The territory of the middle east of the country. The countries of the Middle East and their features. Ethnic groups in the Middle East

10 Maps That Explain The Middle East April 6th, 2015

The Middle East is known for its ancient history as well as the region where Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism originated. The region is now attracting attention as the most turbulent. It is with him that most news is connected at the moment.

The most ancient states on the planet existed in the Middle East, but the current state of the region is of particular interest.

What is happening in Yemen, the agreement on Iran's nuclear program, the actions of Saudi Arabia in the oil market - all this forms the news flow and strongly affects the world economy.

Middle East Countries

Now the Middle East includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, the Palestinian National Authority, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Politically, the Middle East has rarely been stable, but instability is now extremely high.

Arabic dialects in the Middle East

This map shows the enormous distribution of the various dialects of the Arabic language and the great linguistic diversity.

This situation brings us back to the Caliphates of the 6th and 7th centuries, who spread the Arabic language from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa and the Middle East. But over the past 1,300 years, individual dialects have been very far from each other.

And where the spread of the dialect does not coincide with the state borders, that is, with the borders of the communities, various problems may arise.

Shiites and Sunnis

The story of the division of Islam between Sunnis and Shiites began with the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. Some Muslims argued that power should go to Ali, who was Muhammad's son-in-law. As a result, the struggle for power was lost by Ali's supporters in the civil war, who were called Shiites.

Nevertheless, a separate branch of Islam has emerged, which now includes about 10-15% of Muslims around the world. Moreover, only in Iran and Iraq do they make up the majority.

Today, religious confrontation has turned into a political one. Shiite political forces led by Iran and Sunni political forces led by Saudi Arabia are fighting for influence in the region.

This is a campaign for the Cold War within the region, but it often escalates into real military clashes.

Ethnic groups in the Middle East

The most important color on the map of Middle Eastern ethnic groups is yellow: Arabs, who make up the majority in almost all Middle Eastern countries, including North African countries.

The exceptions are Israel, which is dominated by Jews (pink), Iran, where the population is Persian (orange), Turkey (green), and Afghanistan, where ethnic diversity is generally great.

Another important color on this card is red. Ethnic Kurds do not have a country of their own, but are heavily represented in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

Oil and Gas in the Middle East

The Middle East produces about a third of the world's oil and about 10% of gas. The region accounts for about a third of all natural gas reserves, but it is more difficult to transport.

Most of the extracted energy resources are exported.

The region's economies are highly dependent on oil supplies, and this wealth has also led to many conflicts in the past few decades.

The map shows the main hydrocarbon reserves and transportation routes. Energy resources are largely concentrated in three countries that have historically competed with each other: Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The most interesting thing is that the confrontation has been actively supported by the United States since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

Importance of the Suez Canal for World Trade

The facility that forever changed world trade is located in the Middle East.

After Egypt opened the canal in 1868 after 10 years of operation, the 100-mile man-made path firmly connected Europe and Asia. The importance of the canal for the world was so obvious and great that after the British conquered Egypt in 1880, the world's leading powers signed a treaty, which is valid to this day, stating that the canal will be forever open to merchant and warships of any country.

Today, about 8% of all world trade flows are with the Suez Canal.

Oil, trade and military in the Strait of Hormuz

The world economy is also heavily dependent on the narrow strait between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. In 1980, US President Jimmy Carter issued the "Carter Doctrine," which stipulated that the US would use military force to protect its access to oil from the Persian Gulf.

After that, the Strait of Hormuz became the most militarized section of waters on the entire planet.

The United States pulled in large naval forces to protect export supplies during the Iran-Iraq War and later during the Gulf War. Now the forces remain there to prevent the blocking of the channel by Iran.

Apparently, as long as the world is dependent on oil and the Middle East is turbulent, the armed forces will remain in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's nuclear program and a possible Israeli attack plan

Iran's nuclear program caused many questions from other states, but Israel's reaction was one of the strongest, since these countries are far from friendly relations.

The Iranian authorities are trying to convince the whole world that the program is exclusively peaceful in nature. Nevertheless, the UN sanctions led to the fact that the Iranian economy faced great difficulties, since it was impossible to export oil.

At the same time, Israel fears that Iran may create and use nuclear weapons against it, and Iran may be concerned that it will always be under the threat of an Israeli strike if it does not possess weapons.

