamentary democracy Hebrew Arabic  Jordan 92300 35600 6407085 58 150 Amman $32.112 billion (2008) $5314 (2008) Jordanian dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic  Kuwait 17820 6880 3100000 119 310 Kuwait City $137.190 billion (2008) $39849 (2008) Kuwaiti dinar Constitutional monarchy Arabic  Lebanon 10452 4036 4224000 354 920 Beirut $58.576 billion (2010) $14988 (2010) Lebanese pound Republic Arabic  Oman 212460 82030 3200000 13 34 Muscat $66.889 billion (2008) $24153 (2008) Omani Rial Absolute monarchy Arabic  Gaza Strip (not fully sovereign) 360 140 1376289 3823 9900 Gaza $770 million (2008) $2900 (2008) Israeli new sheqel Autonomous republic Palestinian National Authority Hamas Arabic  West Bank (not fully sovereign) 5860 22603 25000005 432 112034 Ramallah Israeli new sheqel Autonomous republic Palestinian National Authority Fatah Arabic  Qatar 11437 4416 793341 69 180 Doha $94.249 billion (2008) $85867 (2008) Qatari Riyal Constitutional monarchy Arabic  Saudi Arabia 1960582 756985 23513330 12 31 Riyadh $593.385 billion (2008) $23834 (2008) Riyal Absolute monarchy Arabic  Syria 185180 71500 22505000 93 240 Damascus $105.238 billion (2010) $5043 (2010) Syrian pound Presidential republic Arabic  Turkey1 783562 302535 73914000 91 240 Ankara $1.028 trillion20 (2008) $139202021 (2008) Turkish lira Parliamentary democracy Turkish  United Arab Emirates 82880 32000 5432746 30 78 Abu Dhabi $184.984 billion (2008) $38830 (2008) UAE dirham Federal Constitutional monarchy Arabic  Yemen 527970 203850 18701257 35 91 Sana $55.433 billion (2008) $2412 (2008) Yemeni rial Semi-presidential republic Arabic Source: International Monetary Fund April 24 2009 PPP GDP 2008 World Bank July 1 2009 PPP GDP 2008 Notes: 1 The figures for Turkey includes Eastern Thrace which is not a part of Anatolia. 2 Under Israeli law. The UN doesn't recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. 3 Includes the whole of the West Bank according to the pre-1967 boundaries. 4 In addition there are around 400000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank of which half are in East-Jerusalem. Greater Middle East Main article: Greater Middle East Country with flag Area (km) Population Density (per km) Capital GDP (Total) Per capita Currency Government Official languages km2 sq mi /km2 /sq mi  Armenia 29800 11500 3262200 111.7 289 Yerevan $18.715 billion (2008) $5272 (2008) Armenian dram Semi-presidential republic Armenian  Azerbaijan 86600 33400 8621000 97 250 Baku $74.734 billion (2008) $8620 (2008) Azerbaijani manat Semi-presidential republic Azerbaijani  Georgia 20460 7900 4630841 99.3 257 Tbilisi $21.812 billion (2008) $4957 (2008) Georgian lari Semi-presidential republic Georgian  Afghanistan1 647500 250000 31889923 46 120 Kabul $21.340 billion (2008) $758 (2008) Afghani Islamic republic Persian Pashto  Pakistan 880940 340130 169300000 206 530 Islamabad $439.558 billion (2008) $2738 (2008) Pakistani Rupee Islamic republic Urdu English  Kazakhstan 2724900 1052100 15217711 5.4 14 Astana $177.545 billion (2008) $11416 (2008) Kazakhstani tenge Semi-presidential republic Kazakh Russian  Uzbekistan 447400 172700 27372000 59 150 Tashkent $71.501 billion (2008) $2629 (2008) Uzbekistani som Semi-presidential republic Uzbek  Turkmenistan 488100 188500 5110023 9.9 26 Ashgabat $30.091 billion (2008) $5710 (2008) Turkmenistani manat Presidential republic Turkmen  Tajikistan 143100 55300 7215700 45 120 Dushanbe $13.041 billion (2008) $2019 (2008) Somoni Semi-presidential republic Tajik  Kyrgyzstan 199900 77200 5356869 26 67 Bishkek $11.580 billion (2008) $2180 (2008) Kyrgyzstani som Semi-presidential republic Kyrgyz Russian  Algeria 2381740 919590 33333216 14 36 Algiers $233.098 billion (2008) $6698 (2008) Algerian dinar Semi-presidential republic Arabic  Mauritania 1030700 398000 3291000 70 180 Nouakchott $6.221 billion (2008) $2052 (2008) Ouguiya Military junta Arabic  Western Sahara 266000 103000 513000 1.9 4.9 El Aaiun Moroccan dirham Arabic  Libya 1759540 679360 6036914 3 7.8 Tripoli $90.251 billion (2008) $14533 (2008) Libyan dinar Jamahiriya Arabic  Morocco 446550 172410 33757175 70 180 Rabat $136.728 billion (2008) $4349 (2008) Moroccan dirham Constitutional monarchy Arabic  Tunisia 163610 63170 10102000 62 160 Tunis $82.226 billion (2008) $7962 (2008) Tunisian dinar Semi-presidential republic Arabic  Sudan 2505813 967500 39379358 14 36 Khartoum $87.885 billion (2008) $2305 (2008) Sudanese pound Presidential republic Arabic  Djibouti 23200 9000 496374 34 88 Djibouti $1.877 billion (2008) $2392 (2008) Djiboutian franc Parliamentary republic Arabic French Somali Afar  Eritrea 117600 45400 4401009 37 96 Asmara $3.739 billion (2008) $747 (2008) Nakfa Provisional government Tigrinya Arabic  Somalia 637661 246202 9588666 13 34 Mogadishu $5.524 billion (2008) $600 (2008) Somali shilling Semi-presidential republic Somali Arabic  Comoros 2235 863 798000 275 710 Moroni $772 million (2009) $1159 (2009) Comorian franc Federal republic Comorian Arabic French Source: International Monetary Fund April 24 2009 PPP GDP 2008 World Bank July 1 2009 PPP GDP 2008 Notes: 1 Afghanistan is often considered Central Asian2223 History Main article: History of the Middle East See also: List of conflicts in the Middle East The Temple Mount in Jerusalem The Imam Ali Mosque an important shrine in Najaf The Middle East lies at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa and of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. It is the birthplace and spiritual center of religions such as Christianity Islam Judaism Manichaeism Yezidi Druze Yarsan and Mandeanism and in Iran Mithraism Zoroastrianism Manicheanism and the Bah' Faith. Throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically economically politically culturally and religiously sensitive area. The worlds earliest civilizations Mesopotamia (Sumer Akkad Assyria and Babylonia) and ancient Egypt originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East. These were followed by the Hittite Greek and Urartian civilisations of Asia Minor Elam in pre Iranian Persia as well as the civilizations of the Levant (such as Ebla Ugarit Canaan Aramea Phoenicia and Israel) Persian and Median civilizations in Iran North Africa(Carthage/Phonecia) and the Arabian Peninsula (Magan Sheba Ubar). The Near East was first largely unified under the Neo Assyrian Empire then the Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire and after this to some degree by the Iranian empires (namely the Parthian and Sassanid Empires) the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. However it would be the later Arab Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages or Islamic Golden Age which began with the Arab conquest of the region in the 7th century AD that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant Islamic ethnic identity that largely (but not exclusively) persists today. The Mongols the Turkish Seljuk and Ottoman empires the Safavids and British empire would also later dominate the region. The modern Middle East began after World War I when the Ottoman Empire which was allied with the Central Powers was defeated by the British Empire and their allies and partitioned into a number of separate nations initially under British and French Mandates. Other defining events in this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the eventual departure of European powers notably Britain and France by the end of the 1960s. They were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States from the 1970's onwards. In the 20th century the region's significant stocks of crude oil gave it new strategic and economic importance. Mass production of oil began around 1945 with Saudi Arabia Iran Kuwait Iraq and the United Arab Emirates having large quantities of oil.24 Estimated oil reserves especially in Saudi Arabia and Iran are some of the highest in the world and the international oil cartel OPEC is dominated by Middle Eastern countries. During the Cold War the Middle East was a theater of ideological struggle between the two superpowers and their allies: NATO and the United States on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other as they competed to influence regional allies. Of course besides the political reasons there was also the "ideological conflict" between the two systems. Moreover as Louise Fawcett argues among many important areas of contention or perhaps more accurately of anxiety were first the desires of the superpowers to gain strategic advantage in the region second the fact that the region contained some