What is Southwest Asia?

Information about Southwest Asia



Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The term Western Asia is sometimes used in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region, and in the United States subregion geoscheme. Unlike the Middle East, which is a vaguely-defined region generally meant to include the African country of Egypt, Western Asia is a purely geographical term, which includes the southwestern extreme of Asia.

Southwest Asia is partly coterminous with the traditional European names the Middle East and the Near East, both of which describe the regions' geographical position in relation to Europe rather than their location within Asia. The term Western Asia has become the preferred term of use for the Middle East by international organizations (most notably the United Nations) and also in African and Asian countries, such as India, because of the perceived Eurocentrism of the historical term Middle East. In terms of cultural and political geography, the Middle East sometimes includes North African countries, particularly Egypt.
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The definition of cultural-geographical regions in use by the United Nations.


The United Nations includes Turkey and the South Caucasus States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) in its Western Asian subregion, as they are almost entirely located there. However, these countries also lie in regions that straddle both Asia and Europe, and have sociopolitical ties to the latter. Turkey is located in Europe and in Asia. The Asian part of the Arab world (including Arabia proper) is called the Mashreq in Arabic.

See continent and transcontinental country for further definitions

Territories

Southwest Asia is in most contexts meant to encompass:
  •  Armenia
  •  Azerbaijan
  •  Bahrain
  •  Cyprus
  •  Georgia
  •  Iran
  •  Iraq
  •  Israel
  •  Jordan
  •  Kuwait
  •  Lebanon
  •  Oman
  • Palestinian Territories (Gaza Strip and West Bank)
  •  Qatar
  •  Saudi Arabia
  •  Syria
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    This usage is deprecated. Please replace it with {{tdeprecated|Southwest Asia|Country}}.
    '''The template is deprecated. Please use instead.
    Anatolia, Arabia, Transcaucasia, Levant, and Mesopotamia are subregions of Southwest Asia.

    Use in ethnic statistics

    The Canadian government uses "West Asian" in its statistics; however people from the Arab countries are counted in a separate "Arab" category. [1] [2]

    Other subregions of Asia

    References

    1. ^ [1]
    2. ^ [2]
    Middle East is a historical and political region of Africa-Eurasia with no clear boundaries. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in Britain, and has been criticized for its loose definition.
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    A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.
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    Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
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    Motto
    "In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
    "E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
    Anthem
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    A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.
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    Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area.
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    Gumhūriyyat Miṣr al-ʿArabiyyah
    Arab Republic of Egypt


    Flag Coat of arms
    Anthem
    Bilady, Bilady, Bilady
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    Physical geography (also know as geosystems or physiography) is one of the two major subfields of geography. Physical geography focuses on understanding the processes and patterns in the natural environment, as opposed to the built environment which is the domain of
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    Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
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    Near East is a term commonly used by archaeologists, geographers and historians, less commonly by journalists and commentators, to refer to the region encompassing Anatolia (the Asian portion of modern Turkey), the Levant (Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Georgia, Armenia,
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    International Organization is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the entire field of international affairs. Subject areas include: foreign policies, international relations, international and comparative political economy, security policies, environmental disputes
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    Headquarters
    (and largest city)
    Official languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
    Membership 192 member states
    Leaders
     -  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
    Establishment
     - 
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    Eurocentrism is the practice of viewing the world from a European perspective, with an implied belief, either consciously or subconsciously, in the preeminence of European (and, more generally, of Western) culture, concerns and values at the expense of non- Europeans.
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    Cultural geography is a sub-field within human geography. Cultural Geography is the study of spatial variations among cultural groups and the spatial functioning of society.
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    Political geography is the field of human geography that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.
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    North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven territories:

    • Algeria
    • Egypt
    • Libya

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    Headquarters
    (and largest city)
    Official languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
    Membership 192 member states
    Leaders
     -  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
    Establishment
     - 
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    Motto
    Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
    Peace at Home, Peace in the World
    Anthem
    İstiklâl Marşı
    The Anthem of Independence
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    Motto
    Մեկ Ազգ, Մեկ Մշակույթ   (Armenian)
    "

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    Motto
    none
    Anthem
    Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Himni
    (March of Azerbaijan)
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    Motto
    ძალა ერთობაშია   (Georgian)
    "Strength is in Unity"

    Anthem
    "Tavisupleba"
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    A subregion is a conceptual unit which derives from a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south or southern, are commonly used to define a subregion.
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    Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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    Arab World (Arabic: العالم العربي; Transliteration: al-`alam al-`arabi) stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea
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    Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of
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    Mashriq or Mashreq (also in use: Mashrek) (Arabic: مشرق) is the region of Arab countries to the east of Egypt and north of the Arabian Peninsula.
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    continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, but seven areas are commonly regarded as continents – they are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America,
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    This article has been tagged since September 2007.

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    Motto
    Մեկ Ազգ, Մեկ Մշակույթ   (Armenian)
    "

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