The Islamic State Threat

The Islamic State threat is still strong. The situation in Libya is rapidly deteriorating, despite the bombing by Egypt of the positions of the militants of the terrorist organization "Islamic State". Every day they manage to expand their spheres of influence in the country.

Libya may soon be completely under the control of IS militants. There is a threat to Saudi Arabia, since IS leaders have already stated that this is part of the "holy caliphate" that needs to be freed from the "wicked."

There is a serious possibility that supplies from Libya will be cut off altogether, as well as problems with transportation. In early February, US President Barack Obama sent an appeal to the US Congress asking for permission to use military force against IS for a period of three years.

Yemen is a new risk point

Shia Zaidi rebels, whose paramilitary wing of the Houthis (Houthis) captured Sana'a, the capital of Yemen in February 2015, forcing loyal Saudi Arabia President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee, are beginning to expand their spheres of influence.

Their success could push the Shiites from Saudi Arabia to start an armed struggle with the country's authorities.

The civil war, into which Yemen is slipping, could be a new episode of confrontation between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, which is the richest country in the region, and also has the largest oil reserves in the world.

At the same time, most of the kingdom's proven reserves are located in the southern regions of the country, inhabited mainly by Shiites and located in close proximity to the border with Yemen, the total length of which is about 1.8 thousand km.

The most ancient states on the planet existed in the Middle East, but the current state of the region is of particular interest.

What is happening in Yemen, the agreement on Iran's nuclear program, the actions of Saudi Arabia in the oil market - all this forms the news flow and strongly affects the world economy.

MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES

Now the Middle East includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, the Palestinian National Authority, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Politically, the Middle East has rarely been stable, but instability is now extremely high.

This map shows the enormous distribution of the various dialects of the Arabic language and the great linguistic diversity.

This situation brings us back to the Caliphates of the 6th and 7th centuries, who spread the Arabic language from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa and the Middle East. But over the past 1,300 years, individual dialects have been very far from each other.

And where the spread of the dialect does not coincide with the state borders, that is, with the borders of the communities, various problems may arise.

The story of the division of Islam between Sunnis and Shiites began with the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. Some Muslims argued that power should go to Ali, who was Muhammad's son-in-law. As a result, the struggle for power was lost by Ali's supporters in the civil war, who were called Shiites.

Nevertheless, a separate branch of Islam has emerged, which now includes about 10-15% of Muslims around the world. Moreover, only in Iran and Iraq do they make up the majority.

Today, religious confrontation has turned into a political one. Shiite political forces led by Iran and Sunni political forces led by Saudi Arabia are fighting for influence in the region.

This is a campaign for the Cold War within the region, but it often escalates into real military clashes.

The most important color on the map of Middle Eastern ethnic groups is yellow: Arabs, who make up the majority in almost all Middle Eastern countries, including North African countries.

The exceptions are Israel, which is dominated by Jews (pink), Iran, where the population is Persian (orange), Turkey (green), and Afghanistan, where ethnic diversity is generally great.

Another important color on this card is red. Ethnic Kurds do not have a country of their own, but are heavily represented in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

The Middle East produces about a third of the world's oil and about 10% of gas. The region accounts for about a third of all natural gas reserves, but it is more difficult to transport.

Most of the extracted energy resources are exported.

The region's economies are highly dependent on oil supplies, and this wealth has also led to many conflicts in the past few decades.

The map shows the main hydrocarbon reserves and transportation routes. Energy resources are largely concentrated in three countries that have historically competed with each other: Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The most interesting thing is that the confrontation has been actively supported by the United States since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

The facility that forever changed world trade is located in the Middle East.

After Egypt opened the canal in 1868 after 10 years of operation, the 100-mile man-made path firmly connected Europe and Asia. The importance of the canal for the world was so obvious and great that after the British conquered Egypt in 1880, the world's leading powers signed a treaty, which is valid to this day, stating that the canal will be forever open to merchant and warships of any country.

Today, about 8% of all world trade flows are with the Suez Canal.

The world economy is also heavily dependent on the narrow strait between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. In 1980, US President Jimmy Carter issued the "Carter Doctrine," which stipulated that the US would use military force to protect its access to oil from the Persian Gulf.

After that, the Strait of Hormuz became the most militarized section of waters on the entire planet.

The United States pulled in large naval forces to protect export supplies during the Iran-Iraq War and later during the Gulf War. Now the forces remain there to prevent the blocking of the channel by Iran.

Apparently, as long as the world is dependent on oil and the Middle East is turbulent, the armed forces will remain in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's nuclear program caused many questions from other states, but Israel's reaction was one of the strongest, since these countries are far from friendly relations.

The Iranian authorities are trying to convince the whole world that the program is exclusively peaceful in nature. Nevertheless, the UN sanctions led to the fact that the Iranian economy faced great difficulties, since it was impossible to export oil.

At the same time, Israel fears that Iran may create and use nuclear weapons against it, and Iran may be concerned that it will always be under the threat of an Israeli strike if it does not possess weapons.

The Islamic State threat is still strong. The situation in Libya is rapidly deteriorating, despite the bombing by Egypt of the positions of the militants of the terrorist organization "Islamic State". Every day they manage to expand their spheres of influence in the country.

Libya may soon be completely under the control of IS militants. There is a threat to Saudi Arabia, since IS leaders have already stated that this is part of the "holy caliphate" that needs to be freed from the "wicked."

There is a serious possibility that supplies from Libya will be cut off altogether, as well as problems with transportation. In early February, US President Barack Obama sent an appeal to the US Congress asking for permission to use military force against IS for a period of three years.

Every day in the news on TV and on the Internet we come across the concept of "East": Near, Middle, Far ... But what states are we talking about in this case? Which countries belong to the aforementioned regions? Despite the fact that this concept is partly subjective, there is still a list of states that are located on the territory of these lands. You will learn about this and much more from our article.

What is East?

If everything is clear with this concept in determining the cardinal points, then in the case of geography, a variety of questions may arise. The East is a region that includes the territories of some regions of Asia and Africa. This concept is contrasted with the West, which means Europe and the United States.

The East is divided into the following regions:

• Middle East, which includes western Asia and northern Africa.
• Middle East - some
• Far East - territories of southern and southeastern Asia.

Let's dwell on each of them in more detail.

Middle East Countries

This region is named for its geographical position relatively located on its territory, play an important role in the economies of states around the world, since they are the most important place for oil production.

Middle East Countries:

• Azerbaijan (located on the territory of the Transcaucasus, the capital is Baku);
• Armenia (territory of Transcaucasia, capital - Yerevan);
• Bahrain (Asian island state, capital - Manama);
• Egypt (located in Africa, the capital is Cairo);
• Georgia (located on the territory of the Transcaucasus, the capital is Tbilisi);
• Israel (located in South-West Asia, the capital is Jerusalem);
• Jordan (located in Asia, borders with Israel, the capital is Amman);
• Iraq (located in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, the capital is Baghdad);
• Iran (borders with Iraq, capital - Tehran);
• Yemen (located on the Arabian Peninsula, the capital is Sana'a);
• Qatar (located in South-West Asia, the capital is Doha);
• Cyprus (an island in the Mediterranean Sea, the capital is Nicosia);
• Kuwait (located in Southwest Asia, the capital is Kuwait);
• Lebanon (located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the capital is Beirut);
• UAE (Asian capital - Abu Dhabi);
• Oman (located on the Arabian Peninsula, the capital is Muscat);
• Palestine (partially recognized country, capital - Rammala);
• Saudi Arabia (located on the Arabian Peninsula, the capital is Riyadh);
• Syria (located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the capital is Damascus);
• Turkey (located in South-West Asia, the capital is Ankara).

Features of the region

Countries of the Near and Middle East are different Since ancient times, these lands are considered important transport arteries connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. The main population of these territories has always been nomadic peoples, who eventually settled and founded cities.

It was here that at one time there were such ancient states as Babylon, Persia, Caliphate, Assyria and so on. On the territory of these regions, a lot of the result of which was the discovery of ancient cultures. The Middle East is inhabited mainly by Arabs, Turks, Persians and Jews. Islam is recognized as the dominant religion here.

East is a delicate matter

For Europeans, Eastern culture is full of charm and mystery. This is a world of fairy tales, architectural sights and secrets hidden deep in history. Let's take a look at some of them:

Outcome

The list of countries of the East includes many states with a rich history and cultural heritage. According to historians, not only civilization was born here - these states still have a significant impact on the whole world. The countries of the Middle East, as well as the Middle and Far, differ significantly from the European ones in their cultural and religious characteristics, but they all continue to successfully interact and actively cooperate in the political and economic arenas.