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The term Levant appears in English in 1497, and originally meant 'the East' or 'Mediterranean lands east of Italy'. [23] It is borrowed from the French levant 'rising', referring to the rising of the sun in the east, [23] or the point where the sun rises. [24] The phrase is ultimately from the Latin word levare, meaning 'lift, raise'.
Iran, [a] [b] officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) [c] and also known as Persia, [d] is a country in West Asia.It borders Turkey to the northwest and Iraq to the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south.
The most populous countries in the region are Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, while Saudi Arabia is the largest Middle Eastern country by area. The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and it was long considered the "cradle of civilization". The geopolitical importance of the region has been recognized and competed for during millennia.
Topographic map of parts of the Near East. The Near East (Arabic: الشرق الأدنى) is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean broadly synonymous with the modern Middle East, encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. [1]
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 m (12,100 ft) in many areas, and highland areas extend north along the Red Sea coast and north into Lebanon .
Anatomically modern Homo sapiens are demonstrated at the area of Mount Carmel [8] in Canaan during the Middle Paleolithic dating from c. 90,000 BC.These migrants out of Africa seem to have been unsuccessful, [9] and by c. 60,000 BC in the Levant, Neanderthal groups seem to have benefited from the worsening climate and replaced Homo sapiens, who were possibly confined once more to Africa.
^ The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes the Arabic language as the language of Islam, giving it a formal status as the language of religion, and regulates its spreading within the Iranian national curriculum. The constitution declares in Chapter II: (The Official Language, Script, Calendar, and Flag of the Country) in ...
Iran suffered invasions by nomadic tribes during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period, negatively impacting the region. [17] Iran was reunified as an independent state in 1501 by the Safavid dynasty, which established Shia Islam as the empire's official religion, [18] marking a significant turning point in the history of Islam. [19]