two thirds of the world's oil reserves in a context where oil was becoming increasingly vital to the economy of the Western world ...25 Within this contextual framework the United States sought to divert the Arab world from Soviet influence. Throughout the 20th and into the 21st century the region has experienced both periods of relative peace and tolerance and periods of conflict and war. Demographics Ethnic groups See also: Demographics of the Arab League Various ethnic and religious types present in the Middle East 19th century The Middle East is home to numerous ethnic groups including; Arabs Turks Persians Jews Kurds Assyrians/Syriacs (Chaldo-Assyrians) Egyptian Copts Maronites (Phoenicians) Armenians Arameans Azeris Maltese Circassians Greeks Turcomans Shabaks Yazidis Mandeans Georgians Roma Gagauz Berbers Mhallami and Samaritans. Migration According to the International Organization for Migration there are 13 million first-generation migrants from Arab nations in the world of which 5.8 reside in other Arab countries. Expatriates from Arab countries contribute to the circulation of financial and human capital in the region and thus significantly promote regional development. In 2009 Arab countries received a total of 35.1 billion USD in remittance in-flows and remittances sent to Jordan Egypt and Lebanon from other Arab countries are 40 to 190 per cent higher than trade revenues between these and other Arab countries.26 Non-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey Israel and Iran are also subject to important migration dynamics. A fair proportion of those migrating from Arab nations are from ethnic and religious minorities facing racial and or religious persecution and are not necessarily ethnic Arabs Iranians or Turks. Large numbers of Kurds Jews Assyrians Greeks and Armenians as well as many Mandeans have left nations such as Iraq Iran Syria and Turkey for these reasons during the last century. In Iran many religious minorities such as Christians Baha'i and Zoroastrians have left since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Religions Main articles: Religion in the Middle East and Christianity in the Middle East The Middle East is very diverse when it comes to religions many of which originated there. Islam in its many forms is by far the largest religion in the Middle East but other faiths such as Judaism and Christianity are also well represented. There are also important minority religions like Bah' Yazdnism Zoroastrianism Mandeanism Druze Yarsan Yazidism and Shabakism. Languages The three top languages in terms of numbers of speakers are Arabic Persian and Turkish representing the Afro-Asiatic Indo-European and Turkic language families respectively. Various other languages are also spoken in the Middle East. Arabic is the most widely spoken language in the Middle East being official in all the Arab countries. It is also spoken in some adjacent areas in neighbouring Middle Eastern non-Arab countries. It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Persian is the second most popular. While it is confined to Iran and some border areas in neghbouring countries the country is one of the region's largest and most populous. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the family of Indo-European languages. The third-most widely spoken language Turkish it is largely confined to Turkey which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries but it is present in areas in neighboring countries. It is a member or the Turkic languages which have their origins in Central Asia. Other languages spoken in the region include Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Mesopotamian Aramaic dialects spoken mainly by Assyrians and Mandeans. Also to be found are Armenian Azerbaijani Berber Circassian smaller Iranian languages Kurdish smaller Turkic languages (such as Gagauz) Shabaki Yazidi Roma Georgian Greek and several Modern South Arabian languages such as Geez. Maltese is also linguistically and geographically a middle eastern language. English is commonly spoken as a second language especially among the middle and upper classes in countries such as Egypt Jordan Israel Iran Iraq Qatar Bahrain United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.2728 It is also a main language in some of the Emirates of the United Arab Emirates. French is spoken in Algeria Egypt Israel Lebanon Morocco Syria and Tunisia. Urdu is widely spoken in many Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia (where 20-25% of the population is South Asian) the United Arab Emirates (where 50-55% of the population is South Asian) Israel and Qatar which have large numbers of Pakistani immigrants. The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found in Israel where as of 1995update Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population.293031 Russian is also spoken by a large portion of the Israeli population because of emigration in the late 1990s. Economy Main articles: Economy of the Middle East and Middle East economic integration Middle 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 2007update according to the CIA World Factbook all nations in the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growth. According to the World Bank's World Development Indicators database published on July 1 2009 the three largest Middle Eastern economies in 2008 were Turkey ($ 794228000000) Saudi Arabia ($ 467601000000) and Iran ($ 385143000000) in terms of Nominal GDP.32 In regards to nominal GDP per capita the highest ranking countries are Qatar ($93204) the UAE ($55028) Kuwait ($45920) and Cyprus ($32745).33 Turkey ($ 1028897000000) Iran ($ 839438000000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589531000000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP.20 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 Middle East 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 heavily dependent on export of only oil and oil-related products (such as Saudi Arabia the UAE and Kuwait) others have a highly diverse economic base (such as Cyprus Israel Turkey and Egypt). Industries of the Middle Eastern region include oil and oil-related products agriculture cotton cattle dairy textiles leather products surgical instruments defence equipment (guns ammunition tanks submarines fighter jets UAVs and missiles). Banking is also an important sector of the economies especially in the case of UAE and Bahrain. With the exception of Cyprus Turkey Egypt Lebanon and Israel tourism has been a relatively undeveloped area of the economy in part because of the socially conservative nature of the region as well as political turmoil in certain regions of the Middle East. In recent years however countries such as the UAE Bahrain and Jordan have begun attracting greater number of tourists because of improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-related restrictive policies. Unemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region particularly among young people aged 1529 a demographic representing 30% of the regions total population. The total regional unemployment rate in 2005 according to the International Labor Organization was 13.2%34 and among youth is as high as 25%35 up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in Syria.36 See also Middle East portal History List of conflicts in the Middle East History of the Middle East Timeline of Middle Eastern History Regions Greater Middle East Near East Fertile Crescent Central Asia Issues Waithood Orientalism State feminism (section: Middle East) Organizations programs and media Middle East Institute Middle East Studies Association of North America Middle East Youth Initiative Maayan Middle East poetry magazine Notes IMF WEO Oct. 2010 Retrieved 15-10-2010 Beaumont (1988) p. 16 Koppes C.R. (1976). "Captain Mahan General Gordon and the origin of the term "Middle East"". Middle East Studies 12: 9598. doi:10.1080/00263207608700307.  Lewis Bernard (1965). The Middle East and the West. p. 9.  Fromkin David (1989). A Peace to end all Peace. p. 224. ISBN 0805008578.  Melman Billie. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing: 6 The Middle East / Arabia Cambridge Collections Online. Retrieved January 8 2006. Palmer Michael A. Guardians of the Persian Gulf: A History of America's Expanding Role in the Persian Gulf 1833-1992. New York: The Free Press 1992. ISBN 0-02-923843-9 p. 12-13. Laciner Dr. Sedat. "Is There a Place Called the Middle East" The Journal of Turkish Weekly" June 2 2006. Retrieved January 10 2007. Adelson (1995) p. 22-23 Adelson (1995) p. 24 Adelson (1995) p. 26 a b Davison Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East". Foreign Affairs 38 (4): 665675. doi:10.2307/20029452.  Held Colbert C. (2000). Middle East Patterns: Places Peoples and Politics. Westview Press. p. 7. ISBN 0813382211.  Shohat Ella. "Redrawing American Cartographies of Asia". City University of New York. http://commposite.uqam.ca/videaz/docs/elshen.html. Retrieved 2007-01-12.  Hanafi Hassan. "The Middle East in whose world". Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies. http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hanafi.html. Retrieved 2007-01-12.  "'Near East' is Mideast Washington Explains". The New York Times. 1958-08-14. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.htmlresF70E10FC3D59127A93C6A81783D85F4C8585F9&scp1&sq'Near%20East'%20is%20Mideast%20Washington%20Explains&stcse. Retrieved 2009-01-25.  Goldstein Norm. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. New York: Basic Books 2004. ISBN 0-465-00488-1 p. 156 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 Anderson Ewan W. William Bayne Fisher (2000). The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics. Routledge. pp. 1213.  a b c The World Bank: World Economic Indicators Database. GDP (PPP) 2008. Data for the year 2008. Last revised on July 1 2009. The World Bank: World Economic Indicators Database. Population 2008. Data for the year 2008. Last revised on July 1 2009. The 2007 Middle East & Central Asia Politics Economics and Society Conference University of Utah. "Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East & Central Asia" May 2006 International Monetary Fund. Goldschmidt (1999) p. 8 Louise Fawcett. International Relations of the Middle East. (Oxford University Press New York 2005) http://www.egypt.iom.int/Doc/IOM%20Intra%20regional%20labour%20mobility%20in%20Arab%20region%20Facts%20and%20Figures%20(English).pdf "World Factbook - Jordan". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jo.html#People.  "World Factbook - Kuwait". https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html.  According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250000 Romanian speakers in Israel at a population of 5548523 (census 1995). "Reports of about 300000 Jews that left the country after WW2". Eurojewcong.org. http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.phpidarticle110. Retrieved 2010-07-07.  "Evenimentul Zilei". Evz.ro. http://www.evz.ro/article.phpartid185041. Retrieved 2010-07-07.  The World Bank: World Economic Indicators Database. GDP (Nominal) 2008. Data for the year 2008. Last revised on July 1 2009. Data refer to the year 2008. World Economic Outlook Database-October 2009 International Monetary Fund. Retrieved October 1 2009. "Unemployment Rates Are Highest in the Middle East". Progressive Policy Institute. August 30 2006. http://www.ppionline.org/ppici.cfmknlgAreaID108&subsecID900003&contentID254026.  Navtej Dhillon Tarek Yousef (2007). "Inclusion: Meeting the 100 Million Youth Challenge". Shabab Inclusion. http://shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/623/1.  Hilary Silver (September 200). "Social Exclusion: Comparative Analysis of Europe and Middle East Youth". Middle East Youth Initiative Working Paper. Shabab Inclusion. http://www.shababinclusion.org/content/document/detail/558/1.  References Adelson Roger (1995). London and the Invention of the Middle East: Money Power and War 1902-1922.. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300060947.  Anderson R. Seibert R. & Wagner J. (2006). Politics and Change in the Middle East (8th ed.). Prentice-Hall.  Barzilai Gad.Klieman Aharon.Shidlo Gil (1993). The Gulf Crisis and its Global Aftermath. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08002.  Barzilai Gad. (1996). Wars Internal Conflicts and Political Order. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-2943-1.  Beaumont Peter Gerald H. Blake J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton. ISBN 0470210400.  Goldschmidt Jr. Arthur (1999). A Concise History of the Middle East. Westview Press. ISBN 0813304717.  External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Middle East Look up middle east in Wiktionary the free dictionary. 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