Southwest Asia

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Dual image Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (often confused with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The term Western Asia is commonly used in writings about the archaeology and late prehistory of the region. 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 that 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. For similar reasons, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and/or Pakistan are also variously affiliated with the region.

The UN includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in its Western Asian subregion, as they are almost entirely located there. However, these countries are also in the Caucasus, a region that straddles both Asia and Europe, and have sociopolitical ties to the latter. On the other hand, the UN assigns Iran and Egypt to Southern Asia and North Africa, respectively.

The Asian part of the Arab world (including Arabia proper) is called the Mashreq in Arabic.

See continent and transcontinental country for further definitions

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