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Near East. Coordinates: 32°48′N 35°36′E. Topographic map of parts of the Near East. The Near East is a transcontinental region around the East Mediterranean encompassing parts of West Asia, the Balkans, and North Africa; it also includes the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, East Thrace and Egypt.
Some believe that the Near East constitutes the countries of Western Asia, including Turkey, the Fertile Crescent (modern day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip), the Arabian Peninsula, and Iran. Others consider Egypt to be part of the Near East as well.
The Near East included the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans, while the Middle East ranged between the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia—quite a small region compared with what we consider to be the Middle East today. (The Far East encompassed Asian countries facing the Pacific Ocean.)
The Near East is a modern-age term for the region formerly known as the Middle East comprising Armenia, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and part of Turkey, corresponding to ancient Urartu, Mesopotamia, Elam, Persia, the Levant, and Anatolia.
The Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Cyprus, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Palestinian territories make up the Near East region. Some sources such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation exclude North African countries and Palestinian territories and include Afghanistan.
Near East, usually the lands around the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, including northeastern Africa, southwestern Asia, and, occasionally, the Balkan Peninsula. The term Near East was used by the first modern Western geographers to refer to the nearer part of the Orient, a region roughly.
The most populous countries in the Middle East include Pakistan (~193 million), Egypt (~90.6 million), Iran (~79 million), and Turkey (~78.7 million), while the least populated countries are Cyprus (~1.1 million), Bahrain (~1.4 million), Qatar (~2.4 million), and Armenia (~3 million).
The Near East is a large area of land in the eastern hemisphere. Countries of the eastern Mediterranean are part of the Near East. The name of the Near East comes from its position to the east of Europe and to the west of the Middle East and the Far East .
The Ancient Near East refers to a geographical area that includes modern-day countries such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and parts of Turkey and Egypt. The civilizations that thrived in this region laid the foundations for later cultures and civilizations, influencing art, religion, politics, and technology.
The map shows Western Asia with international borders, capitals and major cities of the Middle East region, the Arabian Peninsula and African countries with a shoreline at the Red Sea. You are free to use the above map for educational purposes (fair use); please refer to the Nations Online Project.