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Middle East


Political & transportation map of the Middle East today

Political & transportation map of the Middle East today


The Middle East is a subcontinent with no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom; it has a loose definition traditionally encompassing countries or regions in Western Asia and parts of North Africa. The corresponding adjective to Middle East 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. The Middle East is also the geographic origin of three of the world’s major religions—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.

Contents


Economy

Middle Eastern economies range from nations being very poor (such as Gaza and Yemen) to extremely wealthy nations (such as UAE and Saudi Arabia). Overall, as of 2007, according to the CIA World Factbook, all nations in the Middle East are maintaining a positive rate of growth.


According to the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Database of April 2008, the two largest Middle Eastern economies in 2007 Saudi Arabia ($ 376,029,000,000) and Iran ($ 294,089,000,000) in terms of Nominal GDP[31]; and Iran ($ 752,967,000,000) and Saudi Arabia ($ 564,561,000,000) in terms of GDP-PPP.[32] When it comes to per capita (PPP) based income, the three highest ranking countries are Qatar ($80,900), Kuwait ($39,300) and the United Arab Emirates ($37,300). The two lowest ranking countries in the Middle East, in terms of per capita income (PPP) are Afghanistan ($1,000) and the autonomous Palestinian Authority of Gaza and the West Bank ($1,100).


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 Egypt). Industries of the Middle Eastern region includes 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. Tourism, with the exception of Egypt, remains largely unexplored and is underdeveloped due to the conservative nature of the region as well as the political turmoil in certain regions of the Middle East. In recent years, however, countries such as the UAE, Bahrain, and Jordan have begun experiencing greater number of tourists due to improving tourist facilities and the relaxing of tourism-related policies.

Major economic and financial centers

Flag of the United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi, UAE
Flag of the United Arab Emirates Dubai, UAE
Flag of Lebanon Beirut, Lebanon
Flag of Egypt Cairo, Egypt
Flag of Saudi Arabia Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Flag of Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Flag of Saudi Arabia Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Flag of Iran Tehran, Iran
Flag of Iran Shemiran, Tehran, Iran
Flag of Israel Tel Aviv, Israel
Flag of Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan
Flag of Pakistan Islamabad, Pakistan

Unemployment

Unemployment is notably high in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly among young people aged 15-29, a demographic representing 30% of the region’s total population.

The total regional unemployment rate in 2005, according to the International Labor Organization, was 13.2%[33], and among youth is as high as 25%[34], up to 37% in Morocco and 73% in Syria.[35].


Territories and regions

Traditional definition of the Middle East

Greater Middle East

Main article: Greater Middle East


See also


References

  1. ^ Beaumont, Peter, Gerald H. Blake, J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton, p.16.
  2. ^ Koppes, C.R. (1976). "Captain Mahan, General Gordon and the origin of the term "Middle East"". Middle East Studies 12: p. 95–98. doi:10.1080/00263207608700307.
  3. ^ Melman, Billie. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing: 6 The Middle East / Arabia, Cambridge Collections Online. Retrieved January 8, 2006.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Laciner, Dr. Sedat. "Is There a Place Called ‘the Middle East’?", The Journal of Turkish Weekly]", June 2, 2006. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
  6. ^ Adelson, Roger. London and the Invention of the Middle East: Money, Power, and War, 1902-1922. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-300-06094-7 p. 22-23
  7. ^ Adelson, 24.
  8. ^ Adelson, 26.
  9. ^ a b c Davison, Roderic H. (1960). "Where is the Middle East?". Foreign Affairs 38: p. 665–675.
  10. ^ Middle East, IATA. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
  11. ^ Shohat, Ella. "Redrawing American Cartographies of Asia". City University of New York. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
  12. ^ Hanafi, Hassan. "The Middle East, in whose world?". Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Retrieved on 2007-01-12.
  13. ^ "'Near East' is Mideast, Washington Explains", The New York Times (August 14, 1958).
  14. ^ Goldstein, Norm. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. New York: Basic Books, 2004. ISBN 0465004881 p. 156
  15. ^ 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
  16. ^ Goldschmidt Jr., Arthur (1999). A Concise History of the Middle East. Westview Press, p.8.
  17. ^ Louise, Fawcett. International Relations of the Middle East. (Oxford University Press, New York, 2005)
  18. ^ a b (1997) "Chapter 7: Middle East and Arid Asia", IPCC Special Report on The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
  19. ^ Beaumont, Peter, Gerald H. Blake, J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton, p. 19.
  20. ^ Sweeney, Jerry J., William R. Walter. "Preliminary Definition of Geophysical Regions for the Middle East and North Africa". Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
  21. ^ "ASTER Image Gallery: The Dead Sea". NASA.
  22. ^ Beaumont, Peter, Gerald H. Blake, J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton, p. 22.
  23. ^ a b c Beaumont, Peter, Gerald H. Blake, J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton, p. 86.
  24. ^ Beaumont, Peter, Gerald H. Blake, J. Malcolm Wagstaff (1988). The Middle East: A Geographical Study. David Fulton, p. 85.
  25. ^ "Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)".
  26. ^ "World Factbook - Jordan".
  27. ^ "World Factbook - Kuwait".
  28. ^ According to the 1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel there were 250,000 Romanian speakers in Israel, at a population of 5,548,523 (census 1995).
  29. ^ Reports of about 300,000 Jews that left the country after WW2
  30. ^ Evenimentul Zilei
  31. ^ IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2008: Nominal GDP list of countries in 2007: [1]
  32. ^ IMF, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2008: GDP-PPP list of countries in 2007: [2]
  33. ^ [ http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=108&subsecID=900003&contentID=254026 “Unemployment Rates Are Highest in the Middle East” Progressive Policy Institute (August 30, 2006)]
  34. ^ Navtej Dhillon, Tarek Yousef. “Inclusion: Meeting the 100 Million Youth Challenge” (2007)
  35. ^ Hilary Silver, “Social Exclusion: Comparative Analysis of Europe and Middle East Youth,” Middle East Youth Initiative Working Paper (September 2007)

Further reading

Anderson, R., Seibert, R., & Wagner, J. Politics and Change in the Middle East, 8th Ed. (N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2006).

External links

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