The Middle East - Blood
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- Duration: 5:25
- Published: 2009-07-15
- Uploaded: 2011-01-26
- Author: nickperri
The Middle East -Blood From The Middle East - The Recordings of the Middle East
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! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" | Languages
| style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top" |Middle East: Arabic, Aramaic, Azerbaijani, French, Greek, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish
Greater Middle East: Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Balochi, Dari, French, Greek, Georgian, Hebrew, Kurdish, Pashtun, Persian, Punjabi, Sindhi, Somali, Tamazight, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu
|-
! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" | Time Zones
| style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top" | UTC +8:00 (Tibet) to UTC +3:30 (Iran)
|-
! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" | Largest Cities
| style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top" |In rank order: Cairo, Istanbul, Tehran, Baghdad, Riyadh, Ankara, Jeddah
|}
The Middle East (from a European perspective) is a region that encompasses Western Asia and North Africa. In some contexts, particularly in the United States, the term has recently been expanded in usage to sometimes include Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and North Africa. It's 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 Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Baha'i Faith. 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. The Middle East expected economic growth rate is at about 4.1% for 2010 and 5.1% in 2011.
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.
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." After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term.
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 China, and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East. 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.
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."
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.
At the United Nations, the numerous documents and resolutions about the Middle East are in fact concerned with the Arab–Israeli conflict, in particular the Israeli–Palestinian 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.
Perhaps due to the influence of the Western press, the Arabic equivalent of Middle East (Arabic: الشرق الأوسط 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). The Persian equivalent for Middle East is خاورمیانه (Khāvarmiyāneh).
Source:
*International Monetary Fund, April 24, 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 400,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, of which half are in East-Jerusalem. |}
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border:1px solid #aaa; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:90%;width:100%;"
|- style="background:#ececec;"
!rowspan="2"| Country, with flag
!colspan="2"| Area
(km²)
!rowspan="2"| Population
!colspan="2"| Density
(per km²)
!rowspan="2"| Capital
!rowspan="2"| GDP (Total)
!rowspan="2"| Per capita
!rowspan="2"| Currency
!rowspan="2"| Government
!rowspan="2"| Official languages
|- style="background:#ececec;"
!km2 !!sq mi !!/km2!!/sq mi
|-
| colspan=12 style="background:#eee;" | Caucacus:
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,968,586
|
| Yerevan
| $18.715 billion (2008)
| $5,272 (2008)
| Armenian dram
| Semi-presidential republic
| Armenian
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 8,621,000
|
| Baku
| $74.734 billion (2008)
| $8,620 (2008)
| Azerbaijani manat
| Semi-presidential republic
| Azerbaijani
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,630,841
|
| Tbilisi
| $21.812 billion (2008)
| $4,957 (2008)
| Georgian lari
| Semi-presidential republic
| Georgian
|-
| colspan=12 style="background:#eee;" | South Asia:
|-
| 1
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 31,889,923
|
| Kabul
| $21.340 billion (2008)
| $758 (2008)
| Afghani
| Islamic republic
| Persian, Pashto
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 169,300,000
|
| Islamabad
| $439.558 billion (2008)
| $2,738 (2008)
| Pakistani Rupee
| Islamic republic
| Urdu, English
|-
| colspan=12 style="background:#eee;" | Central Asia:
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 15,217,711
|
| Astana
| $177.545 billion (2008)
| $11,416 (2008)
| Kazakhstani tenge
| Semi-presidential republic
| Kazakh, Russian
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 27,372,000
|
| Tashkent
| $71.501 billion (2008)
| $2,629 (2008)
| Uzbekistani som
| Semi-presidential republic
| Uzbek
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,110,023
|
| Ashgabat
| $30.091 billion (2008)
| $5,710 (2008)
| Turkmenistani manat
| Presidential republic
| Turkmen
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 7,215,700
|
| Dushanbe
| $13.041 billion (2008)
| $2,019 (2008)
| Somoni
| Semi-presidential republic
| Tajik
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,356,869
|
| Bishkek
| $11.580 billion (2008)
| $2,180 (2008)
| Kyrgyzstani som
| Semi-presidential republic
| Kyrgyz, Russian
|-
| colspan=12 style="background:#eee;" | North Africa (Maghreb and Nubia):
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 33,333,216
|
| Algiers
| $233.098 billion (2008)
| $6,698 (2008)
| Algerian dinar
| Semi-presidential republic
| Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,291,000
|
| Nouakchott
| $6.221 billion (2008)
| $2,052 (2008)
| Ouguiya
| Military junta
| Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 10,102,000
|
| El Aaiun
|
|
| Moroccan dirham
|
| Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,036,914
|
| Tripoli
| $90.251 billion (2008)
| $14,533 (2008)
| Libyan dinar
| Jamahiriya
| Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 33,757,175
|
| Rabat
| $136.728 billion (2008)
| $4,349 (2008)
| Moroccan dirham
| Constitutional monarchy
| Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 10,102,000
|
| Tunis
| $82.226 billion (2008)
| $7,962 (2008)
| Tunisian dinar
| Semi-presidential republic
| Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 39,379,358
|
| Khartoum
| $87.885 billion (2008)
| $2,305 (2008)
| Sudanese pound
| Presidential republic
| Arabic
|-
| colspan=12 style="background:#eee;" | Horn of Africa:
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 496,374
|
| Djibouti
| $1.877 billion (2008)
| $2,392 (2008)
| Djiboutian franc
| Parliamentary republic
| Arabic, French, Somali, Afar
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,401,009
|
| Asmara
| $3.739 billion (2008)
| $747 (2008)
| Nakfa
| Provisional government
| Tigrinya, Arabic
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 9,588,666
|
| Mogadishu
| $5.524 billion (2008)
| $600 (2008)
| Somali shilling
| Semi-presidential republic
| Somali, Arabic
|-
| colspan=12 style="background:#eee;" | Indian Ocean:
|-
|
|
| style="text-align:right;"| 798,000
|
| Moroni
| $772 million (2009)
| $1,159 (2009)
| Comorian franc
| Federal republic
| Comorian, Arabic, French
|-
| colspan="12" |
Source:
*International Monetary Fund, April 24, 2009, PPP GDP 2008
Notes: 1 Afghanistan is often considered Central Asian |}
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 the Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Yezidi, and in Iran, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and the Bahá'í 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 earliest civilizations, Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, originated in the Fertile Crescent and Nile Valley regions of the ancient Near East, as well as the civilizations of the Levant, Persia, and Arabian Peninsula. The Near East was first unified under the Achaemenid Empire followed later by the Macedonian Empire and later Iranian empires, namely the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. However, it would be the Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages, or Islamic Golden Age, that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant ethnic identity that persists today. The Turkic Seljuk, Ottoman and Safavid empires would also later dominate the region.
The modern Middle East began after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with the defeated Central Powers, was partitioned into a number of separate nations. Other defining events in this transformation included the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the departure of European powers, notably Britain and France. They were supplanted in some part by the rising influence of the United States.
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. 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: the United States and the Soviet Union, 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 [...] 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. Current issues include the US Occupation of Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Middle East is home to numerous ethnic groups, including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Jews, Kurds, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs, Armenians, Azeris, Circassians, Greeks and Georgians.
Non-Arab Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Israel and Iran are also subject to important migration dynamics.
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 important. There are also important minority religions like Bahá'í, Yazdânism, Zoroastrianism.
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.
The second-most widely spoken language is Persian. 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. It is much influenced by Arabic (through Islam) and Aramaic (the pre-Arabic lingua franca of the Middle East).
The third-most widely spoken language, Turkish, is confined to Turkey, which is also one of the region's largest and most populous countries. 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 Syriac (a form of Aramaic), Armenian, Azerbaijani, Berber, Circassian, smaller Iranian languages, Hebrew, Kurdish, smaller Turkic languages, Greek, and several Modern South Arabian languages.
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. 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/Hindi 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 and Indian immigrants. The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East is found in Israel, where Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population. Russian is also spoken by a large portion of the Israeli population, due to emigration in the late 1990s.
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, , 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 ($ 794,228,000,000), Saudi Arabia ($ 467,601,000,000) and Iran ($ 385,143,000,000) in terms of Nominal GDP. In regards to nominal GDP per capita, the highest ranking countries are Qatar ($93,204), the UAE ($55,028), Kuwait ($45,920) and Cyprus ($32,745). Turkey ($ 1,028,897,000,000), Iran ($ 839,438,000,000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 589,531,000,000) had the largest economies in terms of GDP-PPP. and among youth is as high as 25%, up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in Syria.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
