Western Asia
Area	6,255,160 km2 (2,415,131 sq mi) 1
Population	313,428,000 1
Density	50.1 /km2 (130 /sq mi)
Countries	19 to 21 (see text)  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Cyprus  Georgia  Iran  Iraq  Israel  Jordan  Kuwait  Lebanon  Oman  Palestine  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  Syria  Turkey  UAE  Yemen
Nominal GDP	$2.742 trillion (2010) 2
GDP per capita	$8748 (2010) 2
Time zones	UTC+2 to UTC+5
Demonym	West Asian
Languages	Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish
Largest cities	Istanbul* Tehran Baghdad Riyadh Ankara
Notes	1Area and population figures include the UN subregion, Iran, and Sinai. 2GDP figures include the UN subregion and Iran. *Partly located in Europe.

Western Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East, which describes a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than its location within Asia. Due to this perceived Eurocentrism, international organizations such as the United Nations,^[1] have replaced Middle East and Near East with Western Asia. This region and Europe are collectively referred to as Western Eurasia.

History[link]

The world's earliest civilizations developed in Western Asia. For most of the last three millennia, the region has been united under one or two powerful states; each one succeeding the last, and at times, eastern and western based polities. The main states in this regard were the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire, the Seleucid Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Sassanid Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Safavid Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.

Western Asia is the birthplace of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and other monotheistic religions.

Geography[link]

Western Asia is located directly south of Eastern Europe. The region is surrounded by seven major seas; the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

To the north, the region is delimited from Europe by the Caucasus Mountains, to the southwest, it is delimited from Africa by the Isthmus of Suez, while to the east, the region adjoins Central Asia and South Asia. The Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut deserts in eastern Iran somewhat naturally delimit the region from Asia itself.

Climate[link]

Western Asia is primarily arid and semi-arid, and can be subject to drought, but it also contains vast expanses of forest and fertile valleys. The region consists of grasslands, rangelands, deserts, and mountains. Water shortages are a problem in many parts of West Asia, with rapidly growing populations increasing demands for water, while salinization and pollution threaten water supplies.^[2] Major rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates, provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture.

There are two wind phenomena in Western Asia: the sharqi and the shamal. The sharqi (or sharki) is a wind that comes from the south and southeast. It is seasonal, lasting from April to early June, and comes again between late September and November. The winds are dry and dusty, with occasional gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand a few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. The shamal is a summer northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states (including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), often strong during the day, but decreasing at night. This weather effect occurs anywhere from once to several times a year.^[3]

Topography[link]

Western Asia contains large areas of mountainous terrain. The Anatolian Plateau is sandwiched between the Pontus Mountains and Taurus Mountains in Turkey. Mount Ararat in Turkey rises to 5,137 meters. The Zagros Mountains are located in Iran, in areas along its border with Iraq. The Central Plateau of Iran is divided into two drainage basins. The northern basin is Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert), and Dasht-e-Lut is the southern basin.

In Yemen, elevations exceed 3,700 meters in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon. A fault-zone also exists along the Red Sea, with continental rifting creating trough-like topography with areas located well-below sea level.^[4] The Dead Sea, located on the border between the West Bank, Israel, and Jordan, is situated at 418 m (1371 ft) below sea level, making it the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.^[5]

Rub' al Khali, one of the world's largest sand deserts, spans the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, parts of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Jebel al Akhdar is a small range of mountains located in northeastern Oman, bordering the Gulf of Oman.

Geology[link]

Plate tectonics[link]

Three major tectonic plates converge on Western Asia, including the African, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. The boundaries between the tectonic plates make up the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, extending across North Africa, the Red Sea, and into Iran.^[6] The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian Fault,^[7] and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active.^[6]

Water resources[link]

Several major aquifers provide water to large portions of Western Asia. In Saudi Arabia, two large aquifers of Palaeozoic and Triassic origins are located beneath the Jabal Tuwayq mountains and areas west to the Red Sea.^[8] Cretaceous and Eocene-origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh which contain amounts of both fresh water and saline water.^[8] Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km² across Western Asia for agriculture.^[9]

Demographics[link]

The population of Western Asia is over 300 million. The most populous countries in the region are Iran and Turkey, each with around 75 million people, followed by Iraq with around 32 million people. The major languages are Arabic, which is an official language in 14 regional countries, followed by Turkish, and Persian. Islam is the major faith in Western Asia.

Economy[link]

The economy of Western Asia is diverse and the region experiences high economic growth. Turkey has the largest economy in the region, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Petroleum is the major industry in the regional economy, as more than half of the world's oil reserves and around 40 percent of the world's natural gas reserves are located in the region.

Current definitions[link]

United Nations Statistics Division[link]

Regions of Asia described by the UN:

  North Asia

  Central Asia

  Western Asia

  South Asia

  East Asia

  Southeast Asia

  Eastern Europe

The countries and territories in the UN Subregion of Western Asia,^[10] listed below:

•  Armenia
•  Azerbaijan
•  Bahrain
•  Cyprus
•  Georgia
•  Iraq
•  Israel
•  Jordan
•  Kuwait
•  Lebanon
•  Oman
• Occupied Palestinian Territory
•  Qatar
•  Saudi Arabia
•  Syria
•  Turkey
•  United Arab Emirates
•  Yemen

Though not included in the UN subregion of Western Asia, Iran is commonly included within Western Asia.^[11][12] Afghanistan is also sometimes included in a broader definition of "Western Asia", although Afghanistan can be considered Central Asian,^[13][14] South Asian,^[15][16] or West Asian.^[12] The Sinai Peninsula of Egypt geographically belongs to West Asia.

Government of Canada[link]

The Canadian government uses "West Asian" in its statistics.^[12]

General data[link]

Country, with flag	Area (km²)	Population (2010)	Density (per km²)	Capital	Nominal GDP[17] (2010)	Per capita[18] (2010)	Currency	Government	Official languages
Anatolia:
Turkey1	783,562	73,722,988	94.1	Ankara	$741.85 billion	$10,399	Turkish lira	Parliamentary republic	Turkish
Arabian Peninsula:
Bahrain	665	1,234,596	1,646.1	Manama	$22.66 billion	$20,475	Bahraini dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Kuwait	17,820	3,566,437	167.5	Kuwait City	$131.32 billion	$36,412	Kuwaiti dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Oman	212,460	2,694,094	9.2	Muscat	$55.62 billion	$18,657	Omani rial	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Qatar	11,437	1,696,563	123.2	Doha	$129.49 billion	$76,168	Qatari riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Saudi Arabia	1,960,582	27,136,977	12	Riyadh	$443.69 billion	$16,996	Saudi riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
United Arab Emirates	82,880	8,264,070	97	Abu Dhabi	$301.88 billion	$59,717	UAE dirham	Federal Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Yemen	527,970	23,580,000	44.7	Sana'a	$31.27 billion	$1,282	Yemeni rial	Presidential republic	Arabic
South Caucasus:
Armenia	29,800	3,264,500	108.4	Yerevan	$9.39 billion	$2,846	Armenian dram	Presidential republic	Armenian
Azerbaijan	86,600	9,165,000	105.8	Baku	$54.37 billion	$6,008	Azerbaijani manat	Presidential republic	Azerbaijani
Georgia	69,700	4,636,400	68.1	Tbilisi	$11.67 billion	$2,658	Georgian lari	Semi-presidential republic	Georgian
Fertile Crescent:
Iraq	438,317	31,672,000	73.5	Baghdad	$82.15 billion	$2,564	Iraqi dinar	Parliamentary republic	Arabic, Kurdish
Israel	20,770	7,653,600	365.3	Jerusalem3	$213.15 billion	$28,686	Israeli new shekel	Parliamentary republic	Arabic, Hebrew
Jordan	92,300	6,318,677	68.4	Amman	$27.53 billion	$4,500	Jordanian dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Lebanon	10,452	4,228,000	404	Beirut	$39.25 billion	$10,044	Lebanese pound	Parliamentary republic	Arabic
Palestine	6,220	4,260,636	667	Jerusalem3	$6.6 billion	$1,600	dinar, shekel	Presidential republic	Arabic
Syria	185,180	23,695,000	118.3	Damascus	$59.33 billion	$2,877	Syrian pound	Presidential republic	Arabic
Iranian Plateau:
Iran	1,648,195	78,868,711	45	Tehran	$357.22 billion	$4,741	Iranian rial	Islamic republic	Persian
Mediterranean Sea:
Cyprus	9,250	1,088,503	117	Nicosia	$23.17 billion	$28,237	Euro	Presidential republic	Greek, Turkish
Sinai Peninsula:
Egypt 2	61,000	850,000	82	Cairo	$218.47 billion	$2,789	Egyptian pound	Military junta	Arabic
Notes: 1 The figures for Turkey includes East Thrace, which is not a part of Anatolia. 2 The area and population figures for Egypt only include the Sinai Peninsula. 3 The status of Jerusalem is disputed.

Map of Western Asia[link]

Arm.

Azerbaijan

Bah.

Cyprus

Egypt

Georgia

Iran

Iraq

Isr.

Jordan

Kuwait

Leb.

(Az.)

Oman

Pal.

Pal.

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Syria

Turkey

UAE

Yemen

Aegean Sea

Arabian Sea

Aral Sea

Black Sea

Caspian Sea

Gulf of Aden

Gulf of Oman

Mediterranean Sea

Persian Gulf

Red Sea

Sea of Azov

AFRICA

ASIA

EUROPE

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Asia portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Western Asia

• Cinema of West Asia
• West Asian Football Federation
• West Asian Games

References[link]

Find more about Western Asia on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

	Aegean Sea · Black Sea	Russia	Caspian Sea ·  Turkmenistan
	Mediterranean Sea		Afghanistan
		Western Asia    East
	Egypt · Red Sea	Red Sea · Gulf of Aden	Arabian Sea ·  Pakistan